Mahesh Chander Sudan
We, the people of Jammu and Kashmir, extended warm welcome to Home Minister, Amit Shah, on his maiden visit to Kashmir valley for two days after taking over the responsibility of Home Minister in the newly formed Cabinet of NDA-II. His visit to Valley due to ongoing Kashmir imbroglio and the political vacuum created out of premature dissolution of coalition Government of BJP and PDP was expected to convey the long term policy of the Union Government. The State of Jammu and Kashmir unlike other States has diverse regional, religious, cultural and ethnic identity and is also known for its unity in diversity for centuries. However, the accession of the state with Indian Union at the time of Independence though executed like other princely states by Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir remains bone of contention between two neighboring nations, India and Pakistan. A large chunk of territory originally forming part of J&K is under control of Pakistan violating the accession treaty signed by then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. This unresolved political issue has been given different color inviting religious extremism with the connivance of Pakistan government resulting in the present blood bath across the Valley of Kashmir. However as regards our Home Minister and his interaction with the local people of the Valley, it is seen that nothing new has been expressed and the same old rhetoric of assigning fault with Congress and holding JL Nehru, First Prime Minister of India responsible for Kashmir issue is heard.
We noticed that the Kashmir issue has taken multifold turns and it is not only bilateral between two countries but has deep rooted constitutional issues affecting relation between State and the union of India. The ongoing blood bath due to terrorism appeared low on the agenda of Home Minister. It seemed that this opportunity was used to interact with people likely to accept political ideology of BJP to prepare the soil for further fertilization. As regards other two regions of the State, no substantial concerns of the people were discussed other than confirming that Jammu and Ladakh now feel part of J&K and Article 370 is a temporary provision. The people of Valley awaited this visit with a hope to hear something concrete for revival of peace in the valley; Ways and means to compensate loss of education of young students, furtherance of their career and opportunity for employment. No word has been spoken about deferred democracy in the State; however the President Rule has been extended further for six months without feeling the nerve of the people.
Absence of democratically elected Government in democracy should be avoided as far as possible as it amounts to denial of democratic right to citizens and any selective imposition shall be counterproductive. We expected him to discuss comprehensive plan about our future rather than unfolding historical events mainly to sidetrack the main issue. He indeed referred to three distinct features of Kashmir valley i.e. Insaniyat, Jamhuriyat and Kashmiryat and confirmed strict adherence to them but nothing substantial to build hope for future. In the present context when four lakh Kashmiris are forced to lead exiled life in their own country, reference to these founding features carries no meaning.Jamhuriyat has been purposefully denied to the people of J&K merely to attain political aim. Kashmiriyat in absence of other two contemporary pillars is of no significance. Interalia, he snubed Kashmir centric politicians to leave them guessing the motive, did mention about abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A to set right the imbalanced relations between state and Centre and this was promptly followed by Governor of J&K and Dr. Jitendra Singh by declaring that militancy was in its last phase, source of information not disclosed, and nil new recruitment of local youth for militancy. We are therefore left confused whether the visit of our HM was planned tactically to avoid issues of the local people or the present dispensation like NDA – I does not have any workable solution for Kashmir issue other than the hot pursuit followed by defense forces. It is seen that people of Valley welcomed HM as no bandh or disagreement of any kind is shown even by the terrorist groups. This silence conveys healthy message and should had been appropriately responded by Amit Shah in the large interest of the State.
We therefore conclude that the situation has been made more confused and no clear sign of early revival of deferred democracy is felt /visible to celebrate. He did highlight presence of rampant corruption in the state administrative machinery, and his dramatic snub of Valley centric politicians presented a fertile soil for active militant groups to exploit as a divided house. In nutshell it is felt that entire play staged during the visit reminds us of old political manoeuvers where in political toy had been activated diligently to gain mileage out of Kashmir issue. Jai Hind, Jai Bharat.
The author is Wg Cdr (Retd)
feedbackexcelsior@gmail.com
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