Q&A: Madan Lal Sharma
Aasha Khosa / New Delhi August 17, 2008, 2:35 IST
The stir against the revocation of land allotment to the Amarnath shrine board is above political affiliations, Madan Lal Sharma, Congress Member of Parliament from Jammu, tells AASHA KHOSA
Why did the Jammu region flare up in such an unprecedented manner this time?The issue of land allotment to the Amarnath shrine board was handled in a way which spread a lot of confusion. First, the people in Kashmir thought the land was being given to build residential colonies. And then the people of Jammu thought the land had been given back while the reality is that the land was allotted and withdrawn only on paper. The government failed to give the correct picture to the people.
But surely, the way Jammu has been boiling for one-and-a-half months now, it appears that the land issue was just a triggerYes, the anger had been simmering for a long time. Some recent instances made the people of the Jammu region suspicious of the Kashmiri leadership’s designs. The Ghulam Nabi Azad government, for example, wanted to sort out the humanitarian problem of some 300,000 West Pakistan refugees who had shifted to J&K during partition. They have been living in the Jammu region without civil or political rights. Azad wanted a consensus among the political parties on restoring their rights. But the leaders from Kashmir did not want to look beyond the valley and were together in opposing the move. They have been displaying a Kashmir-centric approach in all matters, which has made people in Jammu insecure about their future. Cabinet meetings have often ended with leaders from Kashmir putting their foot down on anything that benefits the Jammu region.
How are you, being a Congress leader, empathising with the agitationists in Jammu, when the BJP and its affiliates are said to be behind the movement.It’s a myth that a single party holds the strings of this agitation. I must admit that the spirit of the agitation in Jammu is unprecedented. This is a real peoples’ movement — a janandolan — which is way above political ideologies. No party can take credit or hope to reap the harvest of what is a peoples’ movement. What is happening in Jammu is amazing. Never before have I seen women from upper middle class families, villagers in remote border areas, doctors, youth, labourers, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, all chanting one slogan.
The Kashmiri leaders who spoke against Jammu in the Cabinet meetings can only be from the Peoples’ Democratic Party, which till recently was your ally.The PDP leaders have been uneasy ever since Azad started his tenure and were looking for an occasion to wriggle out of the government. They did it and it came as no surprise to us. However, it was a bit shocking to see that the PDP and the National Conference (NC), headed by Farooq Abdullah, were happily chanting the same slogans, this time against Jammu.
But today, the agitation in Jammu has led to a major crisis in Kashmir. What do you have to say about it?The mass protests in Kashmir are just diversionary tactics of the Kashmiri leaders — be they in Hurriyat, the PDP or the NC — to divert attention from the real issue of land transfer, which is linked with the sentiments of Jammuites. Leaders like Mehbooba Mufti, and the Hurriyat, are spreading poison by trying to provoke a communal divide in the Jammu region. This is highly irresponsible. The allegation of economic blockade is another trick they are using to divert attention. The fact is that the Centre, for the first time, was worried about the public sentiment in the Jammu region and the leaders were keen to work out an amicable solution.
Kashmiri leaders began to get nervous and started raising the bogey of economic blockade to provoke people into taking out massive protests.
But the valley did face an economic blockade for at least some timeThis is a fundamental difference between Jammu and Kashmir regions. In Jammu too the people have been suffering due to shortages and disruption of normal life for more than two-and-a-half months. They don’t complain as it is their own movement. The supplies to Kashmir would surely suffer due to the continuous bandh in Jammu, which is the gateway to Kashmir, but they should not call it an economic blockade. The fact is that trucks laden with supplies are going to Kashmir under army escorts while Jammu’s rural areas are the worst-hit and are not even complaining.
The divide between the Jammu and Kashmir regions seems too deep to be bridged. Do you see any reconciliation in the future?Probably no Kashmiri wants to remember the positive role Jammu had played when the valley was burning due to insurgency. The people of Jammu welcomed the refugees from Kashmir — both Hindus and Muslims — with open arms. Even today, all political leaders of Kashmir have built their houses in Jammu. Moreover, Jammu maintained peace and communal amity all these years despite the acts of provocation from the terrorists and the separatists in Kashmir. It’s time the Kashmiris learn to respect others’ sentiments. However, I believe the coming election will throw up a political solution to this chasm, which seems unbridgeable today.
The Centre ignored your suggestions that Governor NN Vohra be replaced. Do you feel betrayed?I still believe that shifting the governor will cool the tempers in Jammu. The perception in Jammu is that it was the governor, who, as head of the shrine board, wrote to the government that he does not need the land. Why should the Centre stand on prestige on this? The government should immediately revamp the Amarnath shrine board.
Is there any way you see the agitation in Jammu cooling in the wake of the dangerous situation in Kashmir?The leaders at the Centre are living in a make-believe world if they think so. One must travel across Jammu’s hinterland to feel the do-or-die sentiment behind this people’s movement. The people are very sure that they must not relent from their position as they have done in the past in “national interest.” This time, nobody is in a mood to sit quiet and suffer the dominating nature of Kashmiris. We have suffered it for 60 years.
Aasha Khosa / New Delhi August 17, 2008, 2:35 IST
The stir against the revocation of land allotment to the Amarnath shrine board is above political affiliations, Madan Lal Sharma, Congress Member of Parliament from Jammu, tells AASHA KHOSA
Why did the Jammu region flare up in such an unprecedented manner this time?The issue of land allotment to the Amarnath shrine board was handled in a way which spread a lot of confusion. First, the people in Kashmir thought the land was being given to build residential colonies. And then the people of Jammu thought the land had been given back while the reality is that the land was allotted and withdrawn only on paper. The government failed to give the correct picture to the people.
But surely, the way Jammu has been boiling for one-and-a-half months now, it appears that the land issue was just a triggerYes, the anger had been simmering for a long time. Some recent instances made the people of the Jammu region suspicious of the Kashmiri leadership’s designs. The Ghulam Nabi Azad government, for example, wanted to sort out the humanitarian problem of some 300,000 West Pakistan refugees who had shifted to J&K during partition. They have been living in the Jammu region without civil or political rights. Azad wanted a consensus among the political parties on restoring their rights. But the leaders from Kashmir did not want to look beyond the valley and were together in opposing the move. They have been displaying a Kashmir-centric approach in all matters, which has made people in Jammu insecure about their future. Cabinet meetings have often ended with leaders from Kashmir putting their foot down on anything that benefits the Jammu region.
How are you, being a Congress leader, empathising with the agitationists in Jammu, when the BJP and its affiliates are said to be behind the movement.It’s a myth that a single party holds the strings of this agitation. I must admit that the spirit of the agitation in Jammu is unprecedented. This is a real peoples’ movement — a janandolan — which is way above political ideologies. No party can take credit or hope to reap the harvest of what is a peoples’ movement. What is happening in Jammu is amazing. Never before have I seen women from upper middle class families, villagers in remote border areas, doctors, youth, labourers, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, all chanting one slogan.
The Kashmiri leaders who spoke against Jammu in the Cabinet meetings can only be from the Peoples’ Democratic Party, which till recently was your ally.The PDP leaders have been uneasy ever since Azad started his tenure and were looking for an occasion to wriggle out of the government. They did it and it came as no surprise to us. However, it was a bit shocking to see that the PDP and the National Conference (NC), headed by Farooq Abdullah, were happily chanting the same slogans, this time against Jammu.
But today, the agitation in Jammu has led to a major crisis in Kashmir. What do you have to say about it?The mass protests in Kashmir are just diversionary tactics of the Kashmiri leaders — be they in Hurriyat, the PDP or the NC — to divert attention from the real issue of land transfer, which is linked with the sentiments of Jammuites. Leaders like Mehbooba Mufti, and the Hurriyat, are spreading poison by trying to provoke a communal divide in the Jammu region. This is highly irresponsible. The allegation of economic blockade is another trick they are using to divert attention. The fact is that the Centre, for the first time, was worried about the public sentiment in the Jammu region and the leaders were keen to work out an amicable solution.
Kashmiri leaders began to get nervous and started raising the bogey of economic blockade to provoke people into taking out massive protests.
But the valley did face an economic blockade for at least some timeThis is a fundamental difference between Jammu and Kashmir regions. In Jammu too the people have been suffering due to shortages and disruption of normal life for more than two-and-a-half months. They don’t complain as it is their own movement. The supplies to Kashmir would surely suffer due to the continuous bandh in Jammu, which is the gateway to Kashmir, but they should not call it an economic blockade. The fact is that trucks laden with supplies are going to Kashmir under army escorts while Jammu’s rural areas are the worst-hit and are not even complaining.
The divide between the Jammu and Kashmir regions seems too deep to be bridged. Do you see any reconciliation in the future?Probably no Kashmiri wants to remember the positive role Jammu had played when the valley was burning due to insurgency. The people of Jammu welcomed the refugees from Kashmir — both Hindus and Muslims — with open arms. Even today, all political leaders of Kashmir have built their houses in Jammu. Moreover, Jammu maintained peace and communal amity all these years despite the acts of provocation from the terrorists and the separatists in Kashmir. It’s time the Kashmiris learn to respect others’ sentiments. However, I believe the coming election will throw up a political solution to this chasm, which seems unbridgeable today.
The Centre ignored your suggestions that Governor NN Vohra be replaced. Do you feel betrayed?I still believe that shifting the governor will cool the tempers in Jammu. The perception in Jammu is that it was the governor, who, as head of the shrine board, wrote to the government that he does not need the land. Why should the Centre stand on prestige on this? The government should immediately revamp the Amarnath shrine board.
Is there any way you see the agitation in Jammu cooling in the wake of the dangerous situation in Kashmir?The leaders at the Centre are living in a make-believe world if they think so. One must travel across Jammu’s hinterland to feel the do-or-die sentiment behind this people’s movement. The people are very sure that they must not relent from their position as they have done in the past in “national interest.” This time, nobody is in a mood to sit quiet and suffer the dominating nature of Kashmiris. We have suffered it for 60 years.
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