– Prahlad Sabnani
In ancient India, Lord Shiva’s clans had power around Mount Kailash. Daksha Raja’s empire was in this area only. It is believed that Kashyap Rishi is the first king of Kashmir. He made Kashmir the state of his dreams. Probably Kashyap Sagar (Caspian Sea) and the ancient name of Kashmir were derived from the name of Kashyap Rishi. According to the researchers, the rule of the people of Rishi Kashyap’s clan was spread from the Caspian Sea to Kashmir. Nags were born from the womb of Kadru, a wife of Kashyap, in which the main 8 snakes were Ananta (Shesh), Vasuki, Takshak, Karkotak, Padma, Mahapadma, Shankha and Kulik. Nagvansh was established from these.
Even today many places in Kashmir are named after these snakes. Anantnag of Kashmir used to be the capital of Nagvanshis. Recent Harappan remains from Akhnoor and artefacts from the Maurya, Kushan and Gupta periods reveal the ancient history of Jammu. From King Gonanda in 1184 BC to King Vijay Simha (1129 AD) authentic documents are available on the ancient dynasties and kings of Kashmir. Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh region were first under Hindu rulers and then later under Muslim Sultans. Later this region became a part of the Mughal Empire under the rule of Akbar. After Afghan rule from 1756, the region came under the Sikh Empire of Punjab in 1819. When India got political independence from the British, then in the name of religion, a large part of India was separated and made Pakistan. Even at that time, Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh were three different regions and these three regions were under the same king and on October 26, 1947, Maharaj Hari Singh, the ruler of this region, signed the merger agreement of his region with the Indian Union. Were.
Even at the time of this tragedy of partition, the Pakistani army along with the tribals invaded the Jammu and Kashmir region and captured a large part of it. Giving a befitting reply to this attack, the Indian Army was very successfully running the campaign of liberation. But in between, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru declared a unilateral ceasefire, due to which almost half of Jammu and Kashmir is still under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. This is considered to be the biggest political blunder of the then Nehru government, due to which this area has remained a disturbed area for the last almost 70 years. Although Kashmir has been the stronghold of Sanatan Hindu culture, but both the history and geography of Kashmir have been changed. We are given the impression that the Kashmir region has been the domain of Islamic occupation.
The second biggest mistake of the then Nehru government related to Jammu and Kashmir was the implementation of Article 370. Under this section, the Central Government was required to take the permission of the State Government to implement the laws of the Government of India in Jammu and Kashmir, except for some areas like defence, foreign affairs and communications. Therefore, the laws of the Government of India were not applicable in Jammu and Kashmir. The result of this was that no Indian citizen from other states of India could buy land or property within the limits of Jammu and Kashmir.
Apart from the Indian tricolor for Jammu and Kashmir, there was also a separate national flag, so no criminal case could be registered against the citizens of that country for not respecting the Indian tricolor. Even if any order is given by the Supreme Court of India in relation to Jammu and Kashmir, it is not necessary for them to follow it. If a woman from Jammu and Kashmir marries a man from any other state of India, then that woman was deprived of her right to be a Kashmiri.
On the contrary, if a Kashmiri woman marries a man living in Pakistan, her Kashmiri citizenship was not affected. Also, if a Pakistani citizen marries a Kashmiri girl and then comes to live in Kashmir, then that person would also get Indian citizenship. What kind of rules were made according to which an Indian citizen could not settle in Jammu and Kashmir but a Pakistani citizen could settle here and spread terrorism.
Overall, due to Article 370, the citizens of Jammu-Kashmir and Ladakh were not able to get the benefit of many schemes being run by the Government of India for the benefit of the citizens and the development of these areas was also not happening because of excessive terrorism. Due to this no industrialist was ready to invest in this sector. On August 5, 2019, the Government of India legally abolished the special status given to Jammu and Kashmir with the aim of benefiting the citizens of the region, speeding up the economic development of the region and eliminating terrorism.
Since then many changes are visible there. Now all the laws of the Center and many other economic schemes have been implemented there. Common citizens have benefited from this. There has been a drastic reduction in terrorist incidents. The back of the terrorists has been broken. Thousands of local citizens have been provided government jobs.
The way infrastructure is being developed in Jammu and Kashmir, connectivity is increasing, tourism activities have expanded in the state and more than 26 lakh tourists have arrived in the calendar year 2022 with a record increase. Since India’s independence, till the year 2019, about Rs 14,700 crores of investment has been made in Jammu and Kashmir, while in the last three years only it has increased four times to more than Rs 56,000 crores. Health-related infrastructure is also developing rapidly. Two new AIIMS, seven new medical colleges, two state cancer institutes and 15 nursing colleges are going to open. This is leading to a significant increase in new employment opportunities for most of the local citizens.
(The author is a senior economic analyst and columnist.)
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