The central government led by Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) revoked the Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 and Article 35A of the constitution and divided the State into two Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh on 6th August 2019. The abrogation was done in a very undemocratic manner as the Valley was locked downed with strict curfew, internet scrapped and all communication was made defunct. Heavy deployment of forces was made before days and advisories were issued from all departments which created panic and psychological trauma. All leaders from major to minor and across ideologies were imprisoned. Life was paralyzed for months and everything from trade to social rituals were brought to a standstill. Under such serious circumstances no body raised a voice and India succeeded in executing its nefarious designs.
In a recent development the Union Government on 1st of April issued a notification defining “domiciles” in the new Union Territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir for protecting jobs in the Group D category and entry-level non-gazetted posts for the domiciles. According to the notification, anyone who has resided for a period of 15 years in the UT of Jammu & Kashmir or has studied for a period of seven years and appeared in Class 10th /12th examination or who is registered as a migrant by the Relief and Rehabilitation Commissioner (Migrants) will be deemed to be a domicile.
The order further says the domiciles will be eligible for the purposes of appointment to any post carrying a pay scale of not more than Level 4. The Level 4 post comprises positions such as gardeners, barbers, office peons and waterman and the highest rank in the category is that of a junior assistant. The reservation for domiciles would not apply to Group A and Group B posts, and like other UTs, recruitment would be done by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). This is according to the norms in other UTs and States. Under the 2010 Act, the clause for “permanent resident of the State” has been substituted by “Domicile” of the UT. The Act pertained to employment in the civil services comprising “district, divisional and State” cadre posts. Prior to the introduction of domicile law only permanent residents of J&K were eligible to apply for the gazetted and non-gazetted posts. The amendment allows non-domiciles also to apply to these posts. Moreover children of Central Govt. officials, All India Services, PSUs, autonomous body of Centre, Public Sector Banks, officials of statutory bodies, Central Universities, recognised research institutes of Centre who have served in Jammu & Kashmir for a total period of 10 years will be considered domiciles.
Scraping of special status and abrogation of Article 370 and 35A were in the political agenda of BJP since decades. And even people voted BJP for this. In a country like India it is very easy to befool anyone as people here hardly put their mind and reason into action, rather leave everything to their emotions and affiliations to decide. The recent development of domicile law is also part of BJP’s agenda. The saffron fans are trying to their best to justify and portray it in good colours but are failing miserably as the law has got widespread criticism. It was after this persistent criticism; the centre amended the law and deleted the part pertaining to employment to non-residents. It may be after this criticism but it might have been the policy of the centre to kill two birds with a single stone as the law even after amendment is in no way in favour or beneficial to the people of the region. The amendment is like pulling out one eye instead of two. There may be some relief in employment segment but from the demographic, socio-cultural and identity point of view it is precarious as it was before amendment. The demographic flooding of Indians, including additional military forces, bureaucrats, government officials, as well as private sector employees and citizens will change the whole structure of population in Kashmir. As it is believed, “Israeli-like” settlements can now be introduced in J&K making the region’s Muslim-majority into second-class citizens, a demographic minority, & pave way for ethnic cleansing. The Demographic flooding will in turn impact the results of a potential plebiscite or referendum in India’s favor.
The law will surely lead to cultural loss and will shake our heritage and age old ethos. By giving thousands of non-resident families’ resident rights and domicile status the demographic scenario of the region will certainly change drastically. It will have great repercussion for the native population, and for their cultural ethos. Our cultural is certainly rich but not enough strong to resist the foreign inroads. Ultimately we will witness a cultural shock as the dominant foreign culture will overshadow the indigenous culture.
The law came as a catastrophe for the youth of Jammu and Kashmir as they saw their already mere chances drowning. This was more shocking to the youth of Jammu region as that region has always been loyal and patriotic to India. There are more than two and a half lakh educated unemployed youth in Jammu and Kashmir. Due to large scale unemployment, this talented and educated youth is victim of social stigmatization, helplessness and psychological distress. To be an educated unemployed person is a big crime in our society as one has to face so many problems like social disaffection in matters like marriage and one has to face psychological tortures like low prestige due to being dependent on someone else. The private sector as a ray of hope is unfortunately worth keeping on ventilator in Jammu and Kashmir as it is hardly in a position to offer any solace to the disconsolate youth of Kashmir.
What this domicile law means to the unemployed and budding youth of Kashmir is not less than slap. The already frustrated youth who are suffers of ill fate and worst political agony has been simply thrown from a Frying Pain to the Fire. The law has added more to the frustration of the youth. Consequently it will lead to more escalation and alienation. The newly introduced law will give birth to more radicalization and there will be a great set back to the ongoing peace process in the region. There has always been a gap between the people, particularly youth of the Valley and the Centre. We have been trapped and promised time and again but nothing positive has came to our way ever. We have been disappointed time and again by the centre and our gains have been like much ado about nothing.
A wave of despair and hopelessness is all what one can see at the moment all across the Valley. The youth has been pushed to the wall and have been left with rare options. Instead of giving anything we have been snatched whatever we had. Our ethos, identity and culture has already been erased and robbed.
Our leaders who being in power for decades failed to bring any remarkable change and infact couldn’t make the temporary privileged provisions, permanent, have betrayed us and have always compromised for their petty gains. Bit by bit we have lost everything from identity to ethos and our gains are less than meager.
According to an estimate there are over 84,000 vacancies in J&K, of which 22,078 pertain to Class IV employees, 54,375 to non-gazetted and 7,552 at the Gazetted level. Instead of any fast track recruitment drives the government is playing politics and is adding more miseries to the dejected youth of the region. There are thousands of educated youth who have already crossed or are at the verge of crossing the age limit. Such youth if not heard will resort to any extremes as they are left with no options except hopelessness, and in such situations one always take to radical means.
The way India is trying to connect Kashmir with India is bereft of any motivation and is not going to work in any way. The “Pan Indianisation project will prove Pain Indianisation project” for India in long run. The domicile law will give a death knell to the so called good will and confidence building programmes run by centre in the Valley. The people in Kashmir specially youth in Kashmir is already going through tough times and are in utter disbelief, as the ongoing conflict, frequent changes of political regimes, absence of any transparency in the administration and incidents of natural forces have made the people of Kashmir suspicious and incredulous. The people have been living in constant trauma and tyranny. The people have lost their belief in the benevolence of rulers. It is high time for India to listen to the emotions and aspiration of the youth of the region and mend its ways in dealing with them. Otherwise it will be too late and the situation will be like, “A spark neglected burns a house.”
