Early Times Report
JAMMU, Jan 17: Even before PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said anything about the formation of the government in J&K, the supporters of the PDP have confronted the BJP with a choice between respecting the agenda of alliance and leaving the coalition. They have said: "The PDP-BJP coalition government is not a natural one: as the late Chief Minister once said, it is the coming together of the North Pole and the South Pole. One thrust upon us by the tyranny of numbers. The only reason why such an alliance is in existence is to implement the commonly agreed, and forward-looking, agenda of the alliance, a document that took weeks to be put together. Implementation of that document…is the only rationale behind the existence of the alliance. So if the BJP can't respect that, they should say so and sit in the opposition".
They have charged the BJP with not respecting the agenda of alliance and creating trouble after trouble for the late Mufti Sayeed. "The reality is that in the nine and half months of the coalition government, the BJP government in New Delhi respected neither the letter nor the spirit of the agenda of the alliance in J&K, with the exception of warming up to Pakistan. Nor has the J&K unit of the BJP pushed its central leadership in New Delhi to act on the many promises made in the coalition document. Despite warming up to Islamabad, New Delhi has not yet taken any steps on the cross-LoC promise made in the document: confidence building measures such as, enhancing people to people contact on both sides of the LoC encouraging civil society exchanges, taking travel, commerce, trade and business across the LoC to the next level and opening new routes across all three regions to enhancing connectivity".
"Moreover, there is an urgent need to de-notify certain areas under the AFSPA so as to discontinue its application in those areas. Another important issue on which the BJP-led Central government has done nothing is the following grand promise: "All lands other than those given to the security forces on the basis of lease, licenses and acquisition under the provision of the Land Acquisition Act shall be returned to the rightful legal owners," they have also said.
They have also word of caution for the PDP. In fact, they have asked the PDP leadership to get a categorical commitment from the BJP that it would it will strengthen its hands and implement the agenda of alliance and if the BJP refuses to PDP must show the BJP the place it deserves. "The writing on the wall is abundantly clear: The one and only rationale for the PDP-BJP coalition to continue to exist is to implement the spirit of the 'Agenda of the Alliance'. BJP needs to demonstrate that it is serious about the agenda, and if it is not, PDP leadership should read the right act to BJP".
However, the opinion in Jammu province about the agenda of alliance is negative. The general view in Jammu province is that the agenda of alliance is a "dangerous document". Almost all the civil society groups in the province, including Jammu Lawyers Forum, and political groups like Panun Kashmir, have opposed the agenda of alliance tooth and nail, saying the agenda of alliance, if implemented, will unsettle the settled in the state and help the secessionists achieve their anti-India goal. There is a strong group in the BJP as well which also holds the same view. It will be interesting to see what stand the BJP ultimately takes on the suggestion: "Respect the Agenda of alliance or leave the alliance". In the meantime, the concerned people of Jammu province are keeping their fingers crossed, as they have little or no faith in the BJP. |
