Rajeev Kumar Nagotra
Article 370 is no more. Good riddance. Jammu’s fate will no more be left to the whims of an abusive, exploitative and threatening partner that Kashmir was. Not that the relationship is over. Not yet. It’s just that the rogue partner has been let off with a mild penalty and one last warning to mend its ways before New Delhi is forced to undertake something truly punitive and detrimental. The decision to keep Jammu and Kashmir together even though Ladakh was made a separate UT also establishes New Delhi’s persistent disapproval of the two-nation theory espoused by the religious bigots of South Asia. August 5 was indeed a day of jubilation and celebrations for the 5.6 million people of Jammu and Ladakh who had been living like second class citizens under the regimes of Kashmir based political dynasts. For Jammu, however, this day also marked the birth of a few new questions, the ones that Jammu had never imagined it would have the good fortune of facing even after voting so overwhelmingly for PM Modi. Therefore, while Ladakh immediately gets down to prepare its knitwork for future, Jammu is still speculating about its renewed terms and conditions of the political wedlock with Kashmir.
The most common question that the Jammuites are asking is regarding their land and property. There is this morbid fear that the whole of India will come and acquire property in Jammu. This does not happen. This will not happen. Not unless people sell their homes voluntarily or made to do so under some political conspiracy. We can always demand similar provisions as section 118 in the Tenancy Act of Himachal Pradesh whereby the rights of the domicile are protected. Jammu has already witnessed a heavy influx of non-locals – Kashmiris, Ladakhis and Rohingyas over the past decade. While the Ladakhis come here purely for educational purposes and never stay on, the Kashmiris have been pouring in and trying to settle down in Jammu according to a political conspiracy that requires its demography altered. Same goes for the Rohingyas, only the conspiracy is more sinister as they have been allowed to come in all the way from Myanmar. So, unless New Delhi intends to further change the demography of Jammu for the worse, which is absolutely unlikely, we will not see an increase in new settlements. And as for the Kashmir region, the removal of article 370 is going to unite the Kashmiris like never before against selling their properties to the “outsiders”. In fact, if someone does plan to sell his property he is only going to get a better price. Then there are apprehensions of new colonies being carved out to accommodate the “outsiders” who might come here for business. This development, encouraging as it sounds, would also have limited strain on the land. Our ecological balance is already fragile and no central government can allow new “Tata nagars” and “Modi nagars” to come up here without threatening whatever is left of our green cover. The stated promise of Union Tourism Minister, Sh. Prahlad Patel, to boost tourism in Jammu and Kashmir indicates that usurping the forest and state lands for making new settlements is not on the cards. As a matter of fact, the article 370 was never a hurdle for those who intended to do business in Jammu and Kashmir. Terrorism was. And, it was thriving under the protective shield of article 370. With this draconian law gone, whatever lies ahead will be better than our past.
An equally debated question is regarding the job opportunities for Jammu youth. If one looks at the jobs in the private sector, Jammu does not have much of an organized private sector or industry in the first place. So, if industry does choose to walk the extra miles for us, it will only bring us prosperity. Secondly, there are less than 5 lakh people employed in the government offices and the relative strength of Jammuites in these offices is anybody’s guess what with the apartheid meted out to them over the past 70 years. Nonetheless, our leadership can always take a cue from the Jagan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh that has imposed 75% reservation for the local youth in private industrial jobs.
Now, if the sharp angularities of these two widely discussed questions are somewhat soothed, let us look at the real questions we should be asking of ourselves and our leadership in the wake of article 370. Firstly, Jammu must wonder as to how the union government plans to transform its tourism sector. There are numerous circuits in Jammu, Kathua, Reasi, Udhampur, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Doda and Poonch that remain unexplored to date and need to be promoted as health resorts, yoga retreats, wild life sanctuaries, pilgrimage destinations and heritage centers. A collection of the Sunday Magazines of this paper would reveal the immense potential in tourism that lies untapped and we must ask whether these areas will receive at least as much attention as Kashmir. Secondly, we must ask as to which other sectors of industry the government plans to establish and promote in Jammu. We are a bit too late for the primary sector. Moreover it does not come without substantial damages to the local environment. The processing and packaging plants would do considerably less harm and employ large sections of the society. However, service sector is what Jammu must really pitch for. Adventure sports, education and health care, rejuvenation centers, personal care for elders, housekeeping, apparel making, dry fruit processing, extraction of oils from herbs and flowers as well as call centers and online retailing are some of the sectors and job roles that need encouragement. Thirdly, Jammu must demand a genuine thrust on skill development programmes. Our youth has been largely unskilled and, therefore, less enterprising. If the planned packages of industry (including tourism) arrive before our youth is even trained, Jammu will miss the bus again. Therefore, the government must ensure that (a) high quality skill development programmes are initiated in this region and (b) large sections of the local population are enrolled into them. The local polytechnic colleges, engineering, nursing and medical institutions as well as the IIT Jammu and AIIMS must be involved in the designing and execution of these programmes. Jammu should not grumble even if the promised windfall from the abrogation of article 370 gets delayed by a year or two. The waiting would be worthwhile if the benefits of this courageous move are reaped by the trained hands of our youth.
Lastly, but most importantly, Jammu must ask itself if it is truly prepared to step into the responsibility of an equal partner in the new political arrangement. We need to act swiftly and keep ready a fresh generation of qualified, articulate, dynamic and visionary leaders to take on this challenging and, perhaps, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The local political parties need to do some real time introspection failing which all the mobilization of the national mood, resources, courage and the statecraft involved in the scrapping of article 370 will be washed away in the muddy currents of Tawi.
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