Few political demands are as legitimate as the one seeking a separate state for the eight hill districts of Uttar Pradesh. The demand for Uttarakhand or Uttaranchal, as the envisaged state is variously called, has been voiced intermittently since the 1940s. But it acquired a sharper edge when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swept the last general elections in the hills on the promise that it would accede to the demand if it came to power,
But all that the UP Government has done in the last year is to pass a terse resolution which simply reiterated the demand, and shifted the responsibility to the Center. ‘This has left the people of the hills angry and bitter, and has eroded the credibility of main-stream political parties. But the sentiments remain as vibrant as ever.
The main impetus for a separate state arises from the need to preserve the district culture of the region and rebuild its economy, which has undeniably been neglected. The common nest complaint is that the planners in Delhi and Lucknow have failed to appreciate the special topographical and economic requirements, C.M. Lakheda a founder member of the Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD), the first party to highlight the demand on a national scale, pointed out that thousands of tubewells are sanctioned annually, without realizing their intrinsic unsuitability for the region’s terrain. “Even on the foothills like in Deharadun, the water table can be struck only at a depth of 400 feet or more. Apart from the one motor required to pump the water, another booster pump has to be installed. Considering that the average life of a tubewell is 15 years, the expenditure is not justified,” he explained.
Conceding that the State Government has contributed its bit by selling up a separate Hill Development Council and allocating a separate Budget, the leader’s grouse is that the results have been poor. “Every year we seem in require more pipelines, roads, electricity cables, Where, docs the money go asks Narayan Singh Jantwal, the Vice-President of the UKD.
It is also pointed out that prized raw materials, like herbs and limestone, which the hills are bountifully endowed with, are invariably sent to other states for manufacture into finished products, The regional perspective is that cottage and small industries can be set up in the region itself to open up employment avenues and ease the load off agriculture, which is not lucrative at the best of times. Lakheda said that the annual rate of migration threatens to leave only a population comprising women and the old behind “to patrol a region which shares a border with Tibet and China.”
“Political identity” is what Sanjay Kouyal and his band of young followers seek to gain through Uttarakhand. Members of the Uttarakhand Mukti Morcha (UMM), a joint front of Left Ieaning outfits which was formed last year and Kotiyal’s perception is that the hills have always been treated as a “handy political appendage,” its people as “vote blocs.”
The galaxy of luminaries who descended from the heights to Lucknow and Delhi Gobind Narayan Dutt Tiwari-never identified themselves with the problems and aspirations of the region once they were integrated into the political mainstream, is the general feeling. Indeed, a common allegation is that those like Pant were not above exploiting the historical divisions that existed between the people of Garhwal and Kumaon for petty ends, and in the process damaging the cause for a separate state.
Given this backdrop and historical context in which the hills and the plains were never and can never merge into the entity, why has the agitation been sporadic, leading to no specific end? Kotiyal’s broad explanation is, “we have always suffered a leadership crisis, there has never been a joint front, no literature, no manifesto. In short, no one has a clue as to what a separate state is all about.”
The watershed came in 1979, when the UKD was formed in Mussoric, under the leadership of noted scientist Dr.Devi Dutt Pant. It is comprised of leaders who were either disillusioned or refused to compromise with the dominant political parties. For the first time, the hills witnessed the formation of a truly regional party, The UKD managed to organize a couple of successful rallies in Delhi, and brought the demand to national focus. Unfortunately, erector’ colpulsions subsumed the distinct identity of the UKD. Its members had been successfully contesting the Assembly election since 1980, but failed to make a significant impact in the Legislature. In the last elections, the BJP stole the thunder from the UKD with the Uttaranchal plank. The UKD’s leadership found itself vulnerable enough to contemplate striking a deal either with the Janata Dal or the BJP, but the negotiations came to thought. The party was wiped out, and has completely lost its credibility.
This is why nascent outfits like the Indian People’s Front (IPF) and the UMM have tactically decided to shun electoral politics for the time being, and instead concentrate on the fundamentals of what a separate state ought to be. Questions are being asked on whether Uttarakhand should pattern itself after other states or evolve its own style of governance,
For the first time since the inception of the demand, the IPF and the UMM have independently prepared detailed blueprints on the state, backed with hard data on the budgets allocated and spent through the years, how these compare with the other districts and other hill states like Himachal Pradesh, the availability of natural resources, the extent to which these are tapped, the revenue generated locally, etc. Both the outfits favor a decentralized system, which ensures the maximum Participation of villages in planning and development.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 17, 1992
