 |
2021 The year of hope with spring ahead || By Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo || LIVE IMAGE |
Every dark
channel has a bright opening and every night has a dawn ahead. The snowy winter
is always followed eagerly by the spring. Anne Bradstreet exclaimed
beautifully, “if we had no winter, the spring would not be so
pleasant”. Unluckily for Jammu and Kashmir, the natives here had lost the
balance and charm of winter and spring three decades ago in the din of death
& destruction, terror & fear, hate and malice, discrimination &
displacement.
The last two
years have discovered a new beginning psychologically and politically. The bold
events with a little risk opened new vistas for experimentation of loaded fresh
formulas, unlike walking the beaten and ragged paths. The usual lollipop
methods of the last seven decades in political affairs and management in the
erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir were given a good bye by the government
led by the PM Narendra Modi, proactively supported by the MHA Amit Shah.
The
threatening of bloodbath and lawlessness by the family based politicians were
multiplied by a big zero on the ground. Results are for all to see post August
2019 developments. The successful conduct and completion of the Zila Parishad
elections recently is the net outcome of the well thoughtout political action
followed by the psychological impact of a great and historic magnitude.
The road
doesn’t end here, infact it begins now. The tourist influx at Gulmarg on the
year end is a small ray of hope for all concerned. People in Jammu and Kashmir
were brazenly misguided to a mischievous belief that nothing could be possible
without succumbing before the prophets of doom who brought bloodshed nearer our
homes for the past three to four decades. It was and will remain an astonishing
and worrying fact of life as to who and why the state of India was made to
negotiate with the separatist, fundamentalist and terrorist elements of Kashmir
in the days gone by.
Then there
were a bundle of hay-makers, compartmentalized into various sorts of bunches, who
in the name of Kashmir created their own banners to pose and prove that they
could be the best intermediaries on the subject. They besides providing the
necessary oxygen to the separatist-terrorist mill all along in Jammu and
Kashmir made their own fortunes as well. The intermittent foreign jaunts for
days and weeks together were an additional bonus of the business in hand. Their
connections, loose and sharp both, in the corridors of power let them to
flourish all these three decades. Then they also assumed the title of
“experts on Kashmir” and many among the common public were made to
believe that they were the real savious in the turmoil of Jammu and Kashmir,
equally nourished by them, day in and day out.
The change of
government at the centre in 2014 closed most of its front doors to all of this
type of ‘brokers-in-demand’ but they made every effort to sneak in through the
back doors. The continuation of the government again at the centre in May 2019
with a comfortable majority, followed by the decisive actions of the government
regarding Jammu and Kashmir coupled with the parliamentary actions of August
5/6, 2019, closed all gates to these past ‘brokers-in-demand’ to maneuver,
exploit and hyperbole through their designs. The results are well before all of
us.
The
terror-separatist clique represented by Shabir Shah, Yaseen Malik & Aisha
Andrabi likes are behind the bars, the important links regarding money-terror
scheming are undergoing the process of the rule of law, the terror structures
are being demolished along with their operatives in the UT without any
conditions, political support to the death and destruction spree has been
minimised to the lowest, the narratives to weaken the nation and the state have
lost their currency in the public domain, Syed Geelani is out of Hurriyat with
his other counterpart taking full fledged rest in his home, the Huriyat and the
other Huriyat likes are in complete hibernation and the grass root democracy
through the Panchayat, BDC and DDC elections have also been initiated
successfully.
The sacrifices
of our brave security forces, a number of couragous policemen, Surpanches and
Panches, and also of the senior political and social activists particularly for
the last five years have written very positive aspects of history with their
own blood and sweat. It is because of their valiant actions that we see this
day with bright rays of hope and expectation. Jammu and Kashmir is hopefully
out of the storm that swept it to an unbelievable tumult and disorder. The huge
impact of the tumult was that it rendered the oldest legacy holders of Kashmir
as refugees in their own country for over more than the last three decades now.
The change in
the scenario can’t be expected overnight, it requires huge investment of
remoarse, introspection, review, goodwill and sincere efforts at all levels.
There is no doubt that the previous heads of the State/UT for the last five
years played their role with the required finesse but the current LG, Monoj
Sinha has a huge mandate and a role to rebuild both, the hopes and the UT
afresh. He is a very well experienced politician, administrator, well-read
personality, past MP and minister and overall a confident of the Prime Minister
Modi. We can bank upon him for the good times ahead.
On an analysis
of the DDC election campaign, voting pattern and the election results, it is
clear that the equal distribution of seats between both the Jammu and Kashmir
regions has played a pivotal role in creating trust and satisfaction among the
people of the Union Territory for the first time, politically speaking. There
can’t be two opinions about the facts of discrimination and bias against the
region of Jammu in respect of delimitation earlier which allotted three seats
to the Kashmir valley and two seats only to the Jammu region for the parliament
in addition to giving 46 Assembly seats to Kashmir and 37 seats to Jammu
division. This was and remains a violation of the fundamental rights in terms
of equality and equal opportunities irrespective of anything called logic or
rationale in regard to the citizens of the erstwhile state.
The Kashmiri
Pandit community, which is living as refugees in its own country for the last
more than three decades now, has very meager chances to get its representatives
elected to the politically important forums. They also need attention and
redressal through the Delimitation Commission. Since they are not politically
represented unlike all other communities in the UT, they are the perpetual
victims of having been refused their share in the government, administration
and the other arms and instrumentalities of the state.
There is no
member of the Pandit community in the all important Public Service Commission
of the State/UT for the last one decade, there has not been even a single
minister from them in the government for the last more than a decade, there is
no possibility of being represented, for the indigenous people of the
state, in the Parliament of the nation, neither is there any mechanism to
nominate them to the important political positions either at the centre or in
the UT.
It is a
politically victimised community for no fault of theirs and the ethnic
cleansing in 1989-90 has added to and multiplied their woes in this respect.
What remained undone was done by the irrelevant practice of M-Forms during the
elections all these three decades. It is time that five Assembly seats are
reserved for this victim nationalist community which has more than five
thousand years of written history in the Kashmir valley by incorporating
amendment in the constitution to this effect.
A fervent
appeal is made to the Delimitation Commission to exercise its powers to send
such a recommendation to the President and the government of India in order to
settle the unsettled issue of politically important concern of the Pandit
community. It will also help paving way for the resettlement of the community
in the valley, eventually, as per their geo-political aspirations in the days
to come.
The West
Pakistan refugees, sections of Valmiki Samaj and Gorkha community and also
other such section of society will also add up to the overall demographic
vicissitudes now since they have also voted in the DDC elections for the first
time recently. The fact remains that the census of 2011 can’t be the only criteria
that need to be the basis for the delimitation. Many other factors also require
to be taken into consideration by the Commission.
Then there are
the Gujjars and Bakerwals who have been since granted the ST status and should
therefore also require reservation of constituencies in both the regions of the
UT. The Schedule Caste reservations are also limited to a few constituencies
and one region whilst these reservations also need spread and rotation. Such
changes, improvements and review by the Delimitation Commission will
qualitatively, quantitatively and psychologically cater to the demands of the
society for the last more than five decades.
Jammu and
Kashmir, seemingly, is on the road ahead for peace, progress and development in
a fresh phase. The year 2021 can be the beginning of the auspicious hope and
goodwill. Let the flowers bloom, the spring is ahead.
By – Ashwani Kumar Chrungoo
(The author is a senior BJP & KP leader, Incharge: Deptt of Political Feedback, BJP-J&K and can be reached at: ashwanikc2012@gmail.com)
