JAMMU: Not a single word did former Union Home Minister and aspiring Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed utter about the valour and martyrdom of soldiers, who embraced death in an army camp at Uri, near Line of Control, a few days ahead of the third phase of Assembly elections across the State. He, like many other Kashmiri politicians, extended condolences to ‘all those died in recent acts of violence’.
Those not true to people can’t be trusted to uphold sovereignty of the nation.
Obviously, they included the unclaimed terrorists, sponsored by Pakistan and chartered with a mission to scuttle the electoral process, which will see politicians walk through the corridors of power for next six years. Even the contestants from Uri Assembly Constituency, inter allia, former Minister and Rajya Sabha Member Mohammed Shaffi of National Conference, Health and Medical Education Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din of Congress or former Inspector General of Police, Raja Aijaz Ali of Peoples Democratic Party did not found it appropriate to say a word for the warriors. Insult to the injury came when National Conference candidate from Baramulla told a national television channel that he had nothing to say about Mujahids, the terrorists who created the mayhem.
With this mindset in the Valley, and that too among much glorified and self-styled mainstream leaders, how can chronic secessionists and separatists be tamed and brought into the national mainstream? This has been the scenario for the past two and half decades. Those chartered with bringing about peace in the Valley remain in the forefront to subtly hobnob with the enemies of the nation.
In such a grim backdrop, one fails to comprehend the pain of those who keep losing their brave-hearts while fighting for the motherland in the Kashmir theatre. How inspirational is the response of S. K Shukla, father of the 35 year old martyr Lieutenant-Colonel Sankalp Shukla, who took pride in saying, “I am proud my son died fighting for the country.” Equally inspiring were the words of Pyaar Chand of Himachal Pradesh, who remembered his martyred 40-year old son “It is a very sad day for us, but it’s not a bad thing to die for the country,” said Pyaar Chand father of Havildar Subash Chand, 40 by saying, “I am proud my son died fighting for the country”. On the contrary, Mufti Sayeed made the nation to pay by freeing five jailed terrorists in heroic settings of Srinagar to seek release of his daughter Rubiya Sayeed on 13th December 1989. The glorification of terror led the Indian state to wide-spread destruction, which is continuing even now. Instead of being the first politician, especially after having remained the first Muslim Home Minister of India, the Mufti put the soldiers, police personnel and terrorists in same pedestal by expressing sympathies with the families of ‘all those who lost their kin in the recent incidents of violence in Kashmir’. He took jibe on Indian response to the terror attacks while subtly mocking the ruling BJP at the Centre by saying, “Instead of giving in to the hawkish rhetoric, efforts have to be made to work through peaceful means towards resolution of problems and restoration of permanent peace in the State and the region.” When Kashmiri politician talk about region or the people of Kashmir, they forget what the hell they keep breaking in the State by indulging in loot and plunder through their crony agents, Babus and public persons. The public memory is not short to have forgotten the survey carried out by Transparency International in 2005, describing Jammu and Kashmir as second-most corrupt State of the country. Who brought the State to such a morass-the politicians, who are the biggest stake holders in the ongoing elections. And, if they tend to give fodder to Pakistan and glamourise terrorism, who will look after the interests of the nation and the State on ground zero? Such of the unscrupulous politicians, who are not true to their own people, can’t be trusted to uphold the integrity and sovereignty of India.