news details |
|
|
| In demand: Khoda's photoframes | | Police officers decorate walls with DGP pic; national icons missing | |
ET REPORTER
Jammu, July 26: For India , the national idol may be Mahatama Gandhi, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru or BR Ambedkar, but in Jammu and Kashmir no such precedence of patriotism is practised.
It is the "man of the hour", who rules the hearts of the men at the helm of affairs. Like few years back the pictures of newly emerging leaders of the government like Mufti Mohammad Sayeed or the top party functionaries like Mehbooba Mufti were suddenly in demand, similarly a new face has yet again suddenly come in demand. It is the new Director General of Police Kuldeep Khoda who the men in Khaki are framing, decorating and putting on the walls.
In the civil secretariat, the highest seat of power in the state, the pictures of Gandhi Nehru or Ambedkar have never been seen hanging on the walls of the chambers of ministers or top bureaucrats. Ironically, it is not the Article 370, which bars entry of such picture into Jammu and Kashmir but it is perhaps the missing gratitude to these national heroes.
Interestingly, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah is regarded as the tallest leaders of Jammu and Kashmir who laid the foundation of a democratic state. Therefore, the precedence requires that at least his picture should have been on the walls.
Till 2002, the ministers used to hang a picture of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on the walls of their offices in the secretariat. The priority, however, was always to the beautifully framed pictures of then Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah and the heir apparent Omar Abdullah.
When NC lost power and the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took over as Chief Minister, the pictures of Sheikh Abdullah along with those of Farooq and Omar suddenly disappeared from the walls. It was Mufti Sayeed all the way, even though the Congress ministers used to put an additional picture of Sonia Gandhi.
Similarly, when Ghulam Nabi Azad took over as new Chief Minister, the Mufti photos have now remained limited to just few offices of the PDP ministers.
To honour and see the face of their "leader" every morning, the Jammu and Kashmir Police is not far behind these political leaders. Soon after Kuldeep Khoda took over as Director General of Police, the demand of his pictures have suddenly risen as from SHO to Sub Divisional Police Officers and SPs for every Police officer it is Khoda's youthful photo which is adorning the walls of their offices.
The EARLY TIMES correspondent visited a number of police stations and other offices of the senior Police officers and found that hardly any officer had the picture of Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar or any other national icon on the walls. It was DGP Khoda all the way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
