Demand For Jammu Statehood Gains Momentum, Leaves Parties Divided 

Support has grown for separate statehood for the Hindu-majority areas of the Jammu region, which has, however, also left the political parties divided in the Union Territory.

Fresh voices have emerged from the BJP in favour of the demand for the division of the Jammu and Kashmir UT.  Separation of the Jammu region has also been backed by some Kashmiri leaders as well.

Earlier, BJP leader Sham Lal Sharma and former Congress MP Lal   Singh voiced the demand for separate statehood for Jammu, even as the top leadership of their parties distanced themselves from their statements, terming their views as individual opinions.  

On Monday, former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti sought a separate divisional status for the Chenab and Pir Panjal  regions of Jammu region, which have a sizeable Muslim population, after earlier rejecting separate statehood for Jammu on religious lines.

The Muslim-majority region of Kashmir has often remained at loggerheads with the Hindu-majority areas of the Jammu division. However, within the Jammu division, the Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal regions, spread over the districts of Kishtwar, Doda,  Ramban, Rajouri and Poonch have also protested the neglect in the development.

Former MLA Ashwini Sharma, who earlier merged his political party, Jammu State Morcha (JSM), with the BJP, says that there was demand from the people for a separate state for Jammu.  “ Through the JSM, we have fought for the demand of statehood for Jammu, comprising also the areas of Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal.  The people in Jammu feel that they have faced discrimination in jobs and allocation of developmental projects. How can the Chief Minister declare that a National Law University should be set up in Kashmir instead of framing a committee which would decide on the location of the institute,” he says. Earlier, Congress leader Lal Singh, in a similar statement, had said that there was a demand for statehood from the Jammu region.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Monga, however, says that the party has always favoured that Jammu and Kashmir should remain as a single entity. “We are not in favour of divisive politics that creates a wedge between the people on the basis of religion.  The statement made by Lal Singh in favour of the demand of statehood for the Jammu region are his individual views and not of the party.  We are for the welfare of all sections of society and believe that all people should have equal and fair opportunities in moving forward,” he says.

Senior BJP leader Ashwini Chrungoo, however, says that one more UT should be created in Kashmir where Kashmiri Pandits,  who had migrated from the place to the other parts of the country after the eruption of militancy in 1989, can settle . “The demand for a separate Union Territory in Kashmir for the Kashmiri Pandits, which will be their homeland, has been there for a long time. We believe that it is now the time to fulfil the long-pending aspiration of the Kashmiri Pandits,” he says.

​The issue of alleged discrimination faced by the Jammu region at the hands of Kashmiri leaders has often been raised by the political leaders.  The row, however, escalated following the revocation of Article 370, which separated Ladakh as a new Union Territory. Before the elections in 2024 that saw Chief Minister Omar Abdullah rise to power, leaders in Kashmir had opposed the increase of seats in the Jammu region through the delimitation process, which has now put the number of assembly seats in Jammu at 43 and in Kashmir at 47.

The regional divide only sharpened recently after the closure of a medical college run by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU) over admission of Kashmiri Muslim students.  Leaders from both the Kashmir and Jammu regions have also often cited neglect in the developmental works.

Former People’s Conference MLA, Bashir Ahmad Dar, says that the issue raised by the leaders of Jammu about the region facing discrimination has no basis when most of the jobs in the reserved quota and developmental projects go to the region.  “When it comes to the reservation of jobs for the Scheduled Caste category, the benefits go only to the Jammu region, as there are no SCs in Kashmir.   We have also seen that the certificates of other reserved categories were mostly issued in Jammu. Other projects like IIT and IIM have also gone to Jammu, even as they are now demanding that a National Law University should also be set up there. It is better that Jammu and Kashmir regions are separated to ensure fair and equitable development,” he says.

People’s Democratic Front chairman Hakim Yasin says that political leaders were raising issues of  “ regional neglect only for vote bank politics.” “ It is unfortunate that the regional aspirations are now shaping the discourse to even set up educational institutions like the National Law University, which Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has already promised will be built in Budgam. Omar should not budge to the forces that are hell-bent on creating divisions between the regions on the basis of religion and go ahead with his plans to set up the law university in Kashmir. If it was possible earlier for the people of Jammu to come down to Srinagar and pursue education here, why is it difficult for them now not to do it?”

Yaseen, however, slammed Mehbooba Mufti for resorting to politics by demanding that separate divisions be created for the regions of Pir Panjal and Chenab. “ If she felt concerned about the plight of the people of Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal regions, then she should have created separate divisions during her tenure as chief minister, but she never did that. All Mehbooba ji is doing now is to create division among the people. People of the Pir Panjal and Chenab have a problem of unemployment, which can’t be addressed through the creation of  new administrative divisions, and would rather  be sorted out by starting recruitment drives at these places,” he says.