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| BJP continues to play role of second-fiddle | | | Manoj Thappa
JAMMU, Sept 17: Developments which have been unfolding in Kashmir on a daily basis for quite sometime now once again establish that Kashmir and Jammu-Ladakh are pulling in different directions or that while sectarian and parochial politics have gripped Kashmir valley, people of Jammu and Ladakh are striving to get out of the existing political system and longing for a system that takes care of their political aspirations and social and economic needs. These developments also suggest that Kashmiri leaders, without any exception, have no regards whatsoever for the sensitivities of the people of Jammu and Ladakh. So much so, these developments have established that Kashmiri leadership, separatists also included, has been willfully vitiating the political and religious atmosphere in the state, thus forcing the people of Jammu region and Ladakh to look towards a system that empowers them to manage their own affairs themselves in the manner they wish. The Kashmiri leadership has been behaving in a most irresponsible manner and making it loud and clear that it represents only Kashmir and for it, the people of Jammu region and Ladakh are just irrelevant. The plus point as far as Ladakh is concerned is that the leadership of the region is very responsible and it has been protecting the interests of the people of the region to the best of their ability and capacity. They don't care for Kashmiri leadership and even New Delhi.
The worst part of the whole situation is the manner in which the BJP has been treating the people of Jammu region and Ladakh. There are several instances which clearly demonstrate that the BJP has completely deviated from its path, turned ultra secular and become the B-team of Kashmiri leadership. It has not only surrendered everything to Kashmir and Kashmiri leadership in writing but has also adopted an indifferent attitude towards what the Kashmiri leadership did during the past few days to outrage the religious sensitivities of the Hindus and outrage the Dogra youth.
Take, for example, the imposition of "Jizya tax" on Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Pilgrimage and statements made by all Kashmiri leaders on the verdict of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court on PIL seeking ban on beef eating or implementing the 1932 law on cow slaughter in letter and spirit. People of Jammu region opposed, and continue to oppose, tooth and nail the imposition of Jizya tax and denounced the PDP-BJP coalition government for its deliberate attempt to reduce the number of pilgrims to the Holy shrine of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi and asked the "ungrateful" BJP to play its role so that the tax was withdrawn, but with no Result. The "pro-Kashmir' and "secular" BJP leaders, including one minister, only made a few meaningless statements on the issue, but did nothing in concrete terms to assuage the hurt feelings of the Hindu community. They didn't muster courage to intervene and make the PDP rescind the outrageous decision. The result is that the people of Jammu region have been condemning the BJP and holding it responsible for that the PDP has been doing.
Similarly, the role of the BJP in the ongoing controversy over the otherwise highly appropriate order of the High Court on beef eating has angered the people of Jammu region. For, instead of defending the RSS-BJP man on whose petition the High Court ordered a strict ban on cow slaughter/beef eating, it allowed the state government to remove him from the post he held in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Jammu Division. The government removed him on the ground that he didn't handle the case properly. In fact, the state government punished him for his right role. The BJP should have put its foot down, but it didn't. Of course, a couple of BJP leaders have stated that the BJP ministers would see to it that the state government implemented the High Court verdict in letter and spirit, but there are reasons to believe that the BJP would conduct itself in the manner it conducted in the case of "Jizya tax". Leave aside the negative role of the BJP in the ongoing controversy over the issue of Dogra certificate to the Dogra youth and its failure to obtain from New Delhi a notification on the establishment of AIIMS in Jammu as promised.
The people of the region have taken note of everything. They have made up their mind to teach the BJP a lesson. Their problem is that they are not getting an opportunity. Right now, they are eagerly waiting for the elections to municipal corporations and municipal committees. They say "we will show the BJP its place during the civic bodies' elections". |
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