Omkar Dattatray
The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir has done a commendable job by announcing the decision of the government to accept the long pending demand of the Jammu Dogras’ of declaring 23rd September, the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh, the last Dogra ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, as public holiday.
The LG has announced the decision of the UT to declare 23rd September as the public holiday and said on 15th of September that the notification in this regard will be issued very soon.
This decision of the LG’s government has been welcomed by the Jammuites cutting across the religions and political affiliations by the people of Jammu. Rajput community in particular and others in general have celebrated the decision of the LG to issue the formal notification regarding the public holiday on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh who was a great ruler, reformer, educationist and secularist to the core and the holiday on his birth anniversary is the befitting tribute to this legendary ruler and personality who had acceded with India. The nationalist people of Jammu were demanding the holiday on the birth anniversary of the Maharaja Hari Singh from the last over seventy years and the credit for conceding this genuine demand goes to the LG of Jammu and Kashmir who has taken a historical and extra ordinary decision to fulfill the long demand of the Jammuites to satisfy the aspirations of the people of Jammu in this regard.
Now that the genuine and long pending demand of the people of Jammu of declaring public holiday on the eve of the birth anniversary of the Maharaja has been accepted, and so the package employees who have been demanding the right to life and survival and thus their relocation top Jammu division have the high hopes and expectations on the BJP government of the centre and on the LG administration and it is hoped that the only and genuine demand of the relocation of the Pandit Package employees will be given a heed and favorable response by the LG and the demand which is concerned with the life, living and livelihood of the package employees will be accepted without any further delay. The package employees now hope that the LG administration will accept the genuine and the only demand of the relocation of the Package employees and order their relocation to satisfy the concerns and aspirations of the Pandits as the concerns of the package employees are related and inseparably connected with the exiled Pandit community.
The decision to declare the public holiday on the birth anniversary of Maharaja Hari Singh is a historical decision and the UT administration should now give some relief to the agitating package employees and accede their genuine demand of shifting /attachment to the Relief Commissioners office Migrants till the situation in valley will become normal and conducive for the living and working of the pandit package employees. Till the ground situation will not be normal in Kashmir, the package employees should not be coerced to resume their duties across Kashmir valley.
They should not be made sacrificial goats in the secular laboratory of Jammu and Kashmir and the country and they should not be forced and pressured to resume their duties in Kashmir where there is perpetual threat to their life .limb and dignity and so the government should not pressurize these hapless and nationalistic youth of the Kashmiri Pandits to join their duties against their will and choice because the situation in Kashmir is not feasible and conducive for the living and performing their duties across Kashmir.
The NDA government and the LG administration of the J&K UT should not play with the life, limb and dignity of the package employees and should order their relocation without further delay.
The LG should shun rigid stand and show sanity, magnanimity and sympathy and take the much needed decision of the relocation of the package employees to Jammu division.
The centre government headed by the BJP and the LG administration should come down from their rigid and egoistic stands and concede the genuine demand of the package employees who are protesting from the last over 100 days in both divisions of the Jammu and Kashmir for their safety, survival and this is possible only when these hapless employees are relocated and adjusted in the office of RC Migrants Jammu.
The government should utilize the services and the talent of the package employees in Jammu division so that they will contribute to the national development and productivity and for this purpose these employees need to be temporarily adjusted in Jammu province till the conditions will become normal for the living and working of the package employees.
There is fear psychosis and panic across the Kashmir valley and the package employees are given threats and warnings through social media of facing dire consequences and even death if they venture in Kashmir and therefore the government should not be insensitive to the safety and survival of the package employees but should show sympathy and show broadmindedness and order the relocation of the package employees outside valley so that their life ,survival and honor will be guaranteed.
For this it is important that these employees should be adjusted in Jammu division till the situation in Kashmir will become normal for the working of the Package employees. One fails to understand as to why the centre and UT administration is so insensitive, reluctant and indifferent towards the genuine demand and concerns of the package employees.
It may be so perhaps for the fact that the government has been claiming false normalcy and is planning in the utopia for the return and rehabilitation of the uprooted Kashmiri Pandits back in Valley but till now the government has failed miserably to rehabilitate even a single family of the Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir.
The better sense has dawned on LG who has said that the Kashmiri Pandits can be returned and rehabilitated only if they desire so but not otherwise and so no pressure should be adopted with the exiled KP community for their return and rehabilitation in Kashmir. Further the government should recognize the fact and reality that the special employment package announced in 2008 and implemented wrongly in 2010 is not a return and rehabilitation package but is purely an economic package to provide some succor to the youth of the uprooted KP community .
Therefore there is urgent need to delink the employment package from return and rehabilitation policy.
The time has shown that the employment package has failed and the return and rehabilitation policy of the government is nowhere seen as inspite of giving employment to some youth of the KP community, the government has totally failed to rehabilitate even a single family of KPs in Kashmir. The return and rehabilitation policy of the centre is a failure because the government has failed to rehabilitate seven lack uprooted and displaced Kashmiri Pandits back in Kashmir.
The government should embark on the plan of return and rehabilitation of all the Kashmiri Pandits but should not make any haste in this noble task because the ground situation in Kashmir is not yet conducive for their return.
Then after the complete return and rehabilitation of the displaced Pandits the package employees will on their own return to Kashmir and resume their duties there because there will be no fear of the militants and the situation will be complete normal and there will be no migration of the Kashmiri Pandits.
This will be the real return and rehabilitation of the displaced Kashmiri Pandits and in such a situation, the package employees will prefer to live and work in Kashmir.
Till then the package employees should be allowed to work in Jammu division or alternatively they should be attached with the office and relief counters of the Relief and Rehabilitation commissioner Jammu.
The absence of the package employees will not affect the working of the offices in Kashmir because these posts are shadow posts and are supernumerary posts and thus are additional posts from the sanctioned strength of the posts.
Therefore they should be adjusted in Jammu division temporarily till the time ground situation becomes normal. In brief the LG administration should show magnanimity and order the relocation of the package employees outside Kashmir valley so that there is no threat to their life, limb and dignity.
All hopes are on the NDA government of centre and on LG administration of the UT which are expected to take a favorable decision.
Thus the historical decision of the LG of accepting the demand of declaring the 23rd September as a public holiday may also pave way for conceding the genuine demand of relocation of the protesting package employees to Jammu division.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist).