Omkar Dattatray
The gullible people of Jammu and Kashmir as well as Ladakh stand denied of their right of adult franchise from the last so ,many years. There is a wide gap and trust deficit among the people and they have no access to the corridors of power and hence they suffer a lot due to non holding of the assembly elections. The democracy loses its meaning and relevance without elections and it becomes a meaningless proposition without elections and the people suffer in the absence of elections because there is no democratic or people’s government in place which can mitigate the ills and problems of the people and the people can feel a sense of belongingness and relief. Therefore elections are the sine-qua-non for a democracy and we cannot think of a democracy without elections as the people are robed of their rights because of the denial of elections. The assembly elections are long overdue and the government of India through the election commission should take an urgent call for holding elections and announce the assembly elections just after the winter and the elections will in fact relieve the people of the UT from various ills and problems and thus there is no short cut to the elections and so the assembly elections should be announced and held to empower the people of Jammu and Kashmir so that they will elect their representatives who will address their problems and grievances. The gap between the rulers and the ruled in Jammu and Kashmir has increased because of the unprecedented delay in holding the assembly elections and it is a matter of serious concern. Thus there is urgent need to announce and hold the elections in Jammu and Kashmir to address the issues of the accessibility and the issues of the development as well as the issues of daily nature. There is great alienation among the people of this boarder region and there is need to remove the alienation of the people. This can be done through empowering the neglected people of Jammu and Kashmir by holding much overdue assembly elections which in fact can address the grievances and problems of the citizens and can heal the scars and wounds of the people who fell let down because of the continuous neglect due to non holding of assembly elections. Therefore there is great need to address the issue of holding of the assembly elections in the UT so that people can feel some relief and their problems are solved. Therefore government of India should not make further delay but hold the elections of the assembly in Jammu and Kashmir to balm the hurt feelings and neglect of the people of this boarder region. So it is enjoined upon the centre government to come to the rescue of the alienated, forlorn and neglected people of Jammu and Kashmir and announce and hold the assembly elections to relieve the people of the UT from misery and political and economic as well as psychological alienation. Thus there is utmost need and necessity of holding of the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir to relieve the people from trouble due to neglect and non holding and delay in announcing of the assembly elections to empower the people politically so that they are in a position to elect their representatives who will preside over their destiny and rule them in a democratic manner and the dream of democratic rule is ensured to the people of the troubled state. Thus the GOI should make it possible to hold the much overdue assembly elections to give the people of Jammu and Kashmir the right to elect the government of their choice so that the government is made responsible and accountable to the people who are in fact the sovereigns on a democracy. This is only possible when the people are given the right to elect and chose a government of their choice. In a democracy, you cannot deny the elected government to the people for long time without having ill effects and so it is in the fitness of things to give a chance to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to elect their own government at an earliest to wipe tears from the eyes of the alienated and neglected people so that they are also empowered like the people of other states and UT’s of the democratic country. Thus it is important to announce and hold the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir to give the people their democratic and own government which can deliver and relieve the people of the UT from trouble and alienation. Therefore to give the people of the Jammu and Kashmir their own government, it is necessary to announce and hold the assembly elections to fill the widening gap between the rulers and the ruled in Jammu and Kashmir to ensure that the people are empowered to elect a democratic government of their choice which will address the ill issues and problems of the people. Hence without any further delay it is the responsibility and the duty of GOI to hold elections of the assembly to enable the estranged and neglected people of Jammu and Kashmir to have a government of their choice which can heal the wounds of the people and give them some relief from alienation and neglect due to non-holding of the assembly elections. In a democracy the people cannot be denied their democratic right of electing their own government and thus it is in the fitness of the things that the people are given their democratic right of electing their government which can be responsive to the needs and problems of the people. In the central rule or governors dispensation the people have hardly any accesses to the echelons of the power and they feel political betrayal and so they should be given a chance to taste the elections so that they can elect the government of their dreams which can solve their problems. It is undemocratic and unconstitutional to deny the democratic right to the people of any region of India and so at the first opportunity the gullible people of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir should be given the right to elect a government of their choice. To conclude it can be opined that it is the peoples own government which can solve the ills, problems and mundane issues of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
(The author is a columnist,
social and KP activist).
