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| Omar Abdullah alienating Jammu | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Apr 20: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah will never win the hearts and minds of the people province, without any exception. An impression has gained ground in Jammu that Omar Abdullah is Chief Minister of Kashmir and not of the state. The politically awakened sections of the Jammu society have virtually to the conclusion that in pursuit of his politico-administrative and socio-economic policies Omar Abdullah is guided more by the Valley interests and that his government has turned out to be highly discriminatory towards the people of this province.
There appears some truth in what the people of Jammu province have come to believe. Ever since his entry into the state's political arena, Omar Abdullah has been making statements that indicate his bias against the people of Jammu province in general and the Dogra rulers in particular and more particularly Maharaja Hari Singh, who was hailed as a "progressive and kind" ruler and as someone who vehemently opposed the British rule and stood for the country's independence.
Omar Abdullah came to limelight during the BJP-led NDA rule. He joined the Union Council of Ministers despite the fact that the NC was ideologically opposed to the BJP. His joining the Central Government established that the NC could go to any extent to befool the Kashmir people and enjoy political power. The people of Jammu had disliked the decision of Atal Bihari Vajpayee to include Omar Abdullah into his ministry as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
However, the people of Jammu province turned extremely angry Omar Abdullah in 2002, when the process of electing a new assembly was on and Omar Abdullah was touring different parts of the state. He also addressed an election rally in Samba, a stronghold of the Rajput community. Addressing the rally, he made some derogatory remarks against Maharaja Hari Singh, who had ruled the state between 1925 and 1947.
The immediate fall-out was the widespread anger against the NC in the Jammu region in general and Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur and Doda districts in particular, with the opponents exploiting these provocative and anti-Hari Singh remarks to the hilt and making them a major issue during the election campaign in order to woo the Jammu electorate. The NC suffered a humiliating defeat in Jammu province.
Omar Abdullah crossed all the lines on 22nd July 2008 and outraged the sentiments not only of the people of Jammu province but also the entire nation. That day, he made a highly provocative and communally-motivated statement on the floor of the Lok Sabha on the Amarnath land row. Supporting the trust motion moved by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Omar Abdullah said "we will not give an inch of our land to the Shrine Board. The Kashmiris have never demolished or desecrated temples. Despite all tensions, they did not touch Amarnath yatris. We are not communal like you (BJP people)…Muslims have always supported the yatra and will continue to do so. The issue was that of land wrested from people. We fought for the land and will continue to fight for the land…"
As expected, Omar Abdullah's unwarranted and provocative statement provoked protests in Jammu on an unprecedented scale. So much so, one Kuldip Verma of Bishnah committed suicide at Parade Ground Jammu on 23rd July to register his anger against Omr Abdullah. The memory of what happened in Jammu after 23 July 2008 is still fresh to be forgotten. His statement and violent response it evoked in Jammu created a situation that deterred all the Kashmir-based leaders to the extent that they did not muster courage to enter Jammu for months together. They were so afraid of the people of Jammu province.
But Omar Abdullah has not learned any lesson from past mistakes. His land, irrigation, power, industrial, tourism, transport, employment and admission policy has all served to indicate the official bias against and contempt for the people of Jammu province. His policy is fundamentally Kashmir-centric. The construction activities going on along the Bypass between Channi Himmat and Sidhra, Beli Chrana and Vijaypur, to mention only a few areas, does indicate the official involvement in a game that is being played to change the demography of the Jammu district in general and Jammu city and its surrounding areas in particular. Insiders reveal that "substantial money has changed hands during the past few days", that "several acres of forest land have been allotted overnight to the followers of a particular religion" and that a "few top-ranking persons are involved in all these shoddy and ill-designed deals".
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah cannot win the hearts of the people of Jammu by following such policies. He has to change his attitude towards the people of Jammu province as well as India and the Indian laws. He should remember that the people of Jammu have inflicted two humiliating defeats on his party, first in 2002 and the second in 2008.
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