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Neha
JAMMU, Sept 5: The engineered violence in Kishtwar on August 9, which caused damage to the properties of the minority community on an unprecedented scale and culminated into three deaths, has put the NC leadership on the mat. It had not only to make MoS Hom Sajjad Ahmad Kitchloo to resign on August 12 to respect the local sentiment but also to do a lot of explaining to tell the nation that the violence in Kishtwar was not state sponsored. On August 12 and 13, the Kishtwar violence rocked the Indian Parliament and the Government of India had to make a statement on the issue and ask the state government to send a detailed report on what led to violence in Kishtwar and what happened that day in that district. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah was so upset over what transpired in the Parliament that he virtually justified the Kishtwar violence by bringing into picture what happened in Gujarat in 2002.
It is important to note that almost all the opposition parties, including BSP, CPI-M, CPI, TMC and TDP, had taken the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government to task for its failure to act on the inputs from various intelligence agencies and avert the impending disaster. While the BSP had demanded President Rule in the state, the CPI-M had without mincing words charged the state government with allowing the situation to deteriorate. The attack of the main opposition BJP was all the more scathing. It had said that Jammu & Kashmir was not the personal property of one family.
On September 2 again, the Kishtwar violence rocked the Rajya Sabha. To reassure the House of Elders, Union Minister for Renewable Energy and party president Farooq Abdullah had to say that "Jammu & Kashmir Government will take all possible measures to ensure that communal harmony is not again disturbed in Kishtwar". He made this statement at a time when BJP MP and in-charge Jammu & Kashmir BJP Avinash Rai Khanna was demanding formulation of a policy that gives insurance cover to the people living in sensitive areas such as Kishtwar. "Under the policy, their lives, property, business establishments and other belongings should be insured. Such a move will encourage people from not migrating during times of crisis," he had said.
Meanwhile, a delegation of victims of violence, which went to Delhi only the other day, met with law-makers belonging to various political parties on August 3. The delegation explained away the nature of ground realities and drew their attention to the "hardships suffered by the minority community due to the wrong policies of the National Conference-Congress government in the state, which led to riots and violence in Kishtwar on August 9". Some of the prominent MPs with whom the delegation met under the leadership of Avinash Rai Khanna included Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, M Venkaiah Naidu, Naresh Gujral, Sitaram Yechury, Naresh Agrawal, KN Balagopal, Narendra Kumar Kashyap, Sanjay Raut, Birendra Prasad Baishya, V Maitreyan, Kanwar Deep Singh, TM Selvaganapathi, Balbir Punj and HK Dua.
That the victims of violence continue to attract the attention of the law-makers even after so many days speaks many things and explain the nature of situation as it has been prevailing in the affected district. In fact, what happened in the Rajya Sabha on September 2 and the kind of discussion that took place between the victims and the various law-makers suggest that the minority community of Kishtwar district has lost its confidence in the Omar Abdullah administration. |
