The new Governor

After completing an interminable tenure of
over 10 years as Governor of Jammu and
Kashmir, NN Vohra is replaced by Satya
Pal Malik who has been appointed as the new
occupant of the Raj Bhawan, the first ever political
Head of the State. Presently, the State is
under Governor’s rule and the fourth one
imposed during Vohra’s tenure as Governor. SP
Malik is being sworn in today in Srinagar, the
summer capital of the State as the new Governor
and as per the itinerary known about his schedule,
he is returning to Patna for a day or two.
Malik, seventy two years old, has to his credit
a chequered and prominent social and political
background of having been an MLA in Uttar
Pradesh and served as member of both Lok
Sabha and Rajya Sabha respectively and
replaced Ram Nath Kovind as Bihar Governor
last year after the latter was elected as President
of India. He has in-depth knowledge about the
political scenario of Jammu and Kashmir .It was
the political sagacity of Satya Pal Malik who in
1989, motivated Late Mufti Mohammad Syed to
fight Lok Sabha elections from Muzzafarnagar,
UP.
The appointment of Malik as the Governor of
Jammu and Kashmir carries lot of political denotation
as the State is reeling under a proxy war of
terrorism unleashed by Pakistan. There is seemingly
a major shift in the Central Government in
the choice of appointment of Governor from apolitical
strata to the political one as Dr. Karan
Singh and Jagmohan Malhotra both of whom
had served as Governors of Jammu and
Kashmir later had joined politics after their stint
as the Heads of the State and became Union
Ministers too. So it could be construed that with
the appointment of a political Governor, the exercise
of political process in the State could get a
fillip. The first of such political processes could
well be thought of to be initiated in the form of
holding elections for Panchayats and
Municipalities and from the grass root levels, the
people could get a chance to participate in the
democratic political activities.
It was increasingly speculated that Vohra
could exit the State as Governor after conclusion
of annual pilgrimage of Shri Amar Nath Ji by
August 26. Malik has made it amply clear that he
would make all efforts to restore peace and normalcy
in Jammu and Kashmir by taking all people
along and following the Prime Minister’s policy
on Kashmir. He has reiterated and reminded
about having good old relations with all political
parties in the State and has expressed the positive
confidence to receive full support from them.
However, the new Governor takes charge in
an atmosphere surcharged with the row over
Article 35A, which at the moment is under consideration
of the Apex Court. In addition to that, the
occasion of the solemn festival of Eid yesterday
saw as many as six terror related incidents at
the behest of Pakistan which rocked the valley in
which a BJP leader and an SPO were killed by
terrorists . In addition, three more terror related
incidents in Anantnag, Kulgam and Kashmir
respectively fairly exposed the evil designs of
Pakistan in the valley which did not have any
consideration for an occasion even like

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