Democracy rests in people and their participation is essential for the prosperity of any country. This must hold true not only for the country but to all the states and UTs that create one of the largest democracies in the world i.e. India. Though all the states have adopted this basic principle and do fairly well on this count but the story of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is fraught with cheating, violation of democratic principles and discrimination on the basis region and religion. The unwarranted concentration only onto the Kashmir region at the cost of Jammu and Ladakh has increased unease among the people of the two regions. Unfortunately, the murder of democracy was done by the collusion of power opportunists in Kashmir and Delhi that created the problem that India is facing even today. The people’s right to vote and fair election are violated in Jammu and Kashmir with complete impunity hence; the democracy could never flourish in this state.

 

 

 

 

 

Delimitation means dividing line or creation of boundary of Electoral Districts for the just representation of people’s representatives. According to the Delimitation Commission Act, 1962, it is “for the readjustment of the allocation of seats in the House of the People to the States, the total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of each State, the division of each State into territorial constituencies for elections to the House of the People and the Legislative Assemblies of the States and for matters connected therewith”. As per this Act, the distribution of the seats must be done on the basis of the latest census figures, geographical compactness of the areas, physical features, existing boundaries of administrative units, facilities of communication and public convenience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The biggest proof of the murder of democracy could be traced from the time when the delimitation of Constituent Assembly was first announced by Yuvraj Karan Singh in 1951. In his proclamation of 01.05.1951, he asked for constituting the Constituent Assembly of the State of J&K, which shall divide the entire state of J&K into Electoral districts. Each of the Electoral Districts must comprise of a population of 40,000 that should elect one member. Though the last census was completed in 1941 yet the division of Electoral District in 1951 had no scientific basis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The population of the Jammu was 20,01,557; Kashmir 17,28,686 and; Gilgit/frontier Illakas of Skardu, Kargil & Ladakh was 3,11,915 as per the census of 1941. But before 1951 lot many demographic and geographical changes took place when Pakistan invaded the state and illegally occupied the large tract of land of it, which is still under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. Also, lot many state subjects had to flee from their homes as a result of 1947 onslaught of Pakistan and these Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) displaced people took refuge in Jammu whereas Kashmir largely remained unaffected by this forced migration within the state. But all these facts were conveniently overlooked in dividing the Electoral districts in the state.

 

 

The total population of the state was around 40 Lakh as per 1941 census and 100 members for the Constituent Assembly were assumed for Electoral Districts, out of which 25 Electoral Districts were set aside because these were still under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. 43 Districts were allocated for Kashmir region, 30 for Jammu and two for Ladakh though the 1941 census distribution of the population was: Jammu 20,01,557, Kashmir 17,28,686 and Gilgit/frontier Illakas of Skardu, Kargil & Ladakh 3,11,915. Though geographically and population-wise Jammu was much larger than Kashmir yet more seats were allocated to Kashmir. Another injustice was done with Jammu when one state assembly seat was allocated over the population of 60,000 in Jammu whereas it was 40,000 in case of Kashmir in clear violation of 01.05.1951 proclamation. And all this was done on the behest of Sheikh Abdullah and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru remained complacent to this fraud and strangulation of democracy.

 

 

The last delimitation exercise in the State was completed in 1995 and it was essential that State should have gone for another round of delimitation exercise in the next 10 years i.e. in 2005 but in 2002, the National Conference Government froze delimitation until 2026 by amending the Jammu & Kashmir Representation of the People Act 1957 and Section 47(3) of the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir. The amended Section 47(3) provided “that until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2026 have been published, it shall not be necessary to readjust the total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the State and the division of the State into territorial constituencies under this sub-section”. This means the next delimitation can only take place after Census 2031. Even the reserved seats for SCs were not rotated (as per the standard practice adopted across India) and their seats were reserved only in Jammu. Also, the numbers of Electoral Districts were increased, without following any scientific criteria, to retain the centre of power in Kashmir region. The abrupt division of the Electoral Districts can be found from the fact that the largest constituency in Jammu, Gandhi Nagar, has 1,68,543 voters. In Srinagar, the Legislative Assembly constituency of Eidgah has 58,822 voters, HabbaKadal has 54,482 voters and Khaniyar has only 51,010 voters. Together, these three constituencies in Srinagar have 58,822+54,482+51,010=1,64,314 voters. Hence, even the combined list of voters in three assembly constituencies of Kashmir region is much lesser than the one assembly constituency of Jammu yet this fraud has been continued unabatedly.

 

 

 

• Though the entire country has accepted the procedure of adult suffrage in the matter of Lok Sabha election but this procedure was not implemented in J&K till Pandit Nehru was alive. It was only in 1967 when the elected members from J&K were sent to Lok Sabha. The Members of Parliament in Lok Sabha were used to be nominated by state legislatures before 1967.

 

• The next delimitation cannot take place in the state till 2031 because of the Kashmir centric attitude of the Government in Delhi.

 

• The number of MPs in Lok Sabha from J&K will be reviewed only after 2026 though Lakhs of voters comprised of West Pakistan Refugees, Gorkhas and Valmikis were also casting their votes in Lok Sabha.

 

• J&K, presently under the administration of India, comprised of 101387 Sq.Km (excluding 120849 Sq. Km area under illegal occupation of Pakistan and China) and Kashmir comprised of 16% of the geographical area of the state whereas Jammu and Ladakh cover a geographical area of 84% yet the uneven distribution of the seat has been continued in contravention to the provisions of The Delimitation Act.

 

 

India is the largest democracy in the world yet the democratic values are openly frowned upon in J&K. Ironically, people were kept engaged only to Kashmir region and that too only in few pockets whereas the larger interest of the state was purposefully kept ignored. The Kashmir centric attitude of Delhi has aggravated the problem instead of providing help to the country and the J&K. In a clear sign of apathy, the previous central governments have appeased a minuscule section of Kashmir at the cost of an overwhelmingly large section of J&K.