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| Situation has worsened, not improved, in J&K | | |
STARK REALITY
RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Feb 22, Addressing the joint sitting of Parliament on Tuesday, President of the Union, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, asserted that "the situation in Jammu and Kashmir has improved.” She also referred to measures her government has taken to improve the situation. She referred to an all- party delegation that visited the State last year, as also to the appointment of interlocutors, who, according to her are “engaged fruitfully in their endeavours." But what she said was actually the point of view of the Union Cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister.
Hence, to make any comment on what she said would not be in order. She performed exceedingly well while dealing with the issue of appointment of Vice-Chancellor of the Jammu Central University and she could take the right decision because she alone had the power to do so. She saved the situation by her noble intervention.
That she would inform the law-makers that things were under control was on expected lines. No government ever accepts its failures unless it is forced to do. It has been happening in the country ever since the application of the Indian Constitution on January 26, 1950. The fact of the matter is that the Presidential Address has not inspired anyone, except those responsible for the mess they have over the period created in the state. As far as the concerned citizens of the state are concerned, they are feeling quite dissatisfied not just because the Presidential Address did not make the nation aware of the ground situation in the state but also because the Address simply suggested that action would be taken against those involved in corrupt activities, including those who have stashed black money in the Swiss banks.
It would be appropriate to deal with the message the Presidential Address has sent across the state, leave alone the corruption part. It has only led the people of the state to believe that the Congress-led UPA Government would continue to pursue the same old policy that has, instead of producing a moral effect and neutralizing the insidious influence of the separatists in Kashmir on the state’s polity, society and economy, has emboldened even those responsible for the unity and integrity of India and those whose duty it is to defend and promote further the paramount sovereign interests in the state to tread the path the separatists have been treading for years now.
One can catalogue here several instances to show that certain elements in the political establishment in the state -- and they belong both to the ruling NC and the opposition PDP and similar other parties, which have their representatives in the state legislature – have contributed a lot to the process initiated by those who are called separatists. One, it was none other than the Chief Minister who created serious doubts in the minds of the Indians about Jammu and Kashmir by raking up the issue of merger, which was a non issue, but New Delhi did not take cognizance of what he said. Instead, it defended him to the hilt. Two, a number of ministers and legislators, particularly those belonging to the NC, made derogatory remarks against the Army and paramilitary forces with a view to creating hatred between them and the people and between the people of Kashmir and the rest of the country, but they were allowed to go scot-free. New Delhi simply followed the so-called coalition Dharma.
Even the Congress did not think it proper to take on its bitter critics in the NC. The result was demoralization among our troops and the military forces and a signal to the separatists and subversives that they were free to indulge in any kind of activities. Another result was that the NC got further emboldened to ride roughshod, humiliate the local Congress leadership, perpetrate injustices on Jammu and adopt anti-democratic and anti-people policies. Its negative attitude to the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments dealing with the Panchayati Raj is one instance. The other was the step-motherly treatment meted out to KAS aspirants belonging to Jammu province. There are many such instance.
Three, if the ruling NC complicated further the already rather complicated situation in the state and outraged the vast nationalist constituency, the main opposition PDP, which, like the NC, dismisses the Army and paramilitary forces and the Central laws with contempt, did not lag behind. It publicly acknowledged the Chinese sovereignty over Akshai Chin and the Karakoram region. In fact, it brought out a map in such a way. Again, New Delhi thought it prudent to ignore it, leave aside the vague statement of the Union Home Minister threatening action against the PDP in case it did not modify the map – statement which he has perhaps forgotten. Four, the PDP openly talked about the “psychological pain” the people of Kashmir suffer from. The PDP also talked about replication of Egypt in Kashmir. New Delhi did not contest what the PDP did and said. The result was what it should have been.
But these are only a few of the several such instances which show that 2010 and January and first two weeks of February, 2011 saw the separatists and subversives and the “mainstream” Kashmiri leaders practically on the same page. This is the kind of improvement in the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Disturbing.
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