India, the Kashmiri colony By Rajeev Srinivasan, November 2002 The point we have all missed is the virtual colonization of India by Muslim Kashmiris. I have been reading statistical information about the rate of poverty in different states in India. Gentle reader, take this test: what do you think the rate of poverty in Kashmir is? Below the average, above the average in India? 10 per cent? 20 per cent? 30 per cent? The astonishing fact is that, despite all the wailing and the beating of breasts, J&K is the least poor state in the country, with a rate of poverty of about 3.4 per cent, compared to 26 per cent for the country as a whole! And no prizes for guessing how it got that way: a hint, it is not because they earn lots of foreign exchange from tourism, dried fruits and nuts, and pashmina shawls. In effect, Kashmir is extracting royal tribute from the rest of India. Strangely reminiscent of what the British did during colonial times. That is, there is massive funds flow from the Centre to J&K. Look at the magnitude of that largesse: Fiscal Year Amount (Rs, in Crores) 1991 1,244 1992 1,393 1993 1,569 1994 1,820 1995 2,635 1996 2,627 1997 3,208 1998 3,624 1999 3,833 2000 4,604 2001 4,437 2002 4,578 CAGR 1991-2002 14% Source: India Today, October 14, 2002. Great Sop Story, V Shankar Aiyar. For further information, see cifjkindia, kashmir-information, kashmiri-pandit.org The Union governments aid to J&K has therefore far outstripped the growth in the GDP, which has averaged roughly 5% in this time frame. What does this mean? J&K gets a larger and larger share of central expenditure on states. In fact, it gets 10 percent of all central assistance and J&K has received more than any other state since 1995! Far out of proportion to its fair share, which by population should be about 1 percent: that is, J&K gets roughly ten times what it deserves. Reminds me of the story of the koel and the crow: how the koel lays its eggs in a crows nest, and the loud, demanding, hungry koel chick deceives the foster-parents. In the end, the crows chicks are starved or elbowed out of the nest, and the interloper flies off, fully grown at someone elses expense. That is exactly what the good folks in J&K seem to want: fatten at the trough of Indian taxpayer expense, and then secede or join Pakistan. To put it another way, the per capita central assistance is Rs 8,092 per man, woman and child in J&K. Kindly compare this to the per capita GDP in India, roughly $460 or Rs 22,000. Therefore, each man, woman and child in J&K is being subsidized to the tune of 36 per cent of the per capita GDP! Each J&K person gets eight to ten times more money from the Centre than citizens from other states. This is a true rip-off. And all this money is given by the Center to the state directly, to use as it pleases. Per capita assistance 1992-1993 Per capita assistance 2000-01 CAGR Other states 576 1,137 8.8% J & K 3,197 8,092 12.3% By the way, this largesse does not include major projects that have been funded by the Centre to the tune of Rs 25,000 crores. Consider the following: Projects Cost Rs, in crores Railways 4,496 Jammu-Udhampur 446 Udampur-Srinagar-Baramulla 3,564 Jammu Tawi-Jalandar 486 Roads 1,700 NH 1A 1200 Batote-Kishwar-Singhan Pass 200 Leh via Manali Road 1,300 Public Works 318 Reconstruction of gutted bridges 224 Planning Commission Projects 30 Schools 65 Power 16,000 Salai Power Project 921 Dulhasti Hydro Project 4,279 Uri Project 3,300 Tourism 115 Dal Lake cleanup 100 Tourist facility projects 19 Leh Convention Center 2 All this is in addition to the enormous amounts of money to keep Islamist barbarians from overrunning the place. This amounts to thousands of crores of rupees a year, much of which ends up being spent in Jammu and Kashmir. No wonder that the population there, despite years of militancy, and the hollowing out of the tourism industry, is still remarkably better off than most of Indias population. So the next time some secular progressive asks you why there is abject poverty in India, the answer is: Because we spend all our money on keeping Jammu & Kashmir well-fed and well-protected. Of course, the secular progressive will then ask the question, Why dont we just give up J&K to Pakistan? The answer is, If we do, very soon well be repeating the very same conversation about West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu, and Kerala: because the Islamist terrorists are not looking for J&K alone, they want nothing less than the complete conquest of India. In case you think I am kidding, heres an excerpt from an interview with Nawabzada Nabiullah Khan of the Jamaat-I-Islami of Pakistan, published in the February 1999 issue of the Jamhooria Islamia, a Baluchi magazine. Khan is quoting the views of Qazi Hussain Ahmed, head of the JI, which has captured a large number of seats in the Pakistani elections held recently. The entire interview, as a window into the mindset of an Islamist, is most instructive. And shows a remarkable world view.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 18:05:45 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015