SRINAGAR: National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah on Tuesday rejected demands for further division of Jammu and Kashmir, and instead insisted on Ladakh’s reunification with J&K.He also dismissed PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti’s proposal for carving out Muslim majority areas of Jammu as a separate division of J&K, calling it an advocacy of the ‘Dixon Plan’ — a proposal made in Sept 1950 by Sir Owen Dixon, an Australian judge who came to the subcontinent as the UN representative to mediate between India and Pakistan following the latter’s invasion of Kashmir in 1947-48.“J&K state comprises Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, and the day is not far when Ladakh will again be part of Jammu and Kashmir,” Farooq told reporters in Jammu. “Ladakhis have not benefited from the region’s separation from Jammu and Kashmir. Even today, people in Ladakh want to be reunited with J&K, and do not want Union Territory status.”He summarily rejected the idea of separation of Jammu from Kashmir, saying: “Those demanding separate statehood for Jammu are ignorant and lack any understanding.”Countering BJP’s allegation that NC and PDP thrived on unrest, Farooq said: “We have taken bullets for staying with India, and we are ready to take them again if needed.” It was “them (BJP), not us” who wanted to create disturbance, he asserted.A debate on further bifurcation of J&K started earlier this month after BJP legislator Sham Lal Sharma raised a pitch for a separate Jammu state, alleging discrimination against the region by “Kashmir-based rulers”.While NC functionary and J&K’s deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary on Monday categorically rejected the demand and called for Ladakh to be reunited with J&K, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti waded into the debate and floated a proposal for further division of Jammu instead.Mehbooba said the Pir Panjal region, comprising Rajouri and Poonch districts, and the Chenab Valley, comprising Doda and Kishtwar districts, should be carved out as separate divisions. All four districts are part of the Jammu division.Rejecting the demand, Farooq said: “It is the Dixon Plan. It was an old plan to divide J&K along the Chenab river, making it ‘Greater Kashmir’. But Parmar Sahib (first chief minister of Himachal Pradesh Y S Parmar) opposed any such division,” he said, adding that there is no need to carve out further divisions or districts in Jammu.BJP spokesman Altaf Thakur on Tuesday described Mehbooba’s demand for divisional status to Pir Panjal and Chenab Valley as “deeply conspiratorial, divisive and anti-national agenda that mirrors the long-standing strategy of Pakistan’s ISI”. “Mehbooba Mufti is not speaking for the people of Pir Panjal or Chenab Valley; she is repeating the language of Pakistan and its ISI, which has always dreamt of creating a so-called ‘Greater Kashmir’ by gradually absorbing Jammu’s Muslim-majority belts into Kashmir. This is a dangerous experiment on India’s sovereignty,” Thakur said.Reacting to the statements of Farooq and BJP, the PDP chief slammed NC and BJP for casting aspersions on her, saying her demand was purely administrative, and that her only agenda was to ensure development and better governance of these regions, which remained “neglected”.
About the Author
