DOST KHAN
JAMMU: Jammu politicians have always betrayed Jammuties; they have ducked them when they needed them the most; they have belied their hopes; they have shattered their dreams, and last, but not the least, they have severely bruised, battered and bartered the Dogra pride for their very petty personal gains. Now, enough is enough. Time has come when they should be made to understand and told in unequivocal terms that either they perform or get lost.
Jammu has to grow; it has to shed the baggage of slavery; it has to give up the second fiddle syndrome; it has to overcome the second-class citizenship mentality.
More than development, Jammu needs psychological upliftment. And, it cannot be bestowed by the most inept and cowed political class. For the past sixty seven years, Jammu people had been ingrained with belief that it is only the saffron clan which can restore the pristine glory of Duggarland and free them from the shackles of subjugation. For sixty seven years the successive generations of Jana Sanghis vowed to fight and foil the machinations of Kashmir centric rulers and when time came they proved to be worse than those they kept blaming all along. The Jana Sanghis have shattered this trust which people kept nurturing since the dawn of independence. The anti-climax of nationalistic politics reminds of an old Kashmiri saying which revolves round a shroud thief.
The story goes that people of a particular area heaved sigh of relief when the locality’s most infamous shroud thief passed away. He had unleashed reign of terror in the habitation as the locals would shockingly find graves of freshly dead open the very next morning of their burial with shroud gone. He was notoriously known as ‘Kafan Chor’. The people were terribly scared of him. And, with ‘Kafan Chor’ gone, the vicinity witnessed calm for months with dead lying ‘undisturbed’ in their last resting destinations. However, the unusual calm was not for real; it shattered one morning when the people saw a naked dead outside his grave with shroud gone. This time the shroud theft had alarming dimensions. Earlier ‘Kafan Chor’ used to remove shroud and leave the dead under mounds of earth again. The new thief had crossed the limits. He used to remove the shroud and leave the body naked outside the grave. This became a routine. The son of the notorious ‘Kafan Chor’ had taken over. The only difference between him and his father was that people would refer the latter as lesser evil as he used to cover the dead under the earth.
The story fits well with BJP, which has crossed all limits of timidity to remain glued to power. The Coalition partner had expected the party to bow, but Sanghis have complied by going a step further. They have started crawling. The party which used to groan on trivial issues is now compromising with dignity of the Jammu region. This makes Congress, National Conference, Panthers and other outfits lesser evils. It is irony of the situation that Congress and company speak louder than the BJP used during its days of glory. The power politics has made its ‘paper tigers’ to lick the dust.
The BJP is meekly staging retreat on each issue concerning the Jammu region. The decision to abandon Tawi artificial lake project and ‘relocation’ of All India Institute of Medical Sciences like facility are stark reminders of how things are shaping up for the Duggarland. If the trend is not contained in right earnest, the Kashmir centric politicians are all set to subjugate Jammuties and relegate them worse than second class citizens for ever. The political class has abandoned its responsibility. They have hopelessly failed in upholding the esteem of the people of this region. So where lies the future for this hapless part of the State which has all along suffered.
The Civil Society will have to assert itself and lead Jammu to achieve the place of honour and dignity which it rightfully deserves within the framework of Jammu and Kashmir Constitution. The region cannot play second fiddle to any particular class or region forever. It has to stand and withstand the pressure and pulls in the wake of appeasement of one region over the other. If the political class of Kashmir feels itself accountable to chronic secessionists and anti-national elements, their counterparts in Jammu are needed to be made at least answerable to their conscience. The Bar Association Jammu and Chamber of Commerce and Industries Jammu have lately become assertive and responsive to the urges and aspirations of Jammuties. This is a welcome development, which requires to be sustained for overall good of the region and dignity of its people.