J&K minister rejects statehood demand for Jammu, calls for Ladakh’s reunion

SRINAGAR: The Omar Abdullah govt on Tuesday rejected the demand of statehood for Jammu region, calling it “unviable”, and said it was instead time for Ladakh to be reunited with Jammu and Kashmir.

“J&K was a full-fledged state earlier. It was then bifurcated into Ladakh and J&K. Those who split J&K state now want to divide it further and desire to make even Kanak Mandi a state,” minister for jal shakti, environment and tribal affairs Javed Rana said, taking a veiled dig at BJP. Kanak Mandi is a historic wholesale market in Jammu city.

BJP legislators were free to raise the issue of separate statehood for Jammu, but there was no such demand from large parts of the region, including Pir Panjal areas of Rajouri and Poonch and the Chenab Valley, said Rana talking to reporters. “Instead, I believe that the day is not far when Ladakh will again become part of J&K,” he added.

BJP MLAs, especially former minister Sham Lal Sharma, have renewed calls for a separate Jammu state. Sharma said the demand was not new and that he had raised it way back in 2010, when he was a minister in then Congress govt. Sharma claimed the people of Jammu are more “nationalistic”, while Kashmir, he alleged, has been politically unstable due to the rhetoric of political parties like National Conference that says J&K only acceded to India and did not fully merge with it. Sharma alleged that Jammu was facing discrimination at the hands of “Kashmir-based rulers”. He also called for a Hindu chief minister.

On Jan 5, BJP spokesperson Rajni Sethi said Jammu was suffering because of what she described as “fundamentalists in Kashmir”. “When people from Jammu travel outside J&K, they are treated with suspicion and their identity is questioned. People assume Jammu is also influenced by extremism,” she said.

Rejecting the charges, NC spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq said: “BJP has no politics except tarnishing Kashmiris and their image.” The govt would not allow BJP members to create a rift between Jammu and Kashmir,, he said, adding: “We believe in equitable development of both regions. The restoration of Darbar Move is an indication of Omar govt’s commitment towards development of Jammu.”

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