J K News Today

Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir are two  stories born out of  one history but moving in different directions – one is a full partner in the development  policies  of India , the other is under jackboots of Pakistani army  where terror  training camps  dot the landscape and infringe upon the life of the people .

Any attempt to draw a comparison  between Jammu and Kashmir and  Pakistan occupied Kashmir  is , somehow, an absurd idea. But some absurdities  are there to be pointed out to tell the truth and the two sides  separated by Line of Control . The two sides were once part of the same princely state  under the  Dogra rule.

Post-1947 history shows all the difference that the two areas have had since then.  There were two major events in 1947  that determined the different course of J&K and  POJK-  the whole of the state of princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was invaded by Pakistan army  backed tribesmen who  drove out tens  of thousands of people, mostly Hindus  and Sikhs  after massacring several thousands of them in a holocaust that has few parallels in the world history. Pakistan had wanted to annex the state, despite having  signed a  Standstill Agreement with Maharaja Hari Singh  who ruled the state that time . The annexation attempt was made through brutal violence perpetuated by the tribesmen and the Pakistani army . This was against the international law.

For, all practical purposes, Hari Singh was the king of a sovereign state, the boundaries of which stretched from Punjab to the Himalayan heights of  Tibet . And, when faced with a situation  that could have proven fatal for the state , he signed an instrument of accession , acceding state to India  in October 1947.  The accession was of the whole of the state , including the parts that now lie under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. Things were clear, but Pakistan never respected  any legal treaties and instruments of accession .Its attempts to annex the whole state by force were repulsed  by brave Kashmiris who knew that what Pakistan is going to be  and what is going to be the life there.

Their intuitions have come true . Today J&K, though a UT, is a recipient of liberal central assistance , and the people are the direct beneficiaries of all the policies.  Immediately after  the accession and when the things started getting normal, the development started in J&K. First of the steps that were taken by the government were to give land to the tiller, one of the momentous agrarian reforms in the state , which overnight made  tillers owners of the land that they were tilling  until then.  Thereafter development started  and a viable connectivity was explored and done when Jawahar Tunnel  came up for speeding up supplies and boosting tourism  and economy of J&K and its people.

Despite some dots of the political disturbances that were aided and abetted by Pakistan , and the wars initiated by Pakistan on J&K, in 1947-48, 1965 , and Kargil conflict of 1999, and in between 1971  war , Jammu and Kashmir never looked behind on the road to development. J&K has a road network  of  thousands of lives, power projects all across are coming up , and fruit industry is seeing a new dawn , educational system has been expanded to the whole of J&K, where primary to university level education is free . This is what has enabled the youth to  utilize their talent and compete successfully the most competitive and high caliber civil services examinations .

Within  J&K, there is separate official cadre of KAS and KPS  where locals who want to serve within the confines of their home state/ UT , get plenty of chance to serve .

In between  2004 and 2015, Prime Ministers Development packages have been announced. Prime Minister  Manmohan Singh had announced a Rs. 24,000 crore  package on November 17, 2004, while PM Narendra Modi on November 7, 2015 announced a staggering amount of Rs. 80,000 crores for the PMDP. This amount is being utilized and at the same there are scores of  schemes that deliver benefit to the people at their doorsteps.  Jammu and Kashmir  has been connected with railways with the rest of the country, air traffic takes its people to the world over. It is no exaggerate but a  fact that today J&K UT is having  11 universities and countless schools and colleges  imparting education  from a child to those seeking  to pursue higher studies.

These are some of the glimpses, and what has  POJK, one university that was devastated during 2005 earthquake , and has not been repaired, dilapidated roads and if they can boat of any smooth traffic road that has been built by China for its own interests under One Belt Road Initiative  subsidiary China- Pakistan Economic Corridor. For this road , China and Pakistan have taken away all the resources of Gilgit-Baltistan  and POJK . The people are so terrorized by this coercion that they cannot raise even their voice against all sorts of injustices heaped on them.

When they had attempted to  protest against the terror training camps in their areas, they were threatened and  tortured to keep quiet by Pakistan army. They are the exploited lot and they envy the life of the people in  Jammu and Kashmir who have access to all the rights and resources.