COMMENTARY Economic & Political Weekly EPW march 1, 2008 21 Reflections on Democratic Decentralisation in J & K Ashish Saxena Lack of experience in grassroots democracy has led to the state and bureaucracy being alienated from the people in Jammu and Kashmir all these years. Strengthening the panchayati raj institutions will not only lead to effective governance but also to greater development and a better integration of the people within the state as well as the Indian union. T he Indian government’s authority in Kashmir has always been tenu- ous, and Kashmiri support for full integration rather uncertain. The back- ground factors responsible for this fall into four categories. First, factors that weaken Indian sovereignty, including Kashmir’s status as disputed territory, lingering demands for a plebiscite to decide its final status, and a special autonomous relation- ship with the central government. Second, geographic and demographic separateness. Third, a historical lack of democracy and press freedom, and fourth, changing political mobilisation during the 1970s and 1980s that posed new challenges to India’s political leadership [Meyerle 2005]. Similarly, on the issue of insurgency in Kashmir, Prakash (2000: 331) is of the view that militancy in Kashmir has been motivated solely by political con- siderations. His study unearthed the eco- nomic roots of the imbroglio by assessing factors that shaped the agricultural and industrial policies of the state. Addition- ally, it has demonstrated that even sup- posedly benevolent decisions, such as equitable land ownership, can be debili- tating to production. Against these backdrops and with regard to the recent development in Jammu and Kashmir (J & K), Behera (2007: 362) is of the view that states have emerged as the new pathways to power, a decisive change from the first three decades of independence when the centre was the avenue of choice. Liberalisation and economic reforms are aiding and accelerating this shift of power from the centre. Similarly, Meyerle (2005: 26) too emphasises that “Any realistic path to a solution of the present violence must involve the building of new political and administrative institutions capable of mediating conflict – both at the provincial and national level. These institutions should be as small and local- ised as possible.” In general, the mechanism and modali- ties for restoring peace in J & K and bridg- ing the Indo-Pak divide is an ongoing issue. They may vary from debate on the past insistence on a plebiscite, trifurcation of the state, demilitarisation in the identi- fied region, opening of routes across the line of control ( LOC), exchange of intel- lectuals and scholars, peaceful dialogue process and many others. At this juncture, Pakistan – the power player in this whole matrix – was also viewing the resolution of Indo-Pakistan relations in terms of division of the state into seven regions, “demilitarisation”, “self-governance” and “joint management”, which India did not agree to [Parthasarthy and Radha Kumar 2006]. These moves may lead to achieving transitory peace in Jammu and Kashmir, but are they going to be permanent solu- tions to the peace-making process in India? Are there any alternatives from within that can lead to the healthy devel- opment of the state? This paper is thus a naïve attempt to judiciously re-think the possibilities and strategies from within, for development and setting up a peace- building mechanism in the existing J & K state. Big Integration The mechanism suggested above may be welcome but may not be realistic in the long run. What is needed is to move from “discourse” to “effective execution”. The imperative need is to focus on “emotional, economic and political integration” of J & K at the micro (within state) level as well as the macro (Indian state) level. It may be treated as a way out for restoring peace by inculcating and sensitising the people of J & K, to “sense of belonging” with the Indian nation in the true spirit. What is needed is to reconcile the frag- mented experiences with an honest march towards reconciliation, re-socialisation and restructuring of the available base. It may even involve adopting modern princi- ples for neolearning of the past memories with more tolerance and an accom- modating mindset. Keeping in mind this background, this paper is an attempt to theorise the underpinning of accord, amalgamation and synchronisation in J & K state. The emphasis here is on what Ashish Saxena (ashish.ju@gmail.com) teaches at the department of sociology, University of Jammu.