Problem in Kashmir is jihad: Will Jammu Congress leaders imitate Manipur Congress, denounce Chidambaram and oppose autonomy demand?

Manipur, Chidambaram’s autonomy proposal

On November 21, 2024, an important development took place within the Congress. That day, former Union Home and Finance Minister in the Manmohan Singh-led ragtag UPA government, P Chidambaram, commented on the developing situation in the strife-torn and BJP-ruled Manipur. Reacting to the deployment of more security forces personnel in Manipur, he in a post on social media platform X said: “Deploying 5000 more CAPF personnel ‘is not the answer’…It is more wisdom: acknowledging that Mr Biren Singh, the Chief Minister, is the cause of the crisis and removing him immediately. It is more understood: that the Meitei, the Kuki-Zo, and the Naga can live together in one State only if they have genuine regional autonomy. It is more statesmanship: for the Hon’ble PM to give up his obstinacy, visit Manipur, and speak to the people of Manipur with humility and learn first-hand their grievances and aspirations.”

Revolt

What he said caused a stir in the Manipur chapter of the Sonia-Rahul-Priyanka Congress. The result was that no less than 10 Congress leaders, including current MLAs, former ministers, and former Manipur Congress presidents, on the same day, lodged a very strong protest against Chidambaram. In fact, they held an emergency meeting to discuss the whole issue and after the meeting, they wrote a letter to the AICC chief, Mallikarjun Kharge, seeking action against him. They asked the AICC chief to direct Chidambaram to delete his post, “which aligns in part with Kuki-Zo groups’ demand for separate autonomy for their territories.”

Their letter read like this: “In the meeting, we unanimously condemned the content of Shri P Chidambaram’s recent post on X concerning the Manipur crisis. The post contains language and sentiments that are highly inappropriate during this hour of heightened tension, public grief, and public sensitivity in Manipur. Congress party always stands for the unity and territorial integrity of the State of Manipur. We request AICC for prompt appropriate action against Shri P Chidambaram for his post today and direct him to delete it immediately.”

Earlier, the Manipur Congress Chief, K Meghachandra, had asked Chidambaram to delete the post and said: “Manipur is in turmoil situation. It is very sensitive.”

The nature and magnitude of the stir could be gauged from the fact that the cornered Chidambaram had to delete the divisive post the same day.

Manipur Chief Minister Biren Singh had not lagged behind. He had lashed out at Chidambaram and said that “the seeds of the conflict were laid by Chidambaram by entering a Suspension of Operation Agreement with the Zomi Revolutionary Army in 2008.”[1]

Jammu Congress leadership

The Manipur Congress leadership deserves kudos for what they did and said about the Manipur situation, the Kuki-Zo groups’ demand for autonomy, and Chidambaram and his autonomy proposal. The question to be asked is: Will the Jammu-based Congress leaders imitate their counterparts in Manipur and demand action against Chidambaram, who has been repeatedly demanding greater autonomy, bordering on virtual sovereignty, for Kashmir since October 2009, saying Kashmir is a unique problem and it needs a unique solution and solutions which apply to other States of the country cannot be replicated in Kashmir?

A reference to just what Chidambaram said about Kashmir on October 14, 2009, July 21, 2016, and August 12, 2019, would be enough to put things in perspective.

On October 14, 2009, Chidambaram addressed the All India Editors Conference on Social and Infrastructure issues in Srinagar and he, among other things, said: “Government will hold talks with every section of political opinion in the State (in this case Kashmir) through ‘quiet dialogue, quiet diplomacy’ to find a political solution to the Kashmir problem that may be ‘unique’. We are not shying away from talks with anyone…We cannot hold the dialogue in the glare of the media…Kashmir has a unique geographical location and a unique history. We have to find a solution that may turn out to be unique. There is nothing wrong with a unique solution but we must find a solution that is honorable, equitable, and acceptable to the vast majority, the overwhelming majority of the people of Jammu and Kashmir” (in this case obviously Muslims)”.[2]

