“Give J&K full statehood, a Delhi-type compromise”not
Amitabh Mattoo believes that Kashmir is at a critical crossroads again. The 59yearold, Srinagarborn academician and political advisor to former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, says the Valley “is currently experiencing a remarkable sense of quiescence”. This, he says, gives the Indian government the opportunity to reach out to the alienated youth and prevent them from turning to violence. He hopes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent outreach to mainstream Kashmiri leaders is not tactical but “the first step on the ladder” and that further steps will reveal the “strategic vision of the prime minister to ensure peace in J&K”.
For him, how the government handles the sequencing of delimitation, elections and statehood in the coming months will determine whether it can pull off its Kashmir gameplan. Mattoo is categorical that the potentially explosive delimitation of electoral constituencies has to be “credible, fair and transparent and devoid of gerrymandering for political ends either in terms of religion, region and ethnicity”.
Mattoo’s ancestral house, located in the heart of Srinagar, is among the few owned by Pandits that survived the brunt of militancy in the 1990s. Just as the AngloIndian community was given representation in Parliament, Mattoo hopes the Pandits can seek reservation of an assembly seat in the Valley. But he acknowledges this is outside the framework of the delimitation exercise and requires a constitutional amendment.
Ideally, Mattoo hopes, after the delimitation exercise, statehood will be restored and then an assembly election held. He is, however, firm that J&K should be given full statehood, not a Delhitype compromise. “One of the reasons,” he adds, “why J&K became alienated was because the robustness of the Indian democracy, including the richness of its argumentative tradition, was not seen in the state. So, we should be free to debate and empower people at the grassroots and give the state the responsibility to ensure law and order and prevent the people from feeling alienated again”. The other issue he thinks needs attention is job reservations for locals and the prevention of land alienation to end distrust in the Valley regarding the designs of the Indian government. He is also concerned that the promised economic development has yet to reach the Union territory. “Where is Davos? Where is the huge investment? Or the good governance? The missing link is accountable, democratically elected representatives who can direct bureaucrats to effectively deliver on the ground. Babus by themselves can’t do it”.