GST: Why Modi must thank Geelani for Kashmir’s ‘economic integration’ with India
At the stroke of the midnight hour, when restive Kashmir was sleeping under protest, mainland India was awake to celebrate a new tax reform. On midnight of July 1, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) became a reality, with a click of button from Parliament.
Unlike other states, however, Jammu and Kashmir remained the only exception, where the “one nation-one tax” law couldn’t be enacted that night. Given the special status enjoyed by the state, Article 370 prevented any default extension of the GST.
Kashmir by then had braced up to fight the tax reform tooth and nail. From opposition parties to corporate Kashmir to civil society, almost everyone except the ruling PDP-BJP alliance had been against the GST regime.
Given the massive public outcry coupled with the uneasy situation in Kashmir, it was presumed that GST would remain a distant dream. According to insiders, finance minister Haseeb Drabu was seeking more time from Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi to implement GST.
The reasons for such apprehensions were many, including adjournment of the special session of the Legislative Assembly called on June 17 to discuss the GST.
On the very first day, the House had to be adjourned sine die after noisy scenes, something which prevented the nationwide extension of the law to J&K on July 1.
But the next morning, there was an overnight change. Drabu sounded unbelievably confident. He told reporters that J&K would clear the legislation on the GST regime by July 6.
Given the outcry, one wondered if Drabu would spell some magic to pull a rabbit out of his hat.
But the curiosity ended within a few hours. By afternoon, separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani released a special handout seeking endorsement of GST.
In fact, he said Kashmir and GST were “different issues” with “differing backgrounds”. “Business community and civil society have their role to find solutions regarding implementation of GST and sort out the problems relating to their business. They need to find ways and means to explore the solution to these complex situations,” Geelani said in the handout.
Nothing against the ruling PDP-led government, Geelani bashed the opposition. “The state of Jammu & Kashmir enjoyed special status. However, the National Conference and other such parties reduced it to mere zero.”
Geelani’s statement proved a blessing for the government. The Jammu & Kashmir Goods and Services Tax Bill-2017, moved by the finance minister, was adopted in the House by a voice-vote after the presidential order notified by the Government of India on July 6. Drabu had kept his deadline.
But then, what made Geelani soften his stand. Well, if circumstantial evidences are to be believed, his son-in-law, Altaf Fantoosh, was being rigorously questioned by the National Investigative Agency for alleged hawala funding.
Despite several condemnations and hartal calls given by his father-in-law, Fantoosh, who is also the executive member of Geelani’s Hurriyat, was being continuously grilled. It was being presumed that the NIA noose would subsequently tighten around Geelani and his sons.
So a deal to spare the necks cannot be ruled out, that too when the Union home secretary was in Kashmir that time around. Reasons? Since the day Geelani went soft on GST, the NIA hasn’t reportedly questioned Fantoosh or any other member of the family.
Otherwise also, the government respects Geelani a lot. Last year, his grandson Anees Ul Islam, son of Altaf Fantoosh, was given a princely job illegally by the state government. A week after the recruitment, the Hurriyat softened the protests calendar on December 6. The rest is history.
The veteran separatist is known for his “selfless services towards Kashmiri nation”. Geelani has never sold his conscience for his own self. But it so happens that each time his family gets benefited from his cause.
Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on July 7 clarified that with the passage of the GST legislation by J&K, the country, which was politically integrated, has now “integrated economically”.
Economic integration in the garb of GST has come at the cost of Kashmir’s financial autonomy.
Being a disturbed area, if not necessarily disputed territory, Kashmir could have been exempted from GST simply because normal laws cannot be applied in abnormal situations.
The GST fallout may cripple trouble-torn Kashmir’s decaying-economy further. Almost 90 per cent of the state’s economy is from the informal sector that used to be exempted from tax. Now all of them including artisans and dry-fruit growers shall be taxed.
Tax on artisans reminds one of the Shawlbaf revolt. In April 1865, Dogra forces killed 28 Kashmiri shawl-weavers in Srinagar, when they were protesting against a cruel tax on artisans. Though the tax on the weavers was subsequently revoked, the GST is set to bring back such taxes on the golden hands of Kashmir.
Much against the perception given by self-styled economists (actually J&K Bank employees paid to defend GST), there is no “shadow economy” in Kashmir. The fact is that the state’s constitution had exempted such sectors from tax.
For a place like Kashmir, where hartals and curfews last for weeks, traders are often unable to exhaust their stocks within a year. By virtue of GST, however, additional tax will be levied on the pending stocks annually.
And unlike the past, during uneasy situations, the state will have no authority to offer any relief on tax to the business community because all such powers are now vested solely with the central GST Council.
Geelani’s solo statement has changed the future of Kashmir, towards surrender of its financial autonomy; a transition from being choosers by virtue of Article 370 to beggars.
But then, the Union finance minister says chief minister Mehbooba Mufti ignored separatists' voice to adopt GST in the Assembly. Jaitley is wrong. Geelani’s blessings worked wonders for a cakewalk to GST regime.
If not Jaitley, PM Narendra Modi must thank the Hurriyat hawk, because people of Kashmir religiously follow the tall leader, chanting iconic slogans like “Kone Karay Ga Tarjumani, Syed Ali Geelani”!