PoK Strike and Political Face of India
It has been only 2 days since the Pope gave his peace message for Middle East and we have already witnessed the first string of heavy bombing from Israel. It’s really sad to see a whole lot of innocent citizens who are, without choice, being sucked into this long lasting battle and dying in the attacks. It was also really disappointing to watch Zardari give that press conference today and sternly warn off India against any strikes on PoK citing they would take care of their problems in their own time. This is something I consider really irresponsible from a person of his position and especially when the global community is expecting some concrete actions from Pakistan in light of the Bombay attacks. I am not an advocate of war myself and would never be. But if an extreme global political pressure on Pakistan to bring these terrorists to justice doesn’t work, then unfortunately I would be a part of the lot who would reluctantly put their hands up in favour of a surgical strike on PoK to destroy any terrorist establishments. Whether situation escalates to such a scale or not, it’s hard to say at the moment. I hope common sense prevails in the Indian subcontinent and the tension doesn’t escalate to a full scale war between the two nuclear powers. Meanwhile, increased pressure needs to be put to get some meaningful actions out of Pakistan rather than the insignificant results we have witnessed over the years. By the way let me also tell you my opinion about the Pakistani president still hasn’t changed a wee bit. He still remains the hypocritical and manipulative leader who took control back in September. How can you expect me to respect somebody who used his wife’s assassination as the agenda to win over the people. Moreover when I say people, I am not talking about the agreeable majority either. Well to be honest aren’t all politicians like that? Just in one breath, I can name at least a dozen in the Indian politics. I am sure, just like India, there are many upcoming young politicians (read as leaders) who genuinely have this vision of taking the country forward, who have an ability to rise above all the greed and problems to always keep the broader picture and country’s well being in mind. Unfortunately, you don’t see those names crop up so easily. In India, I would probably name Omar Abdullah as one of the rising stars. His speech in the assembly when government faced the no-confidence vote, was a piece of genius. The whole world just stood and watched this young leader from Kashmir put the heavyweights back into their seats, the old cats who probably have been in Indian politics way before Omar was even born. The energy and passion was there to be seen for all and he rightly won the accolades for his speech not just from India but all over the world. But I ask you the question, would you vote for him to lead our country in the future? I, for a start, wouldn’t. It’s a shame because he is an excellent communicator and a leader you can listen to hours in awe. But due to various events including the Amarnath controversy, my decision has been much easier.
J&K Politics and Abdullah Dynasty
Going back few months to the Amarnath land issue, I followed it closely throughout and was very sad to see such a division in my state. But I wouldn’t say I was surprised. When you look at the whole fiasco on a much broader scale, you understand why such an unfortunate thing happened. People of Jammu have been ignored by various state governments over the years and there is a reason to that. Like UP is the power house for Indian politics, Kashmir is for J&K. Having a majority population of muslims in the state, it’s not a surprise to see muslim leaders from Kashmir clean sweeping the elections every time. And when you have such a favourable voter base in an area out of two, it doesn’t take rocket science to ascertain as to who these leaders would appease? Repeatedly, developments and huge budgets have been allocated in Kashmir’s favour and the economic gap between north and south of the state has increased. But what really sad is that even Kashmir hasn’t moved on much from where it was few years ago - that’s what you get when you have the second most corrupt leaders in the country (Big up to the Biharis!).
Having lived in J&K, I have been brought up in the Abdullah era indeed. I have seen, heard and read how two-faced the Abdullahs really are. My source of info is not the partial state newspapers/channels but my own experience along with family and relatives. My granddad retired as J&K’s session judge and chairman of anti-corruption agency under Sheikh Abdullah’s government. Though I have read about him on the web, it would have been interesting to hear my granddad's opinions about the Shere-e-Kashmir (Lion of Kashmir, as he was fondly called then). Next generation came in and my dad retired as the PDD commissioner under Farooq Abdullah’s government. I don’t think this blog would be sufficient or appropriate to dwell into what I have heard of and think about Farooq. I was smiling in disbelief when I went to the state treasury office back in Feb to get some of the family’s pending paperwork signed off. Two employees were exchanging hellos over a cup of tea while I was made to wait in the corner. One guy moaned about how difficult Gulab Nabi Azad’s government was, and how he wished for the lesser evil (Abdullah) to return to power because even though “Woh khaata tha lekin sabko khilaata bhi tha, Gulab Nabi Azad toh sirf khaata hai” - astonishing. The whole system is corrupted in the state and you need to pull strings and bribe people at every step. Farooq Abdullah is still described as someone who’s great to work for but an extremely corrupt man who doesn’t have the right motives at heart, he’s somebody who would sell anything to the world to get his own power and has no loyalty towards India, Pakistan or even the people of J&K...and I am starting to think if his son has inherited that mantle from him. Omar's speech in the house impressed me but his irresponsible statements towards the people of Jammu during the Amarnath controversy disappointed me - a ploy to gain the Kashmiri votes in this week’s elections, definitely. If you can’t be fair towards just a small group of people in the state, are you really the right person to lead the entire country? Which again takes us back to the same question, and my answer would still be No! Though I would like to request that my opinion be kept on hold till I see more of him in the coming future to exactly find out what he really brings to our country’s politics and with what motives.
