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| Control Rooms to control what? | | | NIRBHAY JAMMUAL
Governor, N.N.Vohra, has adopted a novel plan on setting up control rooms at the Divisional, district and tehsil levels where people and political parties could register their complaints. This step is being taken in view of the forthcoming Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir. The idea is good as it would enable political leaders and voters to lodge a complaint on any malpractices being committed by any section of people. Will these control rooms register complaints against the activities of militants ? Will these control rooms accept complaints against those separatist leaders who give a call to people to boycott the poll process or those who raise slogans in favour of Azadi or against those who shout in favour of Kashmir's incorporation with Pakistan or those who shout in favour of abrogation of Article 370? Will these control rooms have the powers to register complaints against those who infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir from across the LOC ? These questions need to be answered so that people and political leaders know which complaint can be registered. If the Government does not explain it one would construe that such control rooms were simply agencies meant for recording and registering complaints. Vohra is yet to dilate on these issues as it has not been made public as to who would be manning these control rooms.Will they be manned by the revenue or police officials?
Well it is no longer a secret that there is no law enforcing agency in the state which can take cognizance of the slogans in favour of Azadi. Even if the law against it is there the enforcing agencies do not have the teeth to deal with the problem. Since 1989 Lok Sabha election the separatists have been giving calls for boycott of the polls. If in 1989 the call had its impact in the sense that the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat went to the National Conference without a contest the Anantnag and Baramullah constituencies witnessed three to five per cent polling. However, such calls failed to evoke total response of people in 1996 and 2002 Assembly elections. During these two elections the polling percentage was over 43 per cent and in a couple of districts, including Kupwara, the polling percentage was over 53 per cent. Hence the control rooms could not defeat the plan of the separatists to wreck the election. People, to be precise the voters, rejected the boycott call. This time also the separatists gave a call for poll boycott about five month before the poll schedule was announced by the Election Commission. And again no Government agency can foil this poll boycott calls.
Whether on account of turmoil over the land row or owing to the continued uncertainity over the settlement of the Kashmir issue the poll fever is yet to grip Kashmir.What seems to have gripped the valley is the slogan of Azadi.People continue to respond to the call for shutdown given either by the hardliners,headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani,or by the Coordination Committee,which comprises representatives from trade,bar Association,various factions of the separatists and some intellectuals.The Coordination Committee has assumed as strong teeth as the Sangarsh Samiti had assumed in Jammu during the two-month long agitation over the land loss.As a result of it the space for political activity by the mainstream poltical parties in the Kashmir valley has been squeezed.One does not know if the current political flux will enable poltical parties to launch their pre-poll campaign.Here the control rooms cannot help poltical leaders if they lodge a complaint that they were not being allowed to hold public rallies.Those manning the control rooms may not be in a position to intervene and help the mainstream political parties in organsing public rallies.Ultimately people are supreme.They can defeat the poll boycott call.They alone can make pre-poll rallies a success by their participation in listening to the promises of contesting candidates. |
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