The phenomenon of “Kashmirization” within Jammu Division is not an emergent anomaly but the culmination of seven decades of systematic subjugation and egregious discrimination orchestrated by Kashmir-centric politicians and administrative apparatuses. A recent revelation exemplifies this travesty: Oxford Public School, situated in the heart of Jammu, omits any reference to Jammu’s storied heritage sites, indigenous dance forms, or artisanal traditions from its curriculum. Instead, it perpetuates an inordinate fixation on Kashmiri culture, effectively excising Jammu’s identity from the educational narrative. This compels a profound introspection: At what juncture has the Dogra community faltered, permitting such an institution to indoctrinate its progeny with content wholly dissociated from their patrimony? This is not an isolated aberration but a symptom of a pervasive malaise wherein Jammu is perpetually relegated to obscurity while Kashmir is exalted.
The Dual Capital Conundrum
For decades, a surreptitious campaign has sought to enshrine Srinagar as the exclusive capital of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), a stratagem deftly obfuscated by Kashmiri political elites. When queried, the average Kashmiri unhesitatingly designates Srinagar as J&K’s capital, perpetuating a fallacy that thrives among those unacquainted with the region’s dual-capital framework. In truth, J&K comprises two distinct divisions, each endowed with its own capital: Jammu as the winter capital and Srinagar as the summer capital of the Union Territory. This equitable arrangement, instituted by the Dogra rulers, ensures biannual accessibility to governance for both constituencies. Dual secretariats function autonomously, with directorates administering the provinces independently. Yet, educational materials and cartographic representations frequently elide Jammu, designating Srinagar as the sole capital—an act of flagrant dereliction by those entrusted with stewardship, indicative of a deep-seated disdain for Jammu’s rightful stature.
Systemic Cultural Effacement and the Greater Kashmir Doctrine
The hegemony of Kashmir is inexorably asphyxiating Jammu and its Dogra populace, a process abetted by the somnolence of Jammu’s inhabitants. Enmeshed between New Delhi’s myopia and Kashmir’s recalcitrance, Jammu languishes as a geopolitical cipher. New Delhi’s preoccupation with Kashmir has rendered Jammu a collateral casualty, while Kashmiri politicians leverage this asymmetry to chastise Jammu for their antipathy toward the central authority. Consequently, Jammu’s rich tapestry of heritage, linguistic diversity, and developmental potential is immolated on the altar of Kashmir’s primacy.
This hegemony manifests in tangible inequities. Consider the allocation of infrastructural projects: the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, a vital artery, receives disproportionate investment in its Kashmiri segments, while Jammu’s stretches languish in disrepair, impeding economic vitality. Similarly, tourism promotion lavishes resources on Kashmir’s Dal Lake and Gulmarg, while Jammu’s Mubarak Mandi Palace—a resplendent testament to Dogra architectural ingenuity—crumbles from neglect, its restoration perpetually deferred. Kashmiri political rhetoric further promulgates a “Greater Kashmir” paradigm, subsuming historically distinct regions like Poonch and Doda—whose Gujjar and Pahari populations bear no Kashmiri lineage—under a fabricated Kashmiri aegis. The imposition of Kashmiri language instruction upon these communities exemplifies a calculated endeavor to extirpate their indigenous identities. Three decades ago, appellations such as “Chenab Valley” or “Pir Panjal Valley” were absent from public lexicon; today, they serve as instruments of division, trifurcating Jammu to bolster Kashmir’s ascendancy. Historically, the Pir Panjal range demarcated Jammu from Kashmir, delineating disparate cultural milieus. The Chenab River (Vedic Askini), originating in Himachal Pradesh, traverses Kishtwar, Doda, Ramban, Reasi, and Jammu—its nomenclature and geography antithetical to Kashmiri claims. Such revisionism will not be countenanced; it shall provoke resolute opposition from Jammu’s denizens.
The Onslaught Against Dogra Patrimony
Jammu Division endures an unrelenting assault from Kashmiri elites bent on obliterating Dogra culture. Why does the pedagogical canon eschew Dogra history, relegating the valor of Maharaja Hari Singh to oblivion? Why are dialects such as Sarazi, Bhadarwahi, Pogali, Padari, Kishtwari, Pahadi, and Gajri—vibrant threads in Jammu’s linguistic tapestry—teetering on extinction, their speakers coerced into adopting Kashmiri? This constitutes a premeditated excoriation of Jammu’s cultural heterogeneity. The sole bulwark against this inexorable tide is the establishment of Jammu Pradesh, a sovereign state within the Union of India. India’s federal edifice was constructed to safeguard linguistic and cultural pluralism, yet Jammu witnesses the insidious evisceration of its Dogra ethos.
The evanescence of Jammu’s leadership has precipitated a crisis of representation. Kashmiri machinations have subverted Jammu’s advocates, redirecting their fervor from emancipation to the chimeric pursuit of J&K statehood—a gambit that fortifies Kashmir’s dominion. Post-Article 370 abrogation, a pernicious narrative has emerged, inculcating paranoia that external entities are usurping Jammu’s resources. Yet, more insidious is the UT administration’s apportionment of government land—predominantly in Jammu’s districts—to select cohorts, a maneuver executed with tacit acquiescence. Concurrently, the administration propagates specious chronicles, such as the “Jammu Massacre,” while obfuscating the Mirpur Massacre’s historical veracity, further disenfranchising Jammu’s narrative.
