NARESH KUMAR
Today the state of Jammu and Kashmir is grappling with the worst disaster in the past almost one decade and certainly the worst floods in the past five decades. The death toll has risen to touch two hundred. Hundreds are still marooned and by the time the flood waters recede, thousands will have been left homeless. No doubt the tragedy is of mammoth proportions but even while one’s heart goes out to those who have been caught in the wrath of the swollen waters, one can’t help but sit up and notice the actions and words of various actors and agencies related to this situation.
First of course one notices the thousands who have been caught in the throes of this tragedy, their helplessness against the havoc that natural circumstances have wreaked on their lives, their pitiable state as they witness their homes being washed away, the loss of their dear ones, their own fight for survival as the twin ogres of hunger and cold haunt them while they await some kind of relief, some kind of help.
Next one tries to seek some kind of response from the State administration. Shockingly, the administration appears to be providing limited assistance. In this whole series of tragic episodes the first one that occurred was the instance of a bus being swept away in a flash flood in Nowshera, Rajouri. The total loss of human life in this single incident was feared to be seventy. While the locals looked on helpless and the trapped passengers prayed for relief, the representatives of the civil administration arrived some four hours after the incident was reported. It was the Indian Army that was the first to reach the spot, it was an army rescue vehicle that despite the inclement weather, he incessant rain and the swirling rivers tried to pull out the submerged vehicle.
In fact despite the fact that the army itself has suffered some loss of manpower and considerable damage to the infrastructure, during the past one week. It has been the organisation that has been at the forefront of all rescue operations. It was the organisation that was the first to react to the situation. Within hours of the situation developing, the army had launched Operation Megh Rahat to provide relief to the people in the Poonch region where the tragedy first struck. Till date a total of about 31,000 persons have been rescued by over 250 columns of the Indian Army that have been pressed into service. The pilots of the Indian Air Force and the Army Aviation Corps are relentlessly flying sorties to rescue marooned people despite the weather conditions that are hostile to flying. From the rescue of marooned people to the provision of food, medical aid, tents and the restoration of traffic on the National Highway, the army is involved in every step of the restoration of normalcy of conditions in the State.
The tenor, tone and content of the statements issued by leaders of the community, state and nation at such times are most critical not just in knowing the honesty of purpose but also their effectiveness. Prime Minister Narendera Modi in this context has shown that he is made of the stuff that true Statesmen are. Not only did he visit the flood affected areas on ground as opposed to an aerial survey which is the normal practice, he termed it as a natural disaster thus expressing his solidarity with the people of Kashmir. He even offered all possible help to our neighbours across the LoC, who are also caught in this tragedy, despite the fact that not even ten days ago they were shelling our posts and our people. Finally he followed his words with actions by offering a more than generous relief package to the State from the Central pool.
Surprisingly, the more than vocal and expressive head of the State Government Omar Abdullah for some reason remained reticent on this occasion. Actually his subdued demeanour is not so surprising either for most of the soliloquies that he delivers normally are either aimed at expressing his ire against the Central Government or at bashing the army. Now either of those issues at this moment in time would naturally seem most inopportune. So the Chief Minister is content with chairing emergency meetings and making emotional empty promises to the people whose cause he portends to espouse. Indeed the proverbial cat has got his tongue.
However, the Chief Minister should not forget that once the situation is brought under control the reasons for the untold damage will also be explored. The inexplicable collapse of bridges built under his tenure in the state, the coming up of residential colonies without authorisation and under political patronage will be questioned and in this case at least the buck stops at the Chief Minister’s door. Or will he find some way of blaming the army for his own mal functioning as well?
Finally, one wonders where the inestimable Syed Ali Shah Geelani and others of his ilk disappeared? Are they not the true voices of Kashmir? Are they not the torch bearers of the Kashmiri struggle and custodians of Kashmiriyat? Why pray are they silent today? Have they perhaps gone into a huddle with their masters across the border in order to come up with a way to malign the Indian army even in this situation? Or have they perhaps simply relocated to their plush and safe bungalows in Delhi to return only once the rehabilitation process is complete so that they can accuse the Indian Army of some nefarious intent on that count as well? Will Geelani please respond to this?
One of the most telling pictures of this whole tragedy is that of a Kashmiri woman standing with hands folded in front of an army personnel in uniform. Despair is writ large on her face and solicitude is what one can read in the body language of the man in uniform. I wonder what she is saying? Is she asking him perhaps to leave Kashmir which he has occupied by force? Or is she seeking his help in overcoming this tragedy? I also wonder whether tomorrow this same picture will be used to accuse the man in uniform of having used brute force on this helpless woman by sexually exploiting her? Farfetched though the thought may seem at the moment, it is certainly not impossible.
For this is not the first time that the Indian forces have come to the aid of disaster struck people in Kashmir and it won’t be the first time that their help and sacrifices are forgotten by an ungrateful and dishonest political machinery.