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| Valley train: Idea dates back to 1983 | | |
Early Times Special
JAMMU, August 9, 2009: Over 26 years ago, in May-June 1983, Dr Farooq Abdullah had to lead his party, the National Conference, in the Legislative Assembly elections for the first time. He had to lead from the front as his father Sher-i-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was no longer there, having died in September 1982.
Dr Abdullah was up against the most powerful woman of those times, Mrs Indira Gandhi, as she was touring the state extensively and campaigning for her party. Her advisors had apparently told her that the Congress could win, on its own, if only she led the party campaign in the state.
Prior to that, Dr Abdullah had earned himself some unenviable reputation as a person who had inherited his towering father’s legacy perhaps a bit undeservedly. This had happened because he rode on a motorcycle with actress Shabana Azmi as a pillion rider. Then there was an incident in which he chased alleged timber smugglers driving away in trucks on a motorcycle.
These incidents were used by the Congress spin doctors in Delhi to portray and project Dr Abdullah as a ``non-serious politician’’. The PM was told that these incidents clearly showed that Dr Abdullah was too much of a ``playboy’’ to take the trouble of withstanding the heat and din of electioneering.
Campaigning then was far tougher than nowadays as helicopters were not freely available. Only the PM or some select Central ministers had access to them and this gave an edge to the Congress.
Helicopters were definitely out of Dr Abdullah’s reach those days though he had to travel extensively. For this, he used a dark brown coloured Toyota jeep which was parked in his Bhatindi residence till some years ago.
During the heat and din of campaigning, some Congress leaders urged the PM to ``offer something’’ to the electorate. Party insiders recall that after careful consideration, it was decided that one of the promises would be to extend the railway line beyond Jammu.
Soon thereafter, Mrs Indira Gandhi duly announced that the railway network in the state will be extended. To begin with, a 52-km railway line will be laid between Jammu and Udhampur.
The move was criticized by some national newspapers as an attempt to ``bribe the electorate’’ during elections. However, there was a section of the media which justified the announcement saying it was but logical that the railway line in J&K be widened.
In their election speeches, the Congress leaders made it a point to include the announcement regarding proposed extension of railway network up to Udhampur. The NC leaders cleverly used it against the Congress in the Valley saying the Central Government was not willing to extend train services up to Kashmir!
The NC campaigned aggressively on the plank of Bill No 9 of 1983. An impression was created that if the Bill got passed, it would pave the way for the return of all those people who had fled from J&K to Pakistan in 1947-48. Of course, the NC leaders also claimed that these people would be able to reclaim their land and properties.
The Congress leaders retaliated by insinuating in the Jammu region that the Hindus and the Sikhs would be direct losers in case the NC came to power. The masses were told that those in possession of lands earlier owned by Muslims who had gone to Pakistan would be dispossessed.
These tactics proved to be hugely divisive and a regional and communal divide resulted. The Kashmir valley voted overwhelmingly for the NC and the Congress almost swept through the Jammu region.
Dr Farooq Abdullah became the chief minister of the state for the second time on June 9, 1983, after winning a clear majority in the assembly elections. He had become the CM for the first time on September 9, 1982, after Sher-i-Kashmir’s death.
Soon afterwards, he raised the demand for extending the railway line from Jammu to Udhampur. Of course, the demand was ignored by the Central Government.
Work on the Jammu-Udhampur railway line started and then went on at a snail’s pace till 1996. Between 1983 and 1996, for 13 years, work continued at such a slow pace that only 12 km of railway track up to Bajalta station, behind Sidhra, was completed. This means that less than one kilometer of track was laid every year between 1983 and 1996.
The Jammu-Udhampur railway line became a reality a full 24 years after the first announcement in this connection, an announcement by no less a person than Mrs Indira Gandhi.
A couple of days ago, senior railway ministry officials inspected the Qazigund-Anantnag railway line. With this, it is expected that train services will now be available soon on a 119-km stretch between Baramullah and Anantnag, linking the north and south Kashmir.
This track has been completed almost in a record time of less than a decade, big impediments like terrorist attacks and killings of staff notwithstanding, because the government of the day showed steely determination.
If only the Jammu-Udhampur railway link had been completed in a reasonable time just as was promised in the 1983 assembly elections. And also extended beyond Udhampur. In that case, the train link to Kashmir Valley would have become a reality by now.
Alas, that was not to be.
The announcement of Jammu-Udhampur railway line was a political promise, strings attached, and took decades to fructify. This is the reason why masses remain wary of the political class. Yet, they have no choice but to rely on the politicians and taken for a ride by them.
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