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| Omar should stay in Kashmir because his heart is there | | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Nov 18: It was on November 8 that the civil secretariat reopened in Jammu after a gap of six months. It was expected that the secretariat, which remained dysfunctional in Kashmir for all practical purposes between April and October, would start functioning in the winter capital in the real sense of the term and the state government address Jammu's concerns. It was also expected that Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who had outraged the sensitivities of the people of Jammu province by making a highly provocative and controversial statement on the floor of the assembly on October 6 that Jammu and Kashmir had only acceded to India and not merged, would do something concrete to assuage the hurt feelings of the people of Jammu province.
Has the civil secretariat started functioning? Has Omar Abdullah done anything substantial to assuage the hurt feelings of the people of Jammu province? Is the Chief Minister's approach holistic and state-centric? The answer to all these three pertinent and straight questions is a big NO.
The civil secretariat has, of course, reopened in Jammu, but it has remained dysfunctional. Most of the employees from Kashmir are conspicuous by their absence. They are likely to join their duties only on Monday (November 22). Only the employees hailing from Jammu province whose number in the secretariat is just negligible and who do not hold important positions were seen in the secretariat doing nothing. They could not discharge their duties or transact official business in the absence of the employees from Kashmir because it is the latter that control everything. The fact is that the secretariat remained opened only for 3-4 days after it reopened on October 8. It may start functioning on next Monday. It is hardly necessary to reflect on the consequences of the secretariat remaining virtually dysfunctional for as many as 10 days out of a total of 14 days. People of Jammu are not that fool that can't understand. They understand everything.
What about the Chief Minister? On the day the secretariat reopened in Jammu, he did two things. One, he addressed media persons and told them he was committed to what he said on October 6 and that he had his own way of looking at things and New Delhi couldn't do anything. In other words, he challenged New Delhi and again outraged the Jammu sentiment to cater to his communal constituency in Kashmir. The same day he had a 2-hour-long Video Conference with the Kashmir-based Deputy Commissioners. Obviously, the focus was on Kashmir and on the needs of the people of the Valley. On November 9, he had another Video Conference. He had this Video Conference with the Kashmir-based Senior Superintendents of Police and others holding senior positions in the Police Department. It last for almost three hours. Obviously, the focus was on Kashmir and on the needs of the people of the Valley. He did remain stay put in Jammu for the next three days, but doing no work whatever because of the absence of employees from the Kashmir Valley, as also because the Secretariat "functioned" only for half a day on Friday. On Saturday, he went back to Kashmir, where he held a public durbar on Sunday. According to official reports, he met more than 4,000 persons that day and listened to their complaints or whatever for about six hours. Only he knows if he did justice to those over 4,000 persons who he met.
Had the Chief Minister had any Video Conference with the Jammu-based Deputy Commissions when the Civil Secretariat was in Kashmir? The answer perhaps is no. Had he had any Video Conference with the Jammu-based Senior Superintendents of Police and similar other senior police officials. The answer perhaps is no.
It is indeed difficult to avoid the conclusion that Omar Abdullah had little or no regard for the people of Jammu province or that he had no time in his busy schedule to address the concerns of Jammu and that he was here but his heart was there in Kashmir. It would be better if he stays there in Kashmir and take care of the people in the Valley. He can do so. He simply has to bifurcate all the departments and hand over the Jammu administration to someone belonging to Jammu. As a matter of fact it is time for the division of the state. The division of the state consisting of disparate regions would be in the interest of the people of Kashmir and the people of Jammu province. Even otherwise, division of the state has become imperative considering irreconcilable contradictions in the political perceptions of the people of Kashmir and the people of Jammu province. |
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