On July 21, 2016, Chidambaram gave an interview to India Today and advocated restoring what he called the “grand bargain under which Kashmir had acceded to India by granting a large degree of autonomy.” He warned that “otherwise the country will have to pay a “heavy price”. Explaining he, inter-alia, said: “We ignored the grand bargain under which J&K acceded to India…we broke our promises, we broke our faith and we paid a price for 40 years…Turn the clock back to 1947 and the original terms of accession to the extent that is today possible…I think I may be right or wrong, what is necessary is to assure the people of Kashmir that the grand bargain under which they acceded to India will be fully honoured. They will be part of India, but the bargain will be honoured.”[3]

And, on August 12, 2019, Chidambaram launched a scathing attack on the BJP for abrogation of Article 370, saying that the ruling party would not have “snatched away” the special status had J&K been a Hindu-dominated state.” “The BJP revoked the Article with its ‘muscle power’…The situation in J&K was unstable, international news agencies were covering the unrest, but not Indian media houses…They (BJP) claim Kashmir is stable. Is it? Does it mean stable if Indian media houses don’t cover the unrest in J&K? Today, J&K has been turned into a municipality…There are special provisions for other states under Article 371, why only J&K…This is because of religious fanaticism. If J&K was a Hindu-dominated state, the BJP would not have done this. They did it only because the region is dominated by Muslims…The BJP is bragging of integrating Kashmir with muscle power,” he, inter-alia, said.[4]

It’s jihad

Chidambaram’s view is that Kashmir has a unique problem, unique geography, and unique history; the solution to Kashmir’s unique problem also has to be unique; the solution must be acceptable to the majority; the clock must be turned back by 77 years so that “grand bargain under which Kashmir had acceded to India by granting a large degree of autonomy is appreciated only serve to establish that his whole approach is dangerous, divisive, communal and Kashmiri Muslim-centric and that he has no place whatsoever in his divisive scheme of things for the minorities in the region, including Hindus and Buddhists. It also establishes four other things:

1. He murders history by ignoring the fact that it was Maharaja Hari Singh, and not Kashmiri Muslims, who alone had the power under the so-called Indian Independence Act of 1947 to decide the political fate of his State.
2. The Instrument of Accession signed by the Maharaja was 100 percent similar to the one signed by other 560-odd Princely States.
3. The problem in Kashmir, not the Kashmir problem, is nothing but Islamist Jihad.
4. The Kashmiri Muslim parties, without any exception, are ardent believers in the concept of Kashmiri Muslim sub-nationalism and their whole ideology is exclusivist – the ideology that converted Kashmir into an over 99 percent Muslim region in January 1990 and that also destroyed Jammu province and Ladakh socially, culturally, politically and economically.

Time for the Jammu Congress to act

Will the Jammu-based Congress leadership look all these facts in the face, imitate their counterparts in Manipur, denounce Chidambaram, and reject with contempt his autonomy-for-Kashmiri-Muslim demand? They must. It’s imperative. It’s imperative all the more that Jammu’s Hindu electorate has been inflicting humiliating defeats on the Congress, particularly since 2014. They must appreciate the fact that Jammu’s Hindu electorate comprehensively defeated the Congress in the 2014 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. They must appreciate the fact that Jammu became virtually Congress-free in May 2014 because of its alliance with the pro-autonomy and anti-Jammu National Conference and pro-self-rule and anti-Jammu People’s Democratic Party. Any failure on its part to appreciate these facts would only help create a situation leading to the annihilation of the Congress in this region. They must demand action against Chidambaram and tell Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge that they hate and despise both the autonomy and self-rule doctrines and they want separation of Jammu province from Kashmir or they want the Congress high command to pursue the line they pursued in the case of Buddhists of Ladakh.

Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.

References:

[1] ‘Highly inappropriate during this hour’: Manipur Congress leaders write to Kharge about Chidambaram’s Twitter post – Nov 21, 2024, Indian Express

[2] ‘Quiet Dialogue, Quiet Diplomacy’ With Kashmiri Leaders, Says Chidambaram – Oct 14, 2009, India TV

[3] Jammu and Kashmir requires a unique political solution: Chidambaram – Jul 21, 2016, Hindustan Times

[4] “Article 370 Scrapped As J&K Is A Muslim-Dominated State”: P Chidambaram – Aug 12, 2019, NDTV

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