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| Government on the mat, pressure on | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Aug 1: The J&K Government is in the dock. No, it is on the mat. It has miserably failed to contain the separatists, extremists, hooligans and stone-pelting force. None of its actions has succeeded in bringing things under control or putting things back on the track. There appears none in Kashmir who is prepared to listen to the Chief Minister or any of his ministerial colleagues. Even the employees are not cooperating. The threat administered by the Chief Minister that his government would take strong action in case the employees fail to resume their duties has failed to produce the desired results. They continue to remain belligerent. There is discontent and disaffection brewing not only among the state police personnel, but also among the security forces personnel. They are feeling badly let down and abandoned despite the fact that they have been fighting magnificently against the mercenaries and anti-India and anti-state government forces against all odds. Breakdown of the constitutional machinery in Kashmir is almost complete. The result has been that it's all anarchy and lawlessness that has gripped the whole of the Kashmir Valley. The fact is that nine out of ten Kashmir districts are reeling under curfew.
The situation has climaxed to the point that the hooligans and anti-national forces have started burning down the public property, including vehicles. They have not only set on fire the office of the Special Operation Group and a few vehicles of the Indian Air Force, but also the Sopore railway station. The situation has climaxed to the point that the indoctrinated and dreaded protesters and stone pelting "unruly mobs" have been attacking the police stations. On Saturday, they attacked no less than 10 police stations and burnt down one. The situation has undoubtedly gone out of control. It is something very alarming.
Even far more alarming perhaps are the reports that these motivated protestors are violating the curfew and other restrictions, organizing violent demonstrations and confronting the police and paramilitary forces. The truth, in short is that the government has become dysfunctional and non-existent, leave aside the visibly stunned, alarmed, clueless and disturbed Chief Minister's statements urging the people to help him restore peace and normalcy - appeals having no impact whatsoever. Also leave aside the oft-repeated statement of the Chief Minister and Dr Farooq Abdullah that behind the current spurt in violent activities are some "vested interests."
It's no wonder than that certain keen Kashmir-watchers and commentators have started opining that the "Chief Minister, instead of playing the role of Chief Minister, has actually played the role of the opposition", thus making the prevailing confusion worse confounded and directly and indirectly adding more fuel to the fire. In this regard, they are citing several instances. The most notable are two. One, his July 27 Kangan speech wherein he publicly said that "Jammu and Kashmir is not an economic issue but a political one and needs addressing politically" and that "he will go on stressing on it." The dispassionate and objective commentators have interpreted this statement of the Chief Minister as a concerted attempt at "unsettling the settled." They have said that the Chief Minister has "gone beyond the confines of his constitutional mandate", saying that "J&K is a settled issue" and that the J&K Constitution unambiguously says that "J&K is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India."
The other instance is appointment of the commission of inquiry to look into the circumstances leading to the killing of a few protestors at a time when the Valley was already on the boil and militants playing their shots with utmost ease. They keen Kashmir-watchers and unbiased commentators have described the appointment of this commission as another attempt of the Chief Minister at "strengthening" the hands of the saboteurs and anti-national forces and lowering the morale of the security forces. So much so, they have asserted that by instituting an inquiry commission, the Chief Minister has invited a serious trouble for himself and his government, which is already in shambles and whose writ runs nowhere as of today. Not just this, the concerned people have started questioning the Congress high command's decision to handover the sensitive and terrorist-infested J&K to what they call an "inefficient, incapable and inexperienced" Omar Abdullah. They have asserted that the Congress high command committed a grave blunder by taking such a decision and that the Chief Minister is directly and indirectly responsible for what has been happening in Kashmir.
What is far more significant is the observation of the JKPCC chief Prof-Saif-ud-Din Soz. The JKPCC chief has expressed dissatisfaction over the working of the ministers, including ministers belonging to his own party. The upshot of his whole formulation is that the government has failed to deliver - upshot that has invited bitter criticism from the NC leadership. The NC leadership has accused the JKPCC chief of not following the coalition dharma and overstepping his authority. (To be continued) |
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