People and Future of J&K
Jammu region itself has never had a creditable opposition leader who could raise his voice against the government and somehow if there was one, he was always silenced with lots of money and a new post in the cabinet. The leaders were satisfied and as a result the Jammuites just moved on with their business. But the Amarnath land issue was different and it was actually great to see the entire Jammu community unite not against Kashmir but against the state government. I believe the whole frustration of being ignored over the years finally gave in and we saw weeks of ‘dharnas’ and total shutdown of all kinds of businesses. My sister was taking part in these rallies too, much to my surprise but do I blame her? Not really when you have seen her being denied a MD hospital seat in the past only because a lesser deserved student from Kashmir pulled some strings in the government and got the nod ahead of her, leaving her the option of having a go again the following year on her own merit. The Abdullahs have always played the opportunist politics and never called for a division in the state publicly. If they do, would that mean reducing their powers? Would that mean giving up the chances of key posts in the central cabinet or would they be still be able to play their cards well using Kashmir as the sole weapon against the central Govt? Among all this, we also shouldn’t forget that there is a 3rd region in Ladakh, which has been suffering due to this crisis for years. From what I hear, they want to distance themselves from the muslim-dominated Kashmir and get a UT status. And then as much as I call the Jammuiites pro-Indians, after recent events I don’t think they would be overly bothered if Kashmir becomes an independent state as part of or separate from the Indian territory. I feel the whole world has made a big issue out of Kashmir and its people over the past couple of decades, but has anybody actually thought about the people of Jammu too? How are they affected by the whole fiasco in the state? No! Can you tell me how much coverage did you actually see on the national news channels as people lost their lives in the state? Does rest of the world including our own country really know what happened in the state during those months? I don’t think so. All media coverage and communications outside the state were banned by the central government...why? Was it because it would risk spreading communal disharmony and riots in the country? Or was the central government actually boosting their chances of survival by keeping it quiet? I don’t know but why should the people of Jammu suffer again! They, along with people of Kashmir, deserve an opportunity to put their case to the external press and have a national debate on it.
Public Reaction and Government Measures
We all have been left completely shocked and saddened by the attacks in Bombay. A dozen of complete maniacs went on an unprecedented rampage in the city as if it was their backyard. Hundreds of innocent people lost their lives while going on with their everyday routine and I salute those brave security officers who died while protecting the people with the third grade equipment and training available to them. We are a democracy and the leaders are answerable to us for these unfortunate string of events, which should never have happened at the first place. It was a failure of disaster management and the Israeli security forces even questioned (rightly or wrongly) how NSG conducted their rescue operation. As far as I am concerned, I am proud of how bravely our security personnel tackled the hostage situation during those few days. However, there is a grave need of heavy investment in our security forces to provide them with not only the right equipment but the right training too to manage such events better in the future. The government has taken a few radical steps since then to reform its security arm and though it will have little short term effect, I am going to stand hand in hand with the government to support any measure that ensures the safety and well being of the people in the long term, including protecting the sovereignty of our nation. But I wonder, why didn’t we see the same kind of reaction from the government in the past when thousands of innocent citizens and soldiers lost their lives fighting the war in J&K. Why don’t we see the Mumbaikers and Delhiites light candles for the several innocent citizens and soldiers who are losing their lives in J&K every week fighting the Pakistani army or the extremists? ISI sponsored terrorists invaded our territory in Kargil back in 1999 and the two nations were on the verge of nuclear war, but why wasn’t anything concrete done about it then? I feel that’s where we have let ourselves down in the past and as proud as I am of people’s current reaction towards the Bombay attacks, I hope this united front doesn’t die down gradually with time too. We - Jammuiites, Kashmiris, Delhiites, Mumbaikers, Tamils, etc - all need to stand up together against any attack and honour each martyr alike irrespective of which war they were fighting. If we succeed in doing just that and take an active part in the whole country’s politics, there is no doubt in my mind the war would be half won already!
Conclusion
There has been a 61% turnout in the J&K state elections this week. Congress have lost some ground to BJP after the Amarnath land issue, NC have been working its own strategy in the background and we can all just hope that PDP doesn’t come anywhere near getting a majority. It’s gonna be the usual suspects in tomorrow’s results and I am not expecting any surprises. But I hope the person who comes to J&K’s helm has the right motivation and intentions to lead the state and is somebody who everyone can trust as their leader. We need Him to sort out these inter-state differences and find a long lasting solution in the interests of people. For once and for all, we need Him to be impartial towards all religions and regions. I am ashamed of living in a state which is given a special status from rest of the country (Article 370) and is further sub divided into regions recognized by different religions and influence of political parties. Trust me, it is very painful to see Pakistani flags being hoisted in Srinagar and Kashmir at every available opportunity to blackmail the government. Let’s not run away from these facts and instead face them head on. In that respect if some bold decisions need to be taken by the central government, then so be it. Let our future be defined by those decisions and let the coming generations reap its benefits.
I feel this blog was long overdue and today’s events just gave me that push to finally spurt it all out. Hopefully, one day I would be able to find enough time to write down my thoughts about J&K in a much more organized and meaningful manner than I have done today - and probably then we can come to some sort of sensible conclusion, if I dare say it, to the Kashmir saga. May the new year bring a lot of happiness and peace to this world!
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