Politics of demography. A major political row has erupted in Jammu and Kashmir over a draft proposal that has suggested six new legislative seats for Jammu and only one for Kashmir in a move that local parties have described as gerrymandering and an attempt to tilt the balance of power towards Jammu. The draft by the Union government's Delimitation Commission was distributed among five MPs from Jammu and Kashmir who are associate members of the body during its meeting in New Delhi on Monday and was rejected by all political parties in Kashmir who have termed it biased and unacceptable. National Conference President and MP Farooq Abdullah who attended the meeting confirmed the draft proposal and said that the party will respond to it via a formal communique on December 31.
Kashmir based political parties are aggrieved over first draft recommendations of the Delimitation Commission.
According to reports on Monday, six new seats will go to Jammu, one to Kashmir. Nine seats have been proposed for STs and seven for SCs in Jammu and Kashmir.
Terming the draft report unacceptable — the National Conference, PDP, Apni Party and the People’s Conference said the new seats have not been allocated on the basis of 2011 census.
“The draft recommendation of the J&K delimitation commission is unacceptable. The distribution of newly created assembly constituencies with 6 going to Jammu & only 1 to Kashmir is not justified by the data of the 2011 census,” former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah tweeted.
“It is deeply disappointing that the commission appears to have allowed the political agenda of the BJP to dictate its recommendations rather than the data which should have been its only consideration. Contrary to the promised “scientific approach” it’s a political approach.”
Former Chief Minister and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti said the report ignores population census and pitches people against each other.
“My apprehensions about the Delimitation Commission weren’t misplaced. They want to pitch people against each other by ignoring the population census & proposing 6 seats for one region & only one for Kashmir,” Mehbooba Mufti tweeted.
“This commission has been created simply to serve BJP’s political interests by dividing people along religious & regional lines. The real game plan is to install a government in J&K which will legitimise the illegal & unconstitutional decisions of August 2019.”
People’s Conference Chief Sajad Lone said the recommendations of the commission are unacceptable.
“The recommendations of the delimitation commission are totally unacceptable. They reek of bias. What a shock for those who believe in democracy,” Lone tweeted.
Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party President, Altaf Bukhari termed the proposal of Delimitation Commission not in sync with the census 2011, thus totally unacceptable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
Referring to the media reports on the Delimitation Commission’s proposal, the Party President regretted that the commission has bypassed the merits and demands of people’s representation in its report thereby corroborating to the concerns and apprehensions of the people.
“The current proposal stands in total contrast to the process and guidelines mandated by the laws governing delimitation in the country. The district areas and their respective population numbers were to be taken into consideration as per the census of 2011 which for some unknown reason is missing from the said report,” he said adding, not only the population criteria has been ignored but it seems that the commission has done away with the representational requirements of the existing administrative units. (IANS)