Parvaiz wani cni

Srinagar, CNI NEWS:- The political contrast between Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh has come under sharp focus, with concerns being raised over what has been described as the “political paralysis” of the elected government in J&K despite having a 90-member Legislative Assembly, an elected Chief Minister and a full Council of Ministers.

The argument comes against the backdrop of the reorganisation of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, when Ladakh was separated and made a Union Territory without a legislature, while Jammu and Kashmir was also converted into a Union Territory and subsequently restored to an elected Assembly after elections.Despite having a population of barely around three lakh and limited political space, Ladakh’s political leadership has reportedly pursued sustained engagement with the Union Government, completing 16 rounds of dialogue and pressing for several demands, including restoration of a legislature, constitutional safeguards on the lines of Article 371, creation of new districts and a new division, protection of jobs and other institutional safeguards, besides a High Court.

The comparison has prompted questions over why Jammu and Kashmir, despite having a substantially larger political mandate and an elected government, has not pursued a similarly broad and coordinated political initiative with the Centre on issues concerning its constitutional and political future.For decades, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed successive constitutional and political changes, with critics arguing that its

constitutional position gradually eroded through amendments and other measures. The latest criticism is that the restoration of an elected government should have been accompanied by a comprehensive political outreach to New Delhi aimed at seeking restoration of constitutional rights and guarantees, rather than focusing

primarily on administrative matters and the Rules of Business.The argument further stresses that such an initiative should not have been confined to a single political party. Instead, the Chief Minister could have initiated an all-party political committee and led a joint delegation of J&K’s political representatives to New Delhi to present a united position before the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister.According to the criticism, the Centre’s policies since 2019 may have

initiated the erosion of J&K’s earlier constitutional arrangements, but the elected government would also ultimately be judged by the extent to which it attempted to challenge or reverse their normalisation.Political differences within J&K’s political establishment have also come under scrutiny. Critics allege that internal

disagreements were allowed to become personal, with the party’s own MP being sidelined after raising difficult questions, while National Conference leader Aga Ruhullah Mehdi repeatedly highlighted the government’s manifesto commitments.Another issue highlighted is the reported reluctance to

seriously consider former Chief Minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti’s proposal for a joint delegation to meet the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister to revive the political dialogue on J&K, drawing a parallel with the engagement being pursued by Ladakh’s leadership.The larger issue, according to the political argument, goes beyond electoral victories or defeats and the interests of individual parties. It concerns

whether Jammu and Kashmir’s political leadership can rise above personal differences, political rivalry and partisan interests when dealing with questions that could have consequences for future generations.“J&K is at the edge,” the argument states, cautioning that even if the present political shortcomings are not deliberate, their consequences could

nevertheless be significant.The central question now is whether J&K’s political class can evolve a collective political strategy and engage the Centre on the larger constitutional and political issues confronting the Union Territory, rather than allowing differences between parties and leaders to overshadow what critics describe as the generational stakes involved. CNI NEWS