The BJP had said in its 2019 election manifesto “We are committed to overcome all obstacles that come in the way of development and provide adequate financial resources to all the regions of the Jammu and Kashmir State. We reiterate our position to the abrogation of Article 370″. Riding back to power with an unprecedented goodwill and majority, the government abolished decades-old laws that gave a measure of autonomy to the Muslim-majority region without much noise and with great alacrity. Naturally most of the 1.3 billion people are rejoicing for one more bastion of inequality, unequal rules and dispensation fell by the wayside. Integrated with mainland India, it is a fond hope of millions outside and the millions inside the troubled State, that their aspirations will be met in the times to come.
While Article 370, that came into effect in 1949, was the basis of J&K’s accession to the Indian union at a time when erstwhile princely states had the choice to join either India or Pakistan after their independence from the British rule in 1947, it also allowed for making its own laws in all matters except finance, defence, foreign affairs and communications. It denied property rights to outsiders, allowing the residents of the state to live under different laws from the rest of the country. Article 35A, forbidding outsiders from permanently settling, buying land, holding local government jobs or winning education scholarships in the region was introduced through a presidential order in 1954 to continue the old provisions of the territory regulations under Article 370 of the Indian constitution. Regressively, it barred the female residents of J&K from property rights in the event that they marry a person outside their state. The provision even extended to such women’s children.
Forming two union territories which are centrally governed, Ladakh and J&K is a great enabler for mainstreaming the people of the erstwhile State. If there are legal challenges and political opposition, the government would do well to field a battery of illustrious lawyers to argue the merits before the constitution bench that may likely come up. That said the larger challenge would be to win over the people with real-time compassion and empathy in addition to an on the ground uplift of the people’s worries including a decent living. The government will have to walk the extra mile to increase opportunities for the local people for them to see the cost of lost opportunity. Besides creation of opportunities in employment, there is a need to reinvent the education paradigm in the valley, more so as an imperative to mainstreaming.
Education in the valley is where the healing must begin, both in what is dispensed along with how it is dispensed. For a start, the curriculum in schools must see a change that can transform the children to love and respect the concept of India as one Nation. Secondly, how will this be done? Thirdly, who does it? Three generations of people have undergone a learning that preached animosity and fear. Can the teachers be trained for a change in perception? Massive effort and persuasion would be needed. The results could be anything but encouraging. A second option of a calculated and a well thought out inter State transfer of teachers in government schools may be an idea worth exploring.
An experience of five years shared as a higher education regulator, I was required to implement the Prime Minister’s scholarship scheme in the J&K State, a brilliant scheme by any standards for mainstreaming efforts. The children were eager, the parents even more, and happy that their wards would eventually see better days, but for the vice like grip of various NGO’s in the valley had on them and the environment of fear and despondence they created, not to speak of the tell-tale corruption they indulged in, all but sabotaged the virtues of the scheme. It was further spiked by the nexus they had with a few chosen Universities due to which students were bunched together, defeating the very purpose of their cultural integration across the country. The fact that many children did go out to study in spite of the aberrations, speaks volumes of their passion and commitment to themselves and their families, a fact that will come in handy in the process of mainstreaming in the current milieu. The fact that the unequal provisions have now been stripped, their acceptance in the so-called other society will happen seamlessly. A larger question remains However. Why must this scheme be limited to children only from the valley? They should have been extended to children from Jammu, Ladakh and even the North East. True integration must encompass all to bear fruit.
The valley faculty too will need to be educated on the ills of a ghetto like society. An oft repeated cliché is that the traditional values would be diluted. On the contrary, the acquired knowledge and cross-cultural experience would widen the world view to an extent that the narrow parochial perspectives eventually fade. The faculty and the educational administrators must travel across and spend time in other institutes across the country with the policies suitably modified for it.
A massive infusion of private funds and enabling provisions must allow good institutes to be setup. Institutionalised Skill building is imperative that preserves and promotes both local and contemporary skills. A National Skills University headquartered in Srinagar with campuses in every district of the two new union territories could fetch rich dividends.
External challenges are massive. All out wars are least likely to happen. Low intensity skirmishes will continue to happen. Unfortunately, there is no permanent winner or a permanent loser in this game. One only gains a strategic and psychological advantage over the other for a limited period. A two-pronged approach of engaging the enemy on our terms and using diplomacy as a negotiating tool would do our bidding.
The role of intelligence, statesmanship and international cooperation for security and defence cannot be more underscored in the current context. Strategies must return J&K and Ladakh to their pristine beauty and eternal peace. Years of strife cannot be allowed to be institutionalised. The government has taken a calculated risk. It is time to reap the benefits. It is our payback time too.