WHEN the Bharatiya Janata Partyled Union gov-ernment read down the Article 370 and bifurcated the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories, the response in Dogri-speaking areas of Jammu was muted, barring a few celebratory events sponsored by the ruling party’s local unit.
The re-gion did not react angrily to the August 5, 2019 events, unlike the Kashmir Valley and other Mus-lim-dominated areas like Pir Panchal, Chenab and Kargil; nor did it erupt in euphoria and celebrations like the Buddhist-dominated Leh district of Ladakh.
But two years after the constitutional and terri-torial changes, the Dogra heartland of Jammu is fuming over new policies in the region, with differ-ent stakeholders accusing the government of “stran-gulating their economy” and “facilitating outsiders to take away their businesses”.
The proposal for opening Reliance Retail stores in Jammu has triggered a shutdown call from the Jammu Chamber of Commerce and Industries (JCCI).
The latest move is being seen by many as “part of the systematic pattern to elbow out locals from the businesses and pave the way for the out-siders”, who have already taken away a sizeable share in mining and liquor contract allotments, di-rectly or indirectly, in the region after August 2019.
The anger among traders of Jammu, who are seen as drivers of the political narrative in Jammu, doesn’t augur well for the BJP, which won both the parliamentary seats of the region in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
For the first time in three years after J&K came under central rule in June 2018, following BJP’s withdrawal of support to the Mehbooba Mufti-led government, the JCCI has called for a complete shutdown in the region on September 22 to protest against the government’s “anti-trade policies”.
The traders are critical of the proposal on open-ing Reliance Retail outlets in Jammu.“It will create more unemployment than employment.
They can employ 1,000-1,500 persons in these outlets, but they will take away the livelihoods of 20,000 small traders and shopkeepers,” president of the JCCI Arun Gupta told The Wire.
The allotment of mining contracts to outsiders has also created anxiety and unease among different sections in the region.The outsiders’ participation in the bidding proc-ess for mining contracts became possible only after J&K’s legal position was altered in 2019.
According to data accessed by The Wire, 25 minor mineral contracts have been allotted to out-siders in J&K. Of these, 22 allotments have been made in the Jammu region and three in Kashmir.
Of 22 mining leases granted to non-locals in Jammu, eight are in Jammu district, seven in Samba, two each in Kathua, Udhampur and Reasi and one in Kishtwar.
Before Article 370 was read down, even the BJP had opposed the allotment of mining contracts to outsiders and its legislators had protested in the J&K assembly in 2016, to seeking rollback of the Jammu and Kashmir Minor Mineral Concessions, Storage, Transportation of Minerals and Prevention of Illegal Mining Rules, known as SRO-105, issued during the brief period of Governor’s Rule after demise of former chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed. The Rules allowed the government to grant mining leases to non-locals.
A committee of J&K legislators, which also had MLAs from the BJP, had claimed that the notifica-tion is “in gross violation” of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, J&K Land Alienation Act, State Subject Law, J&K Transfer of Property Act and J&K Land Grants Act.”—KMS
