Dar

I will reiterate that in the context of the reservations issue, the elected government is passing on the buck. And trying to create a wedge in the Kashmiri ranks, and pit one Kashmiri against the other. The elected government can easily restore district and divisional recruitment through an act in the Assembly. Please can someone enlighten me. What are the disadvantages of district and divisional recruitment. Why we are not restoring them. I will briefly explain some advantages. In a developing economy as ours public sector jobs get spread out across all regions, bring in regional inclusivity in jobs. Reservations get restricted to only those reserved categories who are domiciled in the district or division. That will bring open merit in Kashmir division to 70 to 80 %. Instead if what has been stated so far and what has not been contradicted by the elected government so far, is true, the only reserved category where Kashmiris benefitted, The RBA will be slashed. I fail to understand how that helps Kashmir. If we define the basic reservation problem, it would mean the systematic exclusion of Kashmiris in the recruitment process. You are yet again doing the same. But only changing the excluded Kashmiri. So if a Kashmiri named A was earlier excluded you have substituted it with a Kashmiri called B. The problem lies between Jammu and Kashmir with the dice loaded heavily in favour of Jammu. And between Jammu and Kashmir the ratio will remain unchanged. 80% reservations will still go to Jammu. Please take a pen and paper and do some calculations. The data is available in the answer that was provided by the government in response to my question on reservations.

Thoda sa rationalise kiya’ — what exactly? We’re not asking for charity, we’re demanding our rights. Haq is not a favour.

RBA covers mostly Kashmir & the Chenab Valley over 2,500 villages that have lived in the worst conditions for decades. First the quota was cut to 10% and now again the axe is falling on poor families living in backward, hilly areas. Chenab Valley is predominantly mountainous, yet its people were excluded from the Pahari category and now even their RBA rights are being snatched. This injustice will not be tolerated. VWe will oppose it at the highest level, even if the NC govt does it. LG sahib must not approve this move!

Let us see what happens. If a decision is actually taken by the cabinet on reservations on the lines of the Indian Express report, that will be an unambiguous expression of intent by the government that it is out to disempower the Kashmiris. Let us also be unambiguously clear that the government will face agitation. Time to hit the ground.

Not one MLA has the courage to question the RBA quota cut. A poor rural community is hit repeatedly, while other categories stay untouched. Chenab Valley MLAs —jahan RBA sabse zyada hai—are silent. Call it ‘rationalization’ if you want, but this looks like a deliberate assault.