July 13, 1931: The day seeds of hatred were sown

Maj Gen Goverdhan Singh Jamwal
On 13th July 1931, something happened which bisected the heart of the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two, called Jammu and Kashmir and created havoc. In fact, on that day, a seed sown by the British, through their agent Abdul Qadar, who disappeared like a seed, but surely gave the State a plant called Hatred, which was codified by Sheikh Abdullah into a holiday against the Dogras i.e. the Maharaja and the J&K State Forces to which the Dogras also succumbed which I have seen personally when they joined the Kashmiris to denigrate themselves. As MLC I had advised the Farooq Govt. in 1997 to scrap this holiday and start building bridges, but it was not to be till the State as created by us, the Dogras was dismembered. Who are responsible for this? The Kashmiris themselves, and of course, we the Dogras of Jammu who joined National Conference and could not remove the chasm why, I need not explain.
Suffice to say that when I refused to join National Conference I was conveyed by Sardar Harbans Singh, the former minister that ‘Dr. Farooq has conveyed that if General Goverdhan Jamwal does not join us he would not fight the Assembly Elections as he did not participate in the Parliamentary Elections.’ In fact, he also conveyed that ‘if General Zorawar Singh could create this State how could I not join to defend it’, a very strong sentiment which I could not resist. When I pointed out to the President, Shankar Dayal Sharma in 1993 that Jammu was collapsing. Dogras will never speak about it. They are too nationalists but the ladder called Jammu to reach Kashmir is now moth-eaten. It will collapse and we will not know it.” He was totally surprised because he was unaware about the conditions in Jammu.
When I told him about the industry, tourism and the economic conditions of Jammu and the fact that the youth was migrating outside for jobs he was aghast and said he would speak to the Governor.
He made two observations which I can never forget. First, he said the world knows that J&K was created by the Dogras and the Dogras alone defended the State and acceded by the then Dogra Maharaja, Hari Singh to India. Now ‘how you can let it go or how India can let Jammu suffer’.
When I presented him as our Supreme Commander a tin of Sainik Vanaspati manufactured by the J&K Ex-Servicemen Cooperative Factory in Bari Brahmana Industrial Estate, he was much pleased on the initiative as was General KV Krishna Rao who had inaugurated the Factory in the presence of Dr. Karan Singh and, the then Chief Secretary, Ghulam Rasool on 25 July 1993 dedicating it to the Veer Naries (soldiers’ widows) for whom 10 % of the net profit has been reserved, with the remarks “I am so pleased, even surprised that what I had pleaded with the Chief Ministers as the Chief of Staff to start such industries for the rehabilitation of the soldiers who retire very young, 90% of them at the age of 33, but I did not know, Gen Goverdhan Jamwal had set up a factory worth 7 Crores with a turnover of 100 Crores providing 200 jobs directly and many more indirectly in my State only”. Then I told the President, that Industry is only a facade in Jammu and is exploited by the unscrupulous politicians and the bureaucrats, and corruption is rampant and there is no future for us. It just proves today that the same unit which was in profit for 5 years from the day one, was taxed with illegal Ad Valorum toll tax of 4% retrospectively and the unit suffered and is lying closed for the last twenty years, though High Court revoked the Government order after four years but by then the unit had collapsed and this was the Cooperative unit in which the state had 97 % Equity since it was in Jammu and for the benefit of the Ex-servicemen and their widows, that is why it met such a fate. It is still awaiting the Government nod with Rs 15 Crores assets. This is what is happening to the industry of the Dogras of Jammu. After 5 Aug 2019, we were hoping that it would now be rehabilitated but the clock is stuck!
The President, very matured and experienced statesman who had been the Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh said ‘I am worried about your Industry’ and then asked me about tourism. This is what I told him briefly which still holds good.
After the holocaust when Kashmiri Pandits were thrown out of the Valley there was a great vacuum and everybody was worried about tourism in the State and that’s what happened. The tourists lost their way. Then General KV Krishna Rao, Governor of the State called me one day and said ‘Goverdhan, at this rate tourists will forget the State and also Jammu, which is quite peaceful and has lot for the tourists but since Kashmir is closed people may not come to Jammu as they have started going to Kullu, Manali, Dalhousie, Nainital so you should think about it, and I am going to put you as one of the Directors with the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation, presently headed by the Chief Secretary Ghulam Rasool’. In the next meeting I requested the Chief Secretary that we must do something to keep the tourist flow going at least in Jammu so that when the conditions are peaceful in the Valley people would start going there but in the meantime, if we do not make any arrangements they will find other destinations and will not come to Jammu and Kashmir and it will take long time before they find Jammu and Kashmir again attractive. They all appreciated my suggestion. Then I told them we identify ten destinations in Jammu including Poonch, Rajouri, Bhadarwah, Kishtwar, Patnitop, Sanasar, Basohli and few others and put about hundred large family type of tents at each destination so that a hundred families could stay at each destination which would make about a 1000 families at a time, and make it free which meant about 5000 tourists will be visiting Jammu region every time for the next whole year. They all appreciated it. Then, I said to make it more attractive, put two shikaras in Mansar Lake, two shikaras in Sruinsar lake and a small houseboat in Salal lake so that we divert 10% of the Vaishno Devi pilgrims to these destinations and to Patnitop etc. They all appreciated it but nothing happened for a year then I enquired from the Chief Secretary who told me that Kashmiris have lost everything and now if the shikaras and the house boats go, only will feel losing their culture and that was the end of it. That means they never wanted the tourists to come to Jammu and that’s what has happened and is happening for the last 31 years. There are no tourists in Jammu and I had told this to the President that it had happened. Then the President said he would discuss it with the Governor. He might have but nothing happened. So Jammu will keep on suffering because of the animosities and no love lost for Jammu and today is the Day which reminds us why so, why Kashmiris will never live with us and earlier we part company and establish two separate units, we will be living like brothers helping each other.

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