news details |
|
|
| Leopard never sheds its spots | | Pakistan, Geelani, Hari Om prove it | | YASH BHASIN
Leopard never sheds its spots. Old habits die hard and character acquired over decades together hardly undergoes change.
Pakistan which pursued terrorism as its state policy and based its foreign policy on exporting terrorism to neighbouring countries, whether Afghanistan or India, despite meeting the poetic justice, with the terrorist outfits it groomed, patronized, sponsored and abetted, now threatening country’s very survival, is unable to resist the temptation to pursue its policy to cause discomfort to and bleed India. Pakistani rhetoric of cooperating with India in bringing to justice the perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai attack is exposed with the release order by the Lahore High Court of the mastermind of Mumbai attack and Jamat-ud-Dawh (JuD) Chief Hafiz Mohd Saeed. Obviously Pakistan did not pursue the case in the court earnestly and honestly, thus facilitating the release of the leader of a hardcore Islamist terrorist group, which has been banned by the United Nations. Now Pakistan crying over spilt milk and giving assurance of filing an appeal in the High Court against its earlier order of release of Hafiz Saeed lacks credibility and appears to be an eye wash, taken in the wake of serious concern expressed by US over the development. The action against Hafiz was taken by Pakistan under pressure from USA and other UN member western countries.
Simultaneously Pak premier Yousaf Rizar Geelani has again harped on the old tune of settlement of Kashmir dispute in keeping with UN resolutions. In a strident anti India statement Geelani has asked “Occupying” Indian forces in J&K to stop repression, while offering Pakistan’s continuous political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris in their struggle for right of self determination. In nutshell Pakistan which tries to invoke Kashmir dispute and take shelter under it to explain its every failure to deal with Islamic terrorists in the country as well as diverts the attention of its own people from internal problems of the country, by rousing anti India hysteria, has not shed its core theme of state policy.
While it is so, at home the hard line separatist leader Ali Shah Geelani who had only two days earlier indulged in rhetoric of asking his supporters to not do any thing that hits tourism trade in Kashmir could not resist the temptation to politicize the alleged rape and killing of two innocent Kashmir women in Shopian. By giving call for prolonged shut down and staging violent protests against alleged excesses by the security forces, the hard line secession leader is only bringing the situation in Kashmir back to square, creating conditions as were witnessed last year during these months, over Amarnath yatra land row. The same had hit hard the tourist inflow in the valley. The valley which was humming with tourism in the earlier part of May this year and was poised for heavy inflow of tourists in June as per the bookings in the hotels and houseboats and brisk activity by tour and travel operators, has been again brought to a situation where tourists are forced to pack up and those planning to visit Kashmir obliged to cancel their bookings. Thus it indicates vast difference between his profession and actual conduct of the separatists.
While deaths of two Kashmiri women is poignant and highly tragic, causing serious concern to all the right thinking people, coming to the hasty conclusion of victims having been gang raped and then murdered by the security forces personnel, without any substantial proof of the same, is not justified. Least justified is bringing at ransom the normal life in the valley at a time when high prospects of fillip to tourism after a long time were visible. It has become customary with the separatists to paralyze life in Kashmir over slightest provocation. To pursue their secessionist agenda the separatists of all hue and colour avail of any aberration or mishap to rouse anti India tirade, raising slogans for Aazadi. In doing so they are unmindful of the harm they cause to the interests of a common Kashmiri, who is brought to a point of starvation as a result of prolonged strikes and shut downs which snatches means of daily living from him, while at the same time scare away the tourist, thus hitting hard the economy. It is most unfortunate that the PDP, who claims itself to be a mainstream political party does not resist the temptation to make political capital out of any turmoil and turbulent situation brought about by the separatists. To settle scope with its main political rival in Kashmir the NC, PDP has gone all out of the way to further compound the chaotic conditions in the valley by giving call for march to Shopian and supporting the shut downs sponsored by the separatists. The party which claims to be acting as a buffer between the separatist and mainstream political space very often tilts its weight towards the latter and even tries to over do them.
Still further at home front, having hang over of his controversial political stint in BJP, the recent entrant to Congress Prof Hari Om has spoken in a voice which sounds sweet music to the ears of his erstwhile political associates and cause embarrassment to the organization joined by him in the recent past. Hari Om has expressed his anguish over the recent developments in the state politics, which according to him betray anti Jammu and anti Hindu policies of the ruling dispensation in J&K and in the country. He has lamented non inclusion of any Hindu MP from Jammu region into the Union Council of Minister and has even rued non representation to Jammu in the Union ministry, forgetting that Ghulam Nabi Azad, inducted as a Cabinet Minister with important portfolio of Health and Medical Education belongs to Jammu region. With his old mindset, for Hari Om Jammu region means only Hindus of Jammu and Hindu majority areas of the region. He wants the Congress to watch the interest of Hindu since the party has got a solid support from the community in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. His grouse over non inclusion of any of two Hindus elected to Lok Sabha from Jammu region portrays him to be more loyal than the king. He conveniently forgets that out of the Congress quota from Jammu region all the two, Tara Chand and Sham Lal are Hindus. While selecting Deputy Chief Minister from Jammu, Congress gave preference to a Hindu from the Hindu majority area of the region, Tara Chand over Choudhary Mohammad Aslam, a Muslim Gujjar from Poonch who is far senior to Tara Chand in the party and in politics.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
