India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party yesterday was sworn into government for the first time in the nation’s only Muslim-majority state after a power-sharing deal with a regional rival.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have forged a coalition government after inconclusive elections two months ago for the restive Himalayan region’s state assembly.
Muslim PDP head Mufti Mohammad Sayeed was sworn in as chief minister of the region, where a sporadic revolt against Indian rule has been waged since 1989. In a symbolic gesture he enthusiastically embraced Modi, who was on stage to witness the historic ceremony.
“This is a great day. No one in their wildest dreams ever thought of this,” PDP leader Naeem Akhtar said after the ceremony in the region’s winter capital of Jammu. “But I think Mufti Sayeed and the national [BJP] leadership of Modi-ji, they are on a journey to turn around Kashmir,” Akhtar said, using a Hindi honorific for respect.
The inauguration, held amid tight security at the University of Jammu, came after weeks of intense negotiations between the two parties, which disagree on several critical issues in the region. Sayeed described the alliance as the “coming together of the North Pole and the South Pole,” while the BJP hailed the move as a “miracle of democracy.”
The negotiations followed elections in December last year that saw the BJP capture 25 seats mainly in the Hindu-dominated Jammu region, while the PDP took 28, mostly in the Kashmir valley where Muslim separatist sentiment has traditionally been strongest.
However, both failed to secure a majority to the 87-seat assembly, forcing the negotiations.
Both parties benefited at the polls from widespread discontent at the state’s then-ruling National Conference party, over its handling of floods that killed more than 200 people in Kashmir in September last year.
The polls were marred by a number of deadly attacks in the region, which is divided between India and Pakistan, and claimed by both.
Rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989 for independence or a merger of the territory with Muslim-majority Pakistan. The fighting has left tens of thousands dead, mostly civilians.
Swarms of police patrolled the university grounds before the ceremony, which was also attended by BJP president Amit Shah.
“We have taken all necessary measures along the border [with Pakistan] and in the city to maintain law and order,” police inspector-general for the Jammu region, Rajesh Kumar, said.
Modi and Sayeed last week finally agreed on a common agenda to jointly rule the state and details were expected to be unveiled at a news conference later yesterday.
However, the agenda is unlikely to include any reference to scrapping a constitutional provision which allows Kashmir to make its own laws, even though the BJP has long been committed to its abolition.
The BJP has also traditionally baulked at demands by the PDP to scrap a draconian law that gives Indian forces sweeping search and shoot-on-sight powers in Kashmir, which is seen by critics as a cover for rights abuses.
Analysts warned that the coming together of two ideologically different parties could fuel discontent among Hindus in Jammu as well as Muslims in the Kashmir valley.
“A big challenge will be to shore up credibility among voters in both regions of the state,” journalist and historian Siddiq Wahid said. “What direction the discontent will take will depend on whether civil rights, like holding peaceful protest marches, will again be curbed.”
The PDP pledged during the election campaign to halt the BJP’s growing influence after Modi swept to power at general polls in May last year.
The new coalition government faces the tough challenge of rebuilding after floods that destroyed US$16 billion worth of property and infrastructure.
Over a few hours under gray skies, dozens of combat planes and helicopters roar on and off the flight deck of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, in a demonstration of US military power in some of the world’s most hotly contested waters. MH-60 Seahawk helicopters and F/A-18 Hornet jets bearing pilot call signs such as “Fozzie Bear,” “Pig Sweat” and “Bongoo” emit deafening screams as they land in the drizzle on the Nimitz, which is leading a carrier strike group that entered the South China Sea two weeks ago. US Rear Admiral Christopher Sweeney, who is commanding the group, said the tour
RISING RISK: With no communication between nations flying jets closely over the South China Sea, one mistake by a pilot could quickly escalate a situation, an expert said The China Coast Guard (CCG) maintained near-daily patrols at key features across the disputed South China Sea last year, ramping up its presence as tensions over the waterway with Southeast Asian neighbors remain high, new tracking data shows. Patrols in the waters surrounding the Vanguard Bank off Vietnam, an area known for its oil and gas reserves and the site of repeated standoffs between Chinese and Vietnamese vessels, more than doubled to 310 days last year, the Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said. The number of days Chinese ships patrolled near Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗) in the Spratly Islands (Nansha
A court in Thailand sentenced a 27-year-old political activist to 28 years in prison on Thursday for posting messages on Facebook that it said defamed the country’s monarchy, while two young women charged with the same offense continued a hunger strike after being hospitalized. The court in the northern province of Chiang Rai found that Mongkhon Thirakot contravened the lese majeste law in 14 of 27 posts for which he was arrested in August last year. The law covers the king, queen and heirs, and any regent. The lese majeste law carries a prison term of three to 15 years per incident for
‘DISTURBING’: Nearly half of 16 to 21-year-olds assumed that girls either ‘expect’ or ‘enjoy’ sex which involves physical aggression, such as airway restriction One in 10 children have watched pornography by the time they are nine years old, according to “disturbing” new research by the children’s commissioner for England. The report found that one-quarter of pupils in their final year of primary school had already been exposed. It also showed much of the material being consumed by children and young people featured violence. Four out of five (79 percent) of those surveyed had seen pornography involving violence by the age of 18, while one in three young people have actively sought out depictions of sexual violence such as physical aggression, coercion and degradation. The report, by
RSS