DOST KHAN
Jammu: Politicians can say and get away with whatever rubbish they splash all around in pursuit of their vested interest. Ironically, all this is done in, what they say, public interest. Just concluded election in Jammu and Kashmir is a living example of political treachery and deceit. The politicking during the past few months has been murkier than the murky Dal waters itself.
It all began with Kashmir’s premier and die-hard opponents, National Conference and Peoples’ Democratic Party, getting into electoral mode on a highly surcharged and aggressive note with Congress, a convenient cushion for both these Valley-centric outfits during the past over one decade of rule or misrule. Rule or misrule-should be the precise term for the governance the State witnessed as both the premier parties, NC and PDP, remained in competitive gear of describing each other as corrupt and incompetent. Congress, the common beneficiary, kept just twinkling. The trio that got pitched in a fierce electoral battle is now talking about grand alliance against common political foe, Bharatiya Janata Party. They want to keep the saffron party at bay, beyond south 0f Banihal. But the BJP is not in a mood to give up. Minus Congress, it wants to befriend both, notwithstanding the fact that tallest of the tall leaders of the party sought votes on the promise of freeing Jammu and Kashmir from the clutches of corrupt and incompetent ‘father-son’ and ‘father-daughter’ governments. Prime Minister Narinder Modi hammered this slogan so hard that the two Valley-based parties, together with Congress, got almost wiped out from Jammu. It is different that BJPs Mission +44 breathed its last in the freezing cold of Kashmir.
Pre and post election scenario in Jammu and Kashmir is a horrible contrast of political deceit and treachery. Swearing in the larger interest of the nation, the State and above all the people, all the three major players BJP, PDP and Congress ignited and charged the people and drew bold lines. The demarcation witnessed the three regions totally polarised. And now they are talking about alliances and grand alliances. How can BJP sit in the lap of PDP or NC after having castrated the both? Similarly, the PDP-NC alignment appears as the seventh wonder of the world. Will they take comfort in sitting together to keep the BJP at bay? That is exactly what they successfully did by creating scare and horror in the Valley. With elections over and the combinations and permutations bringing BJP-PDP or BJP-NC or PDP-NC-Congress together, how will the Valley based parties convince the people of Kashmir about antecedents of BJP which they have portrayed more evil than the evil must be. The BJP’s hobnobbing with the parties openly advocating resolution of Kashmir does not go well with its so-called nationalistic credentials and stated policy on the sensitive State. Even as the results were pouring in, the BJP made love-overtures to PDP by using all the adjectives in praise of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, describing him a national leader, with a keen desire to enter into alliance to form the government. The PDP openly snubbed the BJP for its unsolicited support. However, the latter is still unrelenting in its vain bid to get glued to power. The height of BJP’s duplicity could be measured by the fact that it simultaneously opened up channels of communication with National Conference for the government formation, which evoked a subtle revolt within NC members, describing the right wing party as divisive and communal.
The outcome of recent elections has unfolded yet another ugly mindset of those professing about democracy. The major hitch in formation of the government seems to be reluctance of the so-called mainstream leaders of Kashmir about a possible Hindu Chief Minister. It is all right for PDP to have Chief Minister with just 16 legislators against 18 of Congress in 2002 but when the MLAs elected from Jammu talk about similar dispensation, heavens appear to fall. A senior National Conference leader went to the extent of distorting the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, saying it does not envisage a Hindu Chief Minister. He interpreted the Constitution envisaging a Muslim Chief Minister because the State is predominantly inhabited by Muslims. Where does this logic stand when predominantly Hindu dominated India proudly gets a Muslim elected as President or a Sikh as Prime Minister? Even there have been instances of Muslims and Sikhs occupying highest positions in the judiciary, armed forces and allied services. If India is secular, how can Jammu and Kashmir afford to be theocratic? This may better be pondered over by one and all who believe in healthy politics and not the one which leads only to the ladder of power. Time has come when bluff should be exploded with a big bang.