Consensus eludes J&K all-party meet
Sharp differences ensured that a consensus elude Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s weekend all-party meeting.
By Masood Hussain, TNN |
SRINAGAR: Sharp differences ensured that a consensus elude Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad’s weekend all-party meeting. But the saving grace was the setting up of a committee that would suggest measures about rationalising boundaries of the existing assembly segments and ways and means of improving the life of West Pakistan refugees.
The entire forum was literally divided on regional lines with participants from NC, PDP and CPI (M) asking to avoid raising sensitive issues that could impact the ongoing peace process.
Sources told ET that a committee would be nominated by the Chief Minister within two days so that it would make recommendations on the two issues. “If we managed to create a consensus on these smaller things, then an emergency session of the state legislature would be called to amend the law, especially on reorganising and rationalising the existing segments of the assembly,” one leader, who was part of the day-long discourse, said.
Aimed at checking BJP’s influence in Jammu in the short term, Azad had called the meeting to discuss increasing the strength of the house by 25%, rationalising the existing boundaries and granting state subject rights to the refugees who entered J&K in 1947, 1965 and 1971. In the run up to the meet, almost all parties had made their stands clear.
On the issue of granting state subject rights to the refugees — the population of whom was put at 1,50,000 by the Chief Minister — parties said it is impossible, given the constitutional impediments. Unlike strong support by parties having vote base in Jammu, participants from Kashmir said right now, strengthening the peace process should be the priority.
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Linking the issue with the resolution of Kashmir issue, PDP said at that point of time legislation for granting permanent state subject rights would find a greater consensus across all the regions of the state. Increasing the size of the legislature was flatly opposed by NC that has already made a law preventing any change till 2026. Changing the law would require two-third majority. PDP supported the move saying it should be proportionate to the present number of constituencies. On redrawing of boundaries and rotation of reserved constituencies, the party said this measure should form the part of the delimitation process and not taken up in isolation. “Doing so independent of overall delimitation would, in our opinion, result in more problems than solutions,” it added.
Tarigmai, on his part, said the issue should be strengthening the peace process and restoring the peoples faith in democracy. “In Jammu, there are 30 lakh voters in a population of 44 lakh and in Kashmir there are 28 lakh voters in a population of 57 lakh. Does not this contradiction indicate that more people are alienated and need to be addressed rather than raking up the issue of increasing the seats”, he said.
Leaders from BJP said since there is lot of population in Jammu, the number of seats must be equal in Kashmir and Jammu. At the end of the day, it was on the insistence of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad that parties agreed to a committee that suggest measures an reorganising the existing legislative assembly seats and human angle to the refugees.
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