New Delhi: In line with the opposition by political parties in Kashmir, experts have expressed concern over the Delimitation Commission's contentious proposal to increase Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir.
The proposal, they say, can fan a spate of violence in the Union Territory, as it can affect the dominance dynamics of the political parties in the Valley, at present and even after Jammu & Kashmir gets back its statehood.
Experts say that the local population of the Valley will see the offer of only one seat to Kashmir as "deliberate neglect".
On December 20, the delimitation commission proposed six additional seats for the Jammu region and only one for Kashmir Valley in its 'Paper 1' discussed with five associate members.
The move was met triggered a backlash in Kashmir with the region's political leaders calling it "biased" and "serving BJPs political interests".
Experts say this discontentment in the Valley may disrupt the belief and trust that the people there may have placed in the Central government that initiated a series of development works in the Valley after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A in 2019, with an aim to give them equal rights as the rest of the country.
Admitting the fact that that the local population in Kashmir may take it as the domination of the Jammu region, sources in the security grid in the UT said that the sentiments of the Valley can be exploited by the militant outfits active there and may possibly result in disruption of peace and the development process there. They also said that this could destroy the 'trust dividends' earned by the government in recent times after the change in the special status of the erstwhile state of J&K.
The sources also admitted that the demographic situation has equally changed in both the regions in the last 10 years, hence offering only one seat to Kashmir will not be welcomed by the local population too. An expert on Jammu and Kashmir and West Asia, Qamar Agha, said that if the proposal of the Delimitation Commission headed by former Supreme Court justice Ranjana Desai is accepted by the government, the political parties in Jammu will dominate J&K politics and also in government formation once the statehood is restored.
"Earlier, the J&K government used to be dominated by the people or representatives of Kashmir region and they used to lead or dominate in the state government, but increasing six seats in Jammu and only one in Kashmir will imbalance the political situation there. This could also have an impact on the local population," Agha said, adding that the discontentment may be used by the anti-national groups active in the Valley to flair up militancy.
However, Sanjeev Srivastava, professor of international studies at the Delhi University, said that the panel's recommendation to increase Assembly seats in Jammu division was "long-awaited", as the population in this region has largely increased in the last 10 years based on the 2011 Census.
"As far as the impact on the security situation is concerned, the Narendra Modi-led government has a zero-tolerance policy on terrorism, and it will take care of things aptly if any such situation arises," he said. Srivastava also said that the Commission's proposal is "fair" and the political parties which rejected it are only keeping their own political interests in consideration.
Also read: J&K delimitation row: CPI, Trinamool Congress leaders favour PDP, NC's stand
