Majid Ahmad
Srinagar, Aug 14: Five days since Kishtwar burnt in the flames of Communal hatred and continues to remain tense, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has not been able to spare time to visit the town and assuage the wounds of people. Having run out of political means to deal with such situation, he has aggravated the grief of the people across the state by imposing prolonged curfew and restricting internet services.
When communal clashes broke out in Kishtwar on August 9, Omar was busy accepting Eid wishes from his party leaders and workers in Srinagar. In fact state Information Department on August 10 in its daily bulletin carried a story mentioning how people continued to throng CM residence on second day of Eid when riots were engulfing entire Jammu region.
"On the second Eid today large number of people from different walks of the life and from across the State continued to visit Chief Minister's residence here to convey Eid greetings personally to Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah who received them warmly, shared Eid greetings and extended good wishes to them," the official handout read.
"Among the general public the prominent visitors included Ministers, Members of Parliament, Legislators, media persons, political leaders, etc," it added.
Questioning the wisdom of Chief Minister to stay in Srinagar when clashes had broken out in Kishtwar, a senior political analyst said, "It seems Omar was more concerned about receiving Eid greetings than stopping the communal clashes from spreading to other areas of Jammu division. It is height of irresponsibility on part of Chief Minister as he could have rushed to the spot immediately after hearing the news."
"Of late Omar government has resorted to one way to bring the situation under control. To impose curfew, suspend internet service and at times don't allow media to perform its duties. However, situation can't be controlled always by such repressive measures. A day will come when situation will explode to an extent where it would be difficult to control," he warned.
A senior political leader wile commenting on the issue said, "When Sajjad Kichloo resigned on moral grounds being junior home minister, why isn't Omar following the suit? Kichloo was made scapegoat to hide the failures of National Conference led government. Right from 2009 Omar has failed to control the violence at early stages due to which situation in 2010 reached to crescendo."
"By imposing curfews and blocking internet, business and other activities suffer. It gives bad name to the state tourism also. When message goes to the world that even Internet services have been snapped in J&K, tourists are hesitant to come here. This has been happening for last eight months now that on slightest pretext government snaps Internet services," he added. |
