After years of relative calm, the ‘beef war’ has fanned flames of a new wave of regional and communal divide between Muslim majority Kashmir and Hindu majority parts of Jammu. Though the beef controversy started from other states of the country, as usual, Kashmir became the epicentre of the storm. The instigators fully know about the emotionally charged atmosphere in the state, especially the extreme alienation.
On September 8, a division bench of the state’s high court at Jammu directed the Director General of Police (DGP) to enforce ban on slaughter of bovines and sale of beef. Predictably, there was an angry uproar over the ruling in the Valley and bovines were slaughtered defiantly with impunity. A protest shutdown in Kashmir spiralled the situation in the pattern of 2008 Amarnath land controversy, which had finally resulted in the collapse of then Ghualm Nabi Azad-led government and imposition of Governor’s rule.
Then, there was a chain reaction and the last act in the series was the attack on Kashmir-bound truckers in Udhampur. Jammu instigators threatened to enforce an economic boycott of the valley. The death of 21-year-old Zahid Ahmad Bhat, after a deadly attack by a mob on a truck travelling from Udhampur to the valley last month, almost gave credence to the threats. The beef ban not only polarised Jammu and Kashmir on regional lines but also on religious lines with hardliners on both the sides trying to exploit the situation.
Fortunately, this time the initiative from the Chamber of Commerce, Jammu, defused the situation and exposed the mischievous elements. Also, from the Kashmir side, saner voices advised people to follow the teachings of the Holy Quran and respect others’ religion and desist from public display of their own belief.
Though the deep divide between the two regions, which has a long history, is no secret, since 2008 deepening fault lines between Jammu and Kashmir have been further exposed. The 2008 Amarnath agitation divided them on communal and regional lines with people in both the regions launching agitations for and against the transfer of 39.88 hectares of forest land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB). Since then, wily politicians in both the regions left no stone unturned to widen the gap to gain the political mileage.
While the economic blockade in 2008 gave a new lease of life to separatists and the ruling PDP in the Valley, in Jammu it catapulted the BJP to centre-stage. In the Assembly elections that followed the 2008 agitation, the BJP secured 11 seats, a quantum jump from their highest tally till then of two seats. The regional divide further buttressed the BJP’s fort in 2014 Assembly elections as the party won a whopping 25 out of 37 seats in the region, riding on polarisation.
After the 2014 Assembly election results, it seems the divide between the two regions has only increased. Though parts of Jammu region (Jammu, Kathua, Samba and parts of Udhampur district) have a Hindu majority, some areas of the region, including the Chenab valley and the Pir Panjal regions, have a mixed population and any communal flare-up in them will devastate the entire state. In fact, Kishtwar in the Chenab valley witnessed a communal riot in July 2013 in which three people were killed and dozens more injured.
Over the years, while Jammu has reduced its definition to the plains and seems to be articulating for Indian nationalism, Kashmir has become too exclusive again, the high-pitched rhetoric of inclusiveness notwithstanding.
When the PDP and the BJP – two opposite ends of the political spectrum – joined hands in March this year with a pledge to bring the two regions together and intertwine their developmental and governance aspirations, there was optimism in the air for some time.
Widening gulf
By joining hands with the rightwing BJP, regional PDP Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had claimed that one of the achievements of the coalition government would be to bring the regions of the state together. However, on ground the gulf is widening by the day and some day it may swallow both the BJP and the PDP, who till now have been the main beneficiaries of polarisation.
The people have their own questions on governance. They want to know what happened to the promises which were made to them during and after elections. Their problems, like those of their counterparts in other states, are unemployment and lack of basic amenities. In Kashmir, these grievances are more compounded due to the conflict and last year’s devastating floods.
The best way for the PDP and the BJP would be to defeat the politics of polarisation and respect the mandate of the people who have chosen them to alleviate their problems. For now, the Supreme Court has put in abeyance for two months the beef ban orders of the J&K High Court which has given the state government a breathing space to decide what they want to do in future. By raking up this issue again, the coalition government can push the state towards violence and backwardness. A second and sensible option would be to concentrate on developmental issues on whose assurance the parties rose to power.
The unfortunate part of the whole spiralling controversy is the shelving of the most urgent tasks by the state government. The first has been the rehabilitation of flood-affected people and restoration of the damaged infrastructure, besides providing means of livelihood to increasing number of unemployed educated youth.
It had been observed by many political analysts that a strong central government, especially of the BJP, will be able to take revolutionary decisions in solving the long-pending Kashmir problem. However, as of now, it seems the reverse is happening.
Published 06 November 2015, 18:29 IST