Er P L Khushu
As per a famous saying a lie spoken ten times becomes a truth. Then equally, it is said that a lie has no legs. But for professional politicians with mooring wings for power it is an ordinary fiction which they forget the next day, what they had spoken a day before. Lies spoken are not be remembered by the habitual liar for its repetition the next day. Such a person will say who said it. I have no knowledge. It has been happening with the so-called political leaders of dynastic base of Kashmir. What they say in Kashmir they dare not repeat it in Delhi, with the same rhythm. If they do so, they will repeat it with caution. These are the curly wings of power for them, which make them to do so, as these political leaders from Kashmir particularly of dynastic forums of decades are still day dreaming to come to power through such gimmicks, forgetting the fact that much water has flown down both in rivers Jhelum and Chenab. It is a new Jammu and Kashmir now. Coming to the recent news of issuing a white paper by the apex National Conference leadership about their varied performances in government so far during their rule, it sounds like a paper full of missing black dots. What should be a white paper like as per its true essence about the issues at stake? The standard definition of a white paper states that a white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body’s philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper is the first document; researchers should read to better understand a core concept or idea. The term originated in the 1920s to mean a type of position paper or industry report published by some department of the UK government.
To apply it in the present situation, when the contents of the so-called white paper are perused, one wonders to read from it that many National Conference party members sacrificed their lives due to terrorism in Kashmir during the last 30 years. What bigotry? What about the brutal genocide of innocent Kashmiri Pandits along with their mass exodus, burning and looting of their homes and hearths which principally took birth during the rule of national conference right in the year 1989, when the terrorism started showing its terror and trauma, which was planned under an organized plan across the border, against Kashmiri Pandits mainly. Notable Kashmiri Pandits were killed in broad day light right in the year 1989, when national conference was in power in the state and nothing notable was done by its leadership to combat it. Why did it not figure in the so-called white paper by the tall leaders of National Conference? Yes, it does not suit their hypocrisy of vote bank politics. A community, the aboriginals of Kashmir, of more than six lakh population having age old base with Kashmir was completely annihilated from its base, is not mentioned in this white paper which is thus a ‘Black-Paper’ for Kashmiri Pandits. In fact it raises grass root questions as to what the national conference government was doing, till the terrorism cropped up in Kashmir. It did not come up in a day. Who does not know how the youth of Kashmir were openly crossing the border to go to the other side of Kashmir for receiving training for the purpose of Jihad in Kashmir, when the national conference was ruling the state. Should such a situation of absolute ruination of Kashmir Pandits from Jammu and Kashmir as a whole be equated with the killings called as martyrdom of a few national conference workers? Yes the killings of the national conference members is certainly a tragedy, but it is again a creation of the national conference leadership itself as it was the national conference government which was in power when terrorism gave birth in Kashmir under the very nose of its tall leadership. The so called white paper does not mention anywhere that a strong resentment was shown by the people of Kashmir, when all such disgruntled sections of the society in Kashmir particularly the members from the Muslim forums, wanted to take active part in the elections of 1987. These elections were rigged badly, and the members from the organized Muslim forums taking part in these elections were treated badly, which alienated all such faces of the Muslim majority members from the main stream of governance. The rulers from Delhi were as per circumstances evident, full partners in all such riggings and mal practices in elections. This became the base for the start of terrorism Kashmir, when Pakistan took the benefits of the slack and dynastic rules of Kashmir, with the government of India, becoming a helpless and a silent spectator to all such happenings. Governance continued to suffer ever since the start of terrorism since 1989, when there was never a stable government and most of the times Governors rules were imposed. Where is it mentioned in the so called white paper issued now issued as a curse, to cover the ill doings of the rule of national conference since 1947. Does the so called white paper mention anywhere that the rule of national conference was a rule of a dynasty abetted by the congress rulers fro Delhi for almost 50 years when this thrusted rule over people of Jammu and Kashmir started from the grandfather Sheikh Abdullah to the grandson Omar Abdullah? Should these so-called self-styled tall leaders of national conference claim democracy and sympathy for the people of Jammu and Kashmir? Does the so called white paper mention that various coalitions between dynastic political parties like the national conference led by Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah, PDP of Mufti Mohammad Syed, Mehbooba Mufti and Congress led by Ghulam Nabi Azad, ruled Jammu and Kashmir by turns, leaving the people of the state in utter confusion and chaos, which added more fuel to the anger of the people of the state giving rise to the escalation in the terrorism. This was abetted by Pakistan, when Pakistan took the advantage of the malgovernance in the state due to the dynastic rules of this state from time to time. In this process, the worst sufferers were the people of Jammu and Kashmir, when the people of Jammu suffered the most and are still suffering for the someone else’s sins.
