Jammu wakes up to its identity issue

Arun Joshi

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Jammu is not a corner hidden in obscurity that can escape the worldview. The leadership of Delhi and Srinagar is committing a mistake in superimposing their respective narratives on Jammu without according reverence for facts and its integrity.

Thinkers of Jammu and some formidable political leaders have started articulating what was considered an untouchable subject until recently. One section owed its existence to their leaders in the Valley, and the other gave the power of attorney to the BJP and Congress to speak on its behalf. There was a collision between the two and the real narration of Jammu was lost in their cacophony.

Why Jammu, known for its dormancy, has started speaking now? The answer is quite obvious – the Kashmiri leadership started speaking on its behalf without taking the region’s leadership, in whatever form it exists, into confidence. When the “Gupkar declaration” was made on August 4, 2019, and its reiteration by six parties on August 22, 2020, there was not even a single signatory from the region.

The argument was that the top leadership of all these parties was from the Valley and it had the right to say or do anything. True. But Jammu leaders of these parties were not consulted even telephonically. Had they been consulted, the shape of the declaration would have been different and Delhi would not have been mute.

Delhi, whether it is run by the BJP or Congress or others too, has taken Jammu for granted. The region is devoted to the Indian nation. Its people have made numerous sacrifices for the country on the borders and within over decades. That, however, doesn’t mean that the people here have allowed themselves to keep their urges and aspirations hostage to the wishes and dictates of others.

Jammu’s identity suffered a major blow during the BJP rule in Jammu and Kashmir in alliance with the PDP. And Delhi did not do what it did on August 5, 2019, for Jammu, though it has a thesis that it has liberated Jammu from the subjugation of the parties that discriminated against Jammu since 1947.

But unfortunately, the divisions induced by others have creeped into Jammu’s psyche. Jammu will have to do self-correction as a first step to maintain its dignity.