Col Dr Virendra K Sahi,VrC
In a press release issued after meeting the distinguished gallant war veterans in an apolitical forum, the J&K State Director of the War Decorated India Col Dr Virendra K Sahi, VrC recounted with concern, that the various recent happenings in and around Jammu and saw a concealed but certain design behind these. The veteran warrior turned journalist who is also a defence analyst cautioned the Jammu based public leaders of all hues to wake up to the alarming situation.
Pakistan has shifted her focus from the Kashmir Valley in north to the so far peaceful areas of Jammu region. The concentration of cross border firing, infiltration and targeting of civilian habitats and schools in Kathua Samba, RS Pura, Akhnoor, Naushera Rajouri, Bhimber and Poonch is with a distinct purