Kashmir not loyal to India; separate Jammu from it, calls BJP leader
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New Delhi: Former minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sham Lal Sharma demanded on Monday that a separate state of Jammu needed to be formed, claiming that people of Kashmir “are not loyal to the country.”
He claimed that continuous unrest in the Kashmir valley has repeatedly disrupted the “naturally peaceful” environment in Jammu, a report by the Deccan Chronicle said.
The BJP leader claimed that if Jammu is separated from Kashmir, the region would progress economically, socially, and administratively. He also claimed that Jammu possesses the lion’s share of natural and economic resources, and 80 percent of the electricity produced in the union territory is from Jammu. He further claimed that Jammu, where 80% of the deposits in the J&K Bank originate, has endured “decades of discrimination.”
However, both Sharma and the BJP party stated that his views were personal.
National Conference (NC) president and former chief minister Farooq Abdullah slammed Sharma, saying that the idea is absurd since Jammu and Kashmir are historically and culturally inseparable.
Jammu Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that the BJP already bifurcated the erstwhile state of J&K, ruining Ladakh, and separating Jammu and Kashmir would repeat the same.
People's Conference chief Sajad Lone became the first Valley leader to demand separation from Jammu, calling it an "amicable divorce" in a bold press statement.
"Maybe the time has come for an amicable divorce," Lone said. "It is not only about developmental matters. Jammu has become the proverbial stick to beat the Kashmiri with. I think the people of Kashmir too can’t take it anymore… I am sure the desire for divorce is much, much higher in Kashmir than it ever was. Need leadership to call a spade a spade."