Statehood Debate

Jammu and Kashmir, its Lt Governor Manoj Sinha reiterated his government’s commitment to “restoring full statehood” for Jammu and Kashmir in his address to the Budget Session of the UT’s Assembly on Saturday. LG Sinha said that his government will address the “legitimate desire” of the people and keep in mind “the emotional and political significance of statehood” for them. However, the LG emphasized that the government will facilitate this process “in a manner that ensures peace, stability and progress”. If anything, one can infer from this that the central government, represented by the LG in J&K, isn’t sure about the fallout of the statehood on the region’s existing calm. There is already a narrative in some quarters that J&K shouldn’t be given full statehood but one where the centre remains in charge of the law and order.

However, the elected government led by the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah disagrees with this point of view. When the issue was brought up at a recent media event in New Delhi, Omar challenged the commonly held belief that the existing normalcy in J&K could be best safeguarded if the law and order remained under the central government’s control. While acknowledging that Kashmir had witnessed a relative peace over the past five years, the CM termed it “forced” rather than “organic” and hence inherently fragile in nature. He sought full statehood like any other state of India, rubbishing campaign by some interests to single out J&K for a discriminatory treatment. “There is no model in India where you have a full state without all powers. So unless you are envisaging a situation where J&K would be treated uniquely, I don’t see how this will work,” Omar said in response to a question.

The centre, on its part, hasn’t revealed its cards. Both the prime minister Narendra Modi and the home minister Amit Shah have time and again promised the restoration of statehood at an appropriate time. What they have not given so far is the timeline. This is because the existing arrangement is seen as ideal from the centre’s standpoint and the union government might be loathe to alter this favourable arrangement by granting an early statehood to J&K. More so, when there also are far bigger reasons to withhold it. Centre, it is believed, is unlikely to let go of control on the security agencies and the allied security related matters, lest it unravel the gains made in recent years. The recent rise in militancy-related violence is likely to further dissuade the central government from handing over complete control over the region to an elected government. At the same time, it would be increasingly difficult to ignore the aspirations for statehood in the UT, as this will only deepen alienation. Best available option for the centre is to trust the elected government with running the state of affairs and make it accountable for its actions.

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