Jammu
Sham Lal Sharma’s call for a separate Jammu starts a big debate across the nationalist region; BJP says, “It’s his personal view”
Sham Lal Sharma’s call for a separate Jammu starts a big debate across the nationalist region; BJP says, “It’s his personal view”
SALIL RAINA
(POONCH TODAY NEWS)
POONCH/JAMMU: Former minister and three-time legislator Sham Lal Sharma, who remained a powerful voice of the Jammu region for over twenty years, has started a new debate across the Jammu region when he gave a statement about a separate Jammu state.
His blunt statement based on facts created a ripple in the political circles; as a result, many heavyweight leaders from different political parties of Kashmir termed the demands as unfortunate. The Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also said that the BJP leaders could not handle Ladakh, and now this time, they want to spoil the Jammu region also. It is pertinent to mention here that Sham Lal Sharma remained cabinet minister during the PDP-Congress regime of 2002 to 2008 and then during the NC-Congress regime of 2009-2014. When Sham Lal Sharma was a Congress soldier, he, along with his late brother Madan Lal Sharma (former MP) and former minister Raman Bhalla, was considered a powerful voice of the Jammu region, but since Sham Lal Sharma shifted his loyalties to BJP on the plea of national interest first, he won last year’s assembly election and became MLA for the third time. Among the 29 MLAs of BJP, only some have their huge influence across the J&K UT, and Sham Lal Sharma is one of them. His powerful voice carries a huge influence in political circles, and he knows the tricks of the trade well, unlike other BJP legislators who are still unaware of the real Jammu’s problems and legislative business tricks. The J&K BJP, which has only a few powerful names like Sunil Sharma, R.S. Pathania, Sham Lal Sharma, and a few others, has a huge responsibility to address the genuine issues of the Jammu region. The question arises: on what basis should Jammu trust them? Because after the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A, Jammu was denied justice in every sector. All the major concerns of the Jammu region have not been addressed yet, and there is no plan for the future of the Jammu region. The reason is that the majority of BJP legislators and the BJP’s think tank in J&K seem to have no vision for the future. Now, this demand raised by Sham Lal Sharma has started giving hope to the people of the Jammu region, right from Poonch to Banihal, that one day, this region will get justice after the creation of a separate Jammu state. The demand raised strongly by Sham Lal Sharma has some positive and negative points also. On a positive note, it will strengthen the administrative machinery to reach every nook and corner of the Jammu region to give justice to people at their doorsteps, but on the negative side, there are many challenges, like managing resources and similar things, for making the Jammu region, as making another state or UT is the subject of parliament only. It is pertinent to mention here that the people of the Jammu region always claimed that they were given stepmotherly treatment at the hands of successive Kashmir-based regimes. Despite their nationalist credentials, the people of the Jammu region were always given a cold shoulder by the successive J&K governments. From the point of view of development, employment, business, tourism, education and political empowerment, Jammu always failed to get its deserving due for over seven decades. Because the power remained in the hands of Kashmir-based leaders, while Jammu-based leaders only believed in passing their time by fulfilling their timely self-interest. But time seems to have changed now, as the demand raised by Sham Lal Sharma is not an ordinary one and has come from a horse’s mouth, although J&K BJP has said that it’s his personal view. By staying away from the statement of Sham Lal Sharma, the J&K BJP has slightly hurt the sentiments of the Jammu region. It’s a hardcore fact that the majority of BJP legislators have no strong vision for the Jammu region; however, if a few BJP MLAs like Sham Lal Sharma, Sunil Sharma, R.S. Pathania, Shakti Parihar and a few others have a vision for the Jammu region, then their voices should be analysed properly by the high command of the BJP in the interest of the Jammu region. The nationalist Jammu region, right from Poonch to Banihal, deserves employment, tourism, developmental and political empowerment, and educational and medical opportunities, so it is high time for the union government to give a thought to the demand raised by a powerful voice of the Jammu region, i.e., Sham Lal Sharma, strongly backed by Yuva Rajput Sabha and former Minister Lal Singh.