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Tribune News Service
Srinagar, August 18
On the eve of the promised opening of schools in Kashmir, teachers are confronted with a dilemma as to what would they teach students on how the three regions of the state have become two Union territories and the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir is constitutionally ordained to become a new UT of two regions — the Valley and Jammu.
This dilemma has born out of the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, wherein Ladakh of two districts of Leh and Kargil has been separated from the rest of Jammu and Kashmir and conferred with the UT status that has met a decades-old demand of the Buddhists of the high-altitude Himalayan region. The other UT is that of the Muslim majority Kashmir Valley clubbed with the Hindu majority Jammu.
“What will I teach my students now,” a female teacher is struggling with this dilemma ever since she heard that state of Jammu and Kashmir had been bifurcated into two union territories on August 5 after it was stripped off of its special status accorded to it under Article 370 that entitled the state to have its own constitution, flag and the most powerful legislature in the country that could frame all its laws and no Central law could be extended to J&K without its concurrence.
The Article 35A that bestowed special rights and privileges to the hereditary permanent residents of J&K , including owning of the immovable property, jobs and scholarships was also given a farewell forever.
These constitutional changes the whole of the history and geography of the state that the people had known since 1947 .
The presidential order on August 9 has declared that the two UTs, one each for Ladakh and the rest of Jammu and Kashmir, will come into existence on October 31.
The teacher was not alone in trying to find a way out to adjust to the new syllabus that will eventually come into force any day after October-end.
There were many others involved in their internal dilemma as to how to reverse the whole thing of the past just like that . This exasperation is due to the fact that the UT is not in place at the moment , and the state that exists will cease to exist after a little over over 70 days. There are many as well who are struggling to find answers for the changes were so sudden that they were caught unawares.
It will take time for the teachers and others to adjust to the new realities . Their dilemma is deepening as the date of writing the obituary of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is nearing — October 31st- though there is an unequivocal promise by both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to restore the statehood to the new UT of J&K once the situation normalises in the regions, where Pakistan-sponsored terrorism had hit the state hard, served as a blockage to development, good governance and gave rise to secessionism with Article 370 being the main spring board for all this.
Now the realities have changed. Ladakh Buddhists are eager to get out of the Jammu and Kashmir’s current map, with the new UT’s population of 2,90,492 ( 2011 census) but with the largest chunk of 59,186 sq. kms out of State’s total area 1,01, 387 sq. kms) The rest of J&K is now left with a total population of 1,22,58,433 (Jammu- 53,50,811 and Valley- 69,07,622).
“How will teachers explain to the children that the three-regions of Ladakh, Kashmir Valley and Jammu, have been cut to two.”
The students will ask questions. It is for sure . And the teachers will have to find answers.
The answers rest in the bifurcation of the state , but the most dreadful question that they are afraid to face is “why”.
It is not a story of the teaching community, all have the same question.
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