Srinagar,06-May; Chairman JK Peace Forum, Satish Mahaldar has termed the Delimitation Commission report as failure as it has failed to mention the Parliamentary and Assembly seats for PoK , Shaksgam Valley including the Trans-Karakoram. In a statement issued to Mahaldar said that While abolishing the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5, 2019, the Central government changed the provisions related to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir by reserving 24 seats in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. retained. The Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, framed in the year 1956, stipulated 24 seats in the Legislative Assembly, which were left vacant. Even after the reorganization of the State under the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2OL9, it was mandatory for the Delimitation Commission to mention Assembly seats for the PoK, which has not been mentioned in the gazette. This has hurt the sentiments of the people of India, more so J&K. “My sovereignty and my jurisdiction is laid out by my maps. My maps have been there for over 5000 years.Now, that’s my claim being Resident of Jammu and Kashmir”,he said. He further added that the successive governments have virtually abandoned people of Jammu and Kashmir claim on PoK , sakshgam valley & including the Trans-Karakoram. Govt of India’s political thinkers & officials contributed to the lethargic approach towards claim PoK , , Saksham valley & including the Trans-Karakoram and India’s stance on maintaining the status quo, discounting the reality that Pakistan was constantly challenging the same. India had, advertently or inadvertently, projected that it was inclined towards a status quo-centric solution on Kashmir. The downplaying of the country’s legitimate claims on PoK , sakshgam valley & including the Trans-Karakoram failed to instill a strong sense of justification for those claims in public as well as at the global level. Lethargy and neglect together, slowly but surely, bred policy inertia on the issue, which at some point looked rather irreversible. “India has declared the entire Jammu and Kashmir including PoK, Shaksgam Valley and the main Karakoram range as an integral part of the country and any issue related to them is an internal matter of India. The Commission should have also taken into account the views of the Supreme Court while delimiting additional seats for the Parliamentary and Assembly seats in Jammu and Kashmir, including PoK, Shaksgam Valley and the main Karakoram range. According to the Supreme Court, delimitation is not an exercise in mathematics. It should reflect the political aspirations of a society bound in a particular geography.
