CPI(M) bats for inter-regional dialogue, autonomy in J-K

Alleging that "politics of communalisation" has become a "fact of life" in Jammu and Kashmir, the CPI(M) on Monday batted for inter-regional dialogue and autonomy in the state.

Talking to the media, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader M Y Tarigami said the state needed a "new culture of governance".

"All the regions (Jammu, Ladakh and Kashmir) should get autonomy (to fulfil the aspiration of the people of these regions," Tarigami said, adding that the state's autonomy has been eroded over the years and must be restored.

An irreversible movement for a genuine sharing of power and self-governance is the only means to put together the state of Jammu and Kashmir, considered to be a variant of sub-continental diversities, with its multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural polity, he said.

Claiming that communalism was increasing its footprints leading to trust deficit among the people of the three regions, Tarigami said inter-regional dialogue was the need of the hour.

"There is urgent need for inter-regional dialogue among the people of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh to end this menace and mistrust," he said, adding that there should be an apparatus to deal with the process of regional dialogue.

Politics of communalisation is now a fact of life in the state and has been smuggled here by the dominant forces of our country as well as Pakistan.

Warning political leaders not to practise politics of communalisation and play with the future of state, Tarigami said Jammu and Kashmir, as a political entity, owes its growth to various historical and political factors.

"Undoubtedly, its historical unity, integrity or cohesion cannot be negotiated or compromised, except at the cost of its social and political stability," he said.

The CPI(M) leader said the existence of diverse ethnicities in different regions of the state, which constitutes its strength, rather than weakness, needs to be recognised.

"It means carving out a political structure that recognises the need to preserve the unity of the state, while fulfilling aspirations of its diverse regions," he added.

The twin commitment to the unity of the state and to its diverse aspirations is not a mere pious wish or a fashionable clich but a social, political and historical necessity, carrying with it a long unifying process, which has gone into the welding together of the distinct and diverse regions and the ultimate formation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, he added.