Final straw to democratic credentials.Ripe Occasion for appraising the rest of the country.
Latief u Zaman Deva
The reports about the proposed nominations for Displaced persons from Muzaferabad- Sadhunuti-Mirpur track, migrants from Kashmir Valley and women in JK legislative Assembly should not escape proper scrutiny by the persons concerned for forceful rebuttal.In accordance with Census 1941 the total population of non- Muslims in Tehsils Muzafferabad, Sadhunuti & Bagh and Distt Mirpur, forming POK, was 117946 which on the strength of decadal growth rates recorded in all censuses till 2011 can’t exceed 471784 assuming that there was not Jammu like genocide outcome of partition countenanced by them back home & all DP families totalling 31619 registered with Provincial Rehabilitation officer Jammu including 5000 who opted for settlement outside JK are genuinely from areas of erstwhile State of J&K. Similarly on the basis of Census population of 124078 of Hindus in Kashmir Valley in census 1981 supported by koshur population by mother tongue in Census 2011 the population of Kashmiri Pandits could be around 2.20 lakhs. In Udhampur, Jammu, Samba and Kathwa the koshur speaking population is 1.20 lakhs apart from 01 lakh in rest of the country ( population by mother tongues- Census 2011) which covers non- Hindu koshur also.However since the Pandit population has all along been 5% of Valley population the short fall of about one lakh persons can be attributed to their domicile in different parts of the world and outside metropolitan regions of the country.While allocating seats to 20 Distts the Delimitation Commission has factored in the population of DPs and koshur migrants for Distts of their existing domicile in Jammu Division although the latter are registered as voters in their respective Assembly Constituencies of the Valley. DC having been outrageously biased and communal is established by its flouting of basis law and precedents of latest delimitations in rest of the country but also selectively applying it’s own flawed criteria and denying the additional seats to Distts far ahead eligible against its favourites. The result is that 28% population eligible for 25 seats from out of 90 seats is getting 30 on the basis of territorial sway and due to classical methodology of gerrymandering another 6 made easy prey for Hindutva brigade having religious plurality in the ratio of 49:51, 50 :50, 48:52 & so on. With proposed 02,04 & 02 seats on nomination basis by GOI for Migrants( essentially KPs), Displaced persons and women respectively these 08 members would always be a principal source for ”democratic” sub- version” with scope for manipulating the electoral outcome. In a house of 98 (90+8) members the non- Hindus comprising about 71% + population could be left with 56% seats as 43.87% has been engineered for 28% Hindu population subject to upsets in mixed populated 06 Constituencies, a rare possibility in highly polarised India. The most point is that in case Displaced persons are to be empowered politically what prevents BJP from fielding them as its candidates at the hustings or reserving 03 to 04 seats with highest DP population after legal coverage. This population is taken into account in the Distts of Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Udhampur and Rajouri in earmarking the seats Distt wise and now nominations proposed for them instead of reservation route followed for their empowerment. DPs have neither suffered nor do they suffer from societal problems of isolation and discrimination but have been major beneficiaries of political order right from 1947 principally owing to linguistic & ethnic commonalities with the hereditary state Subjects of Distts where they stand rehabilitated. KPs have been elected from Devsar, Pahalgam and Habakadal Constituencies from time to time during 1952 to 2008 periods.The reasons of migration could have attracted the option of reservations for them in the Valley & not nominations in face of its repercussions in rest of country where large sections from the largest minority community have ghettoised in different parts of the country owing to uncontested elements of insecurity in their respective areas. Five lakh people in Gujarat have not returned to their native places even after expiry of 20 years. What about their demands? The nominations by central Govtt to legislative Assembly in JK is doubly empowering a particular community with objective of setting at naught the public mandate otherwise its adoption is highly warranted in rest of the country for ensuring appropriate representation to disempowered communities for whom the remorseless set ups are constant source of friction and uncertainty. Should the mainstream parties relent for their own imaginary political survival the least one can expect from them is to propose election of candidates from the three communities/ Groups by the elected members of legislative Assembly or disqualifying them from participation in election of the leader of House,the leader of opposition & presiding officers of the Assembly with no role in motions for vote of no confidence against them otherwise learn from examples set by people of Terai and Madhesis in Nepal but short of coming on streets in order to prevent the spoilers from playing their negative roles.