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| Government on the mat, pressure on | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Aug 3: It is not only the Chief Minister who has to act. The Congress party, too, has to discharge its responsibilities, since it is sharing power with the NC. If the people are attacking the NC, they are not sparing the Congress as well. They are holding the NC and the Congress equally responsible for the prevailing situation in Kashmir. It can be said that pressure is mounting on the Congress.
The stand the Congress national spokespersons Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Munish Tiwari have of late taken does indicate that the pressure from below has impacted the Congress's outlook. Both of them have taken a right stand and talked tough. What is all the more striking is the stand the AICC president Sonia Gandhi has taken. She has in her essay, which was published in the Congress party's official paper the other day, written that certain vested interests are instigating violence in Kashmir to further their agenda and they need to be isolated and brought to justice. Besides, she has said unequivocally that Pakistan has to take stern action against those responsible for the Mumbai terrorist attacks. What she has written is not consistent with the Manmohan Singh's line on Pakistan. "I understand that there are elements with ulterior motives that are instigating these attacks. These elements must be identified and brought to book", she has, in fact, said the Congress mouthpiece, Sandesh.
The fact of the matter is that the people of Jammu are not really happy with the Congress. They are critical of the Congress's role. So much so that some of them have accused the Congress high command of meting out a step-motherly treatment to Jammu. Their latest complaint is that the Congress high command has ignored Jammu, which is its support-base, and appointed a Kashmiri youth Shoiab Lone as president of Pradesh Youth Congress (PYC).
It may be pointed out that Shoiab Lone is known for changing sides at regular intervals. He had contested election against Peerzada Mohammad Syed, presently minister in the Omar Abdullah's ministry, and accused the latter of taking bribe from him for transferring his sister. Peerzada had to lose his ministry because of the corruption charges leveled against him by Shoiab Lone during the Ghulam Nabi Azad's rule. Lone is a former MLA from Sangrama. According to sources, he is still with the NC. He joined the NC only recently in the presence of Farooq Abdullah, Omar Abdullah and Sakina Ittoo. Insiders say that Lone is not even a primary member of the Congress party.
The grouse of the Jammu-based youth Congress leaders is that it is they who work tirelessly for strengthening the party at the grassroots level and that their claim has been ignored. Yet another grouse of theirs' is that the Congress high command has handed over the crucial position to a Kashmir-based non-Congress person whose political credentials are not aboveboard. Their plea is that since the PCC chief is already from Kashmir, it was incumbent upon the Congress high command to appointed a Jammu-based youth Congress leader as president of the PYC. "The appointment of Shoiab Lone as president of the PYC will not help the Congress party in Jammu province. There should have been a non-Muslim president of the PYC considering the demography and regional tensions", the insiders have told on the condition of anonymity.
The complaint of the Jammu-based youth Congress leaders cannot be dismissed out-of-hand. Theirs' is a genuine complaint. By appointing Shoiab Lone as president of the PYC, the Congress high command has only vindicated the stand of the people of Jammu province that the attitude of the Congress central leadership towards Jammu is highly discriminatory and that the Congress high command, like all other parties, ignore Jammu to keep the Kashmiri Muslims in a good humour.
The moral of the story is that the state government is on the mat just not able to deliver on any front, the Congress is under pressure to adopt a tough stand on the scourge of terrorism as well as stone-throwers and violators of law and the people of Jammu seething with anger for the reason that the Congress high command has once again overlooked their just aspirations and imposed on them Shoiab Lone who knows nothing about the Congress and who is not known in Jammu.
Let's wait and see what happens in the next few days as far as Kashmir is concerned. As for Jammu, there appears none in New Delhi who is prepared to take into account the urges, aspirations and merit of the people of this province. They are committing a mistake by ignoring Jammu, which is the most important factor in the political situation of the state. Those who think that they can conclude a truce over Kashmir with Kashmiri leaders ignoring Jammu are obviously living in a world of the past. You just can't ignore Jammu, which is a force to reckon with, whatever you may think of it. (Concluded) |
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