There is a references of various developmental works or schemes mentioned in the white paper along with other welfare schemes undertaken during the rule of national conference ever since 1947. These tall leaders should know that it is a routine job, which is always the principal duty of a government which comes to power. There is nothing special about it. It had to be done by the government of the day. Notional reference in this behalf is made to some events or works which are now almost four decades old events, like free education to the people, creating of SKIMS, creating of degree colleges etc. What a pathos? What is done 40 years back is shown as an achievement now? There is assaying which says that ‘all that glitters is not gold’. These artificial glittering examples are not going to justify the failures of these political leaders for keeping Jammu and Kashmir under developed in all respects in which Jammu suffered the most. A bold reference has been made in the white paper about the creation about the industrial sector in J&K. How many such industrial sectors or industries are functional or profit giving? How many of these were closed with their immediate staring? How many such industries in the government sector are profits giving? How many of these industries are sick. It should have been mentioned in the white paper.
A pungent reference has been made to creation of power projects like Uri, Dul-Hasti, Bhagliar etc, in Jammu and Kashmir. Can these tall leaders of national conference answer a small question as to why the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir is facing acute power crises, when no even supply of electric power is available to the consumers of J&K? Was it a wrong planning or inept commissioning of these power projects, when the people of Jammu and Kashmir are not entitled to their due share of power from such power projects?
Another foremost question arises here with the development of Jammu and Kashmir. Did the national conference government do it with proper rationale? Did Jammu get its share in all such development works and projects? Jammu was always discriminated about its development in all the fields of its development structures. The so-called white paper should be rewritten about Jammu as follows by the tall leaders of national conference.- “The Jammu-ruled state was the largest princely state with an area of 84,471 sq km. Contrary to the present situation and perceptions; Jammu as is learnt has been a progressive region having a very good socio-economic infrastructure. Jammu’s independent status ended with the signing of the Instrument of Accession in favor of India on October 26-27, 1947. In all the development areas a discriminatory stand was always adopted towards Jammu division due to the garnering of majority seats in the legislative assembly for Kashmir division, through irrelevant reasoning, thus differentiating Jammu with far less financial allocations for its development, ever since 1947, when Jammu and Kashmir came under so called democratic set up of governance. This ultimately led to a serious regional imbalance with Jammu. A discriminatory attitude was always adopted for Jammu, in all the development sectors like the road sector, irrigation facility sector, urban and rural electrification sector, power generation sectors, education sector both technical and non technical, public health sectors, medical services sectors, agriculture and horticulture sectors, housing and urban development sector, etc. Regional imbalances in all these sectors are still visible between Kashmir and Jammu, if a true and an honest study is made in this regard. Just discussing the tourism sector of the state only here for academic sake, Jammu was neglected willfully in this sector, when Jammu has a tremendous potential for tourism development and has abundant charming tourist’s spots which could be exploited for the development. But, Jammu was repeatedly ignored in this sector of development too, claiming that only Kashmir valley qualified for it, because of its natural scenic beauty. Just a max factor was added to Jammu in this regard like Patni Top tourist spot, Mansar Lake, etc, when huge funds under central government schemes for tourism were utilized only in Kashmir mostly. Like Phalgam, Gulmarg, Sonamarg, Yusmarg etc, similar scenic spots as per tourists point of view are located in picturesque valley of Bhadarwah, like Jai Valley, Chinta Valley, Padri and Seoj Dhar Meadow, for their development as tourist’s spots. Similarly, in Rajouri and Poonch districts various spots of tourism development were located like, Deraki Gali, Noori Chamb, Kotranka etc. Under pilgrimage tourism, spots like Sudh Mahadev, Gurikund, Mantalia , Sukrala Mata, Sarthal Mata, Chichi Mata, Bhoda Amarnath, Shivkhori could be of immense tourists attraction. But not a penny out of the central grants for the development of tourism in Jammu province was ever spent to make Jammu equally a hub of tourist attraction to improve the economy of the people living in and around these locations in Jammu. Once bitten twice shy. Who does not know what has been attitude of the Kashmir based politicians, towards Jammu for all these years of their governance. They ruled the state for decades, when they have been treating Jammu as their colony. Such governance was only a rule of a ruler and not the rule of law for Jammu. Jammu had a vast potential to grow in its industrial sector, the hydropower generation sector and to a good extent in the tourism sector too. It was never allowed to happen when mostly national conference government was in power in Jammu and Kashmir. That is the magnanimity of the people of Jammu who have been pocketing all such insults in all the fields of governance during the dynastic rules of certain dynasty based political parties in which national conference was the front runner. This white paper sounds like a document which is full of black dots. It should have been avoided to be issued by its authors and not issued at all.
(The author is a Chartered Consultant Civil Engineer, passionately attached and devoted to his motherland Jammu & Kashmir).