Economic Potential of Jammu Division
Jammu Division, spanning 26,000 square kilometers, harbors prodigious economic potential that remains egregiously underexploited due to Kashmir-centric policies. With a Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for J&K estimated at ₹2.30 trillion (US$27.70 billion) in 2023-24, Jammu’s contribution is disproportionately curtailed despite its strategic assets. Horticulture, a linchpin of J&K’s economy, exemplifies this disparity: while Kashmir dominates apple production (1.695 million metric tonnes in 2020-21), Jammu’s 24,415.69 metric tonnes belie its capacity for expansion in fruits like mangoes, guavas, and citrus, suited to its warmer plains. If granted statehood, Jammu Pradesh could leverage its agro-climatic diversity to double its horticultural output within a decade, potentially adding ₹50,000 crore annually to India’s GDP—a conservative estimate based on current yields and untapped arable land.
Tourism, contributing 7-8% to J&K’s GSDP, is another arena of unrealized promise. In 2024, J&K welcomed 1.08 crore tourists, yet Jammu’s attractions—Vaishno Devi (drawing 8 million pilgrims annually), Patnitop, and the untapped Bhaderwah Valley—receive scant promotion compared to Kashmir’s marquee destinations. Strategic investment in infrastructure, such as the ₹1,404.94 crore highway project announced in 2024, could elevate Jammu’s tourism revenue to ₹20,000 crore yearly, rivaling Kashmir’s figures and boosting India’s GDP by an additional 0.1%. Industrially, Jammu hosts over 60% of J&K’s 25,000 MSMEs, which contribute 8% to the UT’s GDP. With a dedicated state apparatus, industrial growth could surge by 15-20% annually, fueled by proximity to Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, potentially contributing ₹30,000 crore to national output. Collectively, Jammu Pradesh could augment India’s GDP by ₹1 lakh crore within a decade, cementing its role as an economic fulcrum in the northwest.
Defence Strategy: Reducing the Conflict Zone
Concentrating the conflict zone within the Kashmir Valley offers a cogent stratagem to bolster security along the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC). Jammu Division, abutting 485 kilometers of IB and 221 kilometers of LoC, has witnessed a resurgence of militancy since 2019, with attacks in Rajouri, Poonch, and Kathua claiming 14 lives in three weeks in 2024 alone. This diffusion strains India’s 125,000-strong troop deployment across J&K, diluting focus on critical border segments. By relegating insurgency to the Kashmir Valley—historically the epicenter of militancy, hosting 70% of incidents since 1989—security forces could reallocate resources to fortify Jammu’s frontiers.
This recalibration would enable the Border Security Force (BSF) and Indian Army to intensify surveillance and counter-infiltration along the IB and LoC, leveraging advanced technologies like drones and BMP-II combat vehicles, as deployed in the 2024 Akhnoor operation. Historically, Operations Sarp Vinash (2003) in Jammu eradicated terrorist strongholds, suggesting that a focused Valley containment could reduce Jammu’s incidents by 50%, mirroring post-2004 declines in Kashmir (from 322 incidents in 2016 to 229 in 2021). Enhanced stability in Jammu would safeguard 90% of Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s (POJK) contiguous territory, thwarting cross-border incursions and securing trade routes like the ₹23,152 crore Zozila Tunnel project. Ultimately, this strategy would transmute Jammu into a bastion of stability, fortifying India’s northwestern bulwark against external aggression.
The Imperative of Jammu Pradesh
Kashmiri stewardship has abjured its mandate to nurture J&K’s multifarious heritage, instead prosecuting the Kashmirization of Jammu with unrelenting zeal. Nomenclature such as KAS/KPS (Kashmir Administrative/Police Service) persists over JKAS/JKPS, excising Jammu from institutional consciousness—a microcosm of its broader erasure. For Kashmiri elites, Jammu is naught but a vassal dominion, exploited as a pecuniary resource. Their Greater Kashmir chimera endures, as evidenced by the mischaracterization of Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK)—90% Jammu in demography—as “POK,” a semantic sleight reinforcing Kashmiri irredentism.
Jammu’s sovereignty was wrested in 1947 when Jawaharlal Nehru divested the Dogras of authority, ceding it to Sheikh Abdullah—a demagogue whose perfidy toward New Delhi was eclipsed only by his retribution against Jammu for its fidelity to India. Today, Jammu demands emancipation from Kashmiri suzerainty. Let Kashmir’s potentates confine their ambitions to their domain, while Jammu forges its own trajectory. New Delhi must extricate Jammu from Kashmir’s fetters to preserve its historical, cultural, and linguistic patrimony.
I implore every Indian to champion Jammu’s clarion call for Jammu Pradesh—a state encompassing 26,000 square kilometers, abutting a substantial expanse of India’s international border and Line of Control. As the 23rd largest state by area, surpassing Kerala, Jammu Pradesh harbors the potential to augment India’s economic corpus and fortify the northwestern frontier, attenuating regional volatility. Jammu’s protracted affliction demands redress; its hemorrhage must not persist unabated. I solicit your discerning critique and queries.
