Jammu, Feb 4, KNT: A fresh political controversy erupted in the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly on Tuesday after BJP legislature party leader and Leader of Opposition Sunil Sharma declared that Jammu and Kashmir is “one unit” and asserted that his party does not support divisive politics or regional fragmentation.
While Sharma’s statement struck a conciliatory note inside the House, it drew immediate criticism from opposition benches and political observers who pointed to what they described as a long-standing contradiction between the BJP’s words and its actions on the ground.
Critics highlighted that several BJP leaders from Jammu, including Sham Lal Sharma and Vikram Randhawa, have in the past openly endorsed narratives that emphasized regional division, often projecting Jammu and Kashmir as competing political and administrative entities. Such rhetoric, they argue, was frequently used to mobilize support by deepening regional fault lines rather than fostering cohesion.
Opposition members further alleged that the BJP, along with its affiliated right-wing organisations, has systematically propagated a politics of regional polarization over the years. From selective articulation of regional grievances to repeated calls for separate administrative priorities, the party’s discourse, they said, has consistently reinforced divisions between Jammu and Kashmir.
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The debate also revived memories of the August 2019 reorganization, when the erstwhile state was bifurcated, a move widely viewed by critics as institutionalizing division under the guise of administrative reform. Opposition members remarked that assertions of unity ring hollow when juxtaposed with past policies and sustained political messaging that stressed separation rather than integration.
Opposition legislators questioned whether Sharma’s remarks reflected a genuine shift in the BJP’s political approach or were merely an attempt to recalibrate narrative within the Assembly. They argued that unity cannot be selectively invoked in legislative forums while divisive rhetoric continues outside.
As the debate intensified, the issue underscored what many described as the BJP’s dual messaging in Jammu and Kashmir, advocating unity in principle while practising politics that, critics say, has deepened regional and political divides.
Sunil Sharma today said that the term “Pir Panjal” did not exist, drawing controversy because Pir Panjal refers to the mountain region formed by Rajouri and Poonch districts. He has also stressed that Jammu and Kashmir is one and indivisible and that the BJP does not support divisive demands such as separate statehood for Jammu. In another statement, Sharma maintained that the BJP is not in favour of a separate Jammu state despite ongoing debates and demands from within the region.
Several ruling coalition MLAs — including members from Rajouri and Poonch, protested inside the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly and even outside the House, demanding that Sharma apologise for his remarks about the Pir Panjal region. [KNT]
