B L Saraf
The other day former CM Omar Abdullah was on a tour to his Assembly constituency, Beerwah. While interacting with NC workers and his supporters he said “basic governance was invisible during the tenure of PDP-BJP Government.” He said many other things, also. We leave them aside for the time being and focus on part of the statement regarding ‘ invisibility ‘ of the previous regime’s governance. Before a comment is made on his statement, Omar Abdullah must be reminded that people had the same view of NC -INC governance when he was in the saddle, from 2009 to 2014.
‘Invisible’ connotes many meanings. One of them is ‘unseen’ – unnoticeable. We can stretch the meaning of ‘invisible’ to ‘ not identifiable’ by a naked eye or whose whereabouts cannot be ascertained. ‘Invisible’ could, well, be the synonymous of ‘ unknown.’
Omar may be right in his judgment on the performances of the previous Government: as some would hold it true of his own Government that preceded former in the office. But the cloak of invisibility is worn not only by the State or its actors, the shroud of unknown fits well, in a regular fashion, to the gun wielding non- state actor. It is a standard daily news; “X has fallen to the gun of the ”unknown.”And, despite tall claims of the Government to reveal his identity the culprit taunts us by remaining ‘unknown ‘, for ever. So, the ‘ unknown ‘ has conquered both underground as well as the over ground.
It wouldn’t be an overstatement if one has to say that, in practice, it is the ‘invisible ‘ who rules us in every walk of life – may be in death, also. We had many Governments in place but never knew who actually ruled us. This is insecure and uncertain world, people live in. Fear of unknown is all pervading. It may be responsible for the creation of insecurity, but ‘ the ‘ unknown ‘ is essentially our own creation. People feel them in opaqueness of governance, unaccountability in program implementation and callousness of the powers that be towards the woes of the people. Added to is the unethical politicking and mutually beneficial under- hand dealings of the concerned.
It appears that ubiquitous ‘ unknown ‘ has a day everywhere. A Pakistani poet has very aptly, though in a satirical vein, depicted the shady character – the unidentified – and his misdeeds in a poetic form captioned Naa Maloam Afraad. Not excluding application to his own governance, what Omar Abdullah has said about the demised PDP-BJP Government echoes loudly in the lines of poem:
Hum sub apney Sheher e na pursaan kae Bassi hein
Jis ka nazam u nasaq chalaein na- maloam afraad
Translated, it reads like :
We are the dwellers of a god forsaken city
Whose administration is run by unknown persons
From the lamentations of the bard we find that the malaise of invisibility is not restricted to us, alone. Our western neighbour too suffers from the disease, rather seriously. So, both suffer from the peculiar ailment.
It is our tragedy that the “unknown “roams around us, everywhere but we fail to detect him.We find it convenient to attribute our misdeeds to the ‘ him.’ Jammu and Kashmir state faces multiple challenges of governance, law and order, displacement of the population and wide spread violence. Being unable to meet the challenge and address the problem we tend to cover up the incompetence by creating an unidentified demon and curse it as a scapegoat. Here, the bard gives language to our thoughts;
Sheher mein jis janeb jaien ak hee manzar
Aaghe peecheh daien baien na- maloam afraad.
Translated, it reads
Everywhere in the city, right, left and centre
Roam the ‘ unknown ‘
The, unknown ‘ whoever he may be is the enemy of peace, he trades in death and destruction and is bereft of human considerations.Above all,he is a coward. It is time to keep eyes wide open and summon the courage to unmask the invisible . After all, in most cases, he is the one created by us.
The sickening business of operating in invisibility has, really, gone too far. Death of young and old, amongst us, has become unbearable not only for the kith and kin but also weighs very heavy on the collective conscience of society at large. Anonymity should not be used as a cover to hide cowardice and barbarity. This is the time we find ways and means – more than that a strong will – to put curtains on the sordid drama of death and destruction, played in the name of ‘ invisible ‘.
Impunity has played long innings in the State. Now, it is the turn of accountability to pitch in and bat for the cause of humanity. The perpetrators of crime must be unmasked, whoever they are. Otherwise, given the rapid increase of their tribe ours will, soon, be called a society of the deaf and dumb.
(The author is Former Principal District & Sessions Judge)
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