Prof Hari Om, former political adviser to the state Bharatiya Janata Party president, has appreciated the Congress party’s view that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s engagement with Pakistan “is frivolous and unpredictable and is marked by fits and starts and abrupt U-turns”.
He has demanded the involvement of Jammu and Ladakh regions in the dialogue process so that lasting peace could be reached in the state.
Prof Hari Om today said the internally displaced Hindus should be involved in the dialogue process as their stand on India and its territorial integrity was similar to that of the people of Jammu and Ladakh regions.
“The involvement of Jammu and Ladakh in the dialogue process is imperative considering the fact that the aspirations, urges and needs of people of these two regions are different from those of Kashmir. People of these two regions inhabit over 88 per cent of the state’s land area,” he said.
He added that the contradictions between people of Jammu and Kashmir and between people of Kashmir and Ladakh were fundamental in nature and irreconcilable.
“An overwhelming majority of people of Jammu and Ladakh long for complete merger with India. Other demands include reorganisation of the state’s polity on regional basis and abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A of the Indian Constitution,” said Prof Hari Om.
“On the other hand, the demands in the Kashmir valley include the state’s merger with Pakistan, independence from India, self-rule and greater autonomy,” he said.
He said neither people from Jammu and Ladakh regions nor Kashmiri leaders were prepared to deviate from their respective positions. That was the reason that the inter-regional history of Jammu and Kashmir was of bitterness, hostility, rancour and animosity, he added.
Involve Jammu, Ladakh regions in dialogue: Hari Om
