Confusion over State Subject Definition of
1927
Refugee Problem
The
State Subject Definition was introduced by Maharaja Pratap Singh to defeat the
questionable intentions of the Kashmiri leadership with the Dogra Sadar Sabha,
founded in 1904, playing the most crucial role in the movement leading to the
enact of the State Subject laws. Indeed, there were cogent reasons for the
Maharaja to enact these laws. For example, the Kashmiri leadership of the time
was pressing for "importing educated" members belonging to their
community so that they could man all the important and other positions in the
state. The Maharaja and his administration, which was roundly criticized by the
Punjabi and Anglo-Indian press, had dismissed the demand of the Kashmiri
leadership saying "educated" people belonging to both the major
communities were available in the state and, hence, their demand was not
unjustifiable. And the response of the Kashmiri leadership to the enactment of
the State Subject laws was one of great dissatisfaction. In fact, the Kashmiri
leadership opposed these laws tooth and nail between 1927 and 1947.
It
was only after 1947, when anti-Dogra and anti-Jammu Jawaharlal Nehru got the
state power transferred from Jammu to Kashmir using foul means to keep NC
president Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in good humour, that the Kashmiri leadership
took a complete U-turn on the State Subject question and started opposing tooth
and nail the demand seeking abrogation of the State Subject laws. The demand
for the abrogation of the State Subject laws was raised in Jammu in particular
and the argument the opponents of the State Subject Definition advanced was
that since the princely rule in the state had ended and since Jammu &
Kashmir had lawfully acceded to the Indian Dominion, it shall be only
appropriate if the state was brought at par with other states and people across
the nation granted the right to live and work anywhere in the country. They
were the same people who had opposed the incorporation of Article 370 in the
Indian Constitution on the ground that the grant of special status to the state
at the behest of Kashmiri leadership would complicate things for India in
Kashmir and enable Pakistan and other hostile nations in the world, including
England and United States, to play nefarious games in the region.
Notwithstanding the loud clamour in Jammu
and Ladakh for bringing the state at par with other states of the country, the
Kashmiri leadership supported to the hilt by Nehru & Co incorporated the
State Subject laws in the Jammu & Kashmir Constitution, which was enforced
on January 26, 1957.
The
reasons behind the opposition of the Kashmiri leadership to the demand in Jammu and Ladakh for complete integration into the Indian
Constitutional framework are quite understandable considering what has been
happening in Kashmir since 1947. They do not
want any Indian residing in other parts of India to settle in the state. On
the contrary, they are cleaning Kashmir of those who do not subscribe to their
ideology and trying to create in Jammu the
Kashmir-like situation so that they could tell the international community that
the entire state wants to go out of the Constitutional organization of India . Besides,
they believe that the grant of citizenship rights to the refugees from West
Pakistan would not only enhance Jammu 's
representation in the Legislative Assembly and change the state's demographic
profile. However, it would be wrong to blame the Kashmiri leadership. For, it
is doing what it is expected to do. The real culprit is New Delhi . Hence, the refugees should blame New Delhi and not the
Kashmiri leadership which can be tackled in no time.
No comments:
Post a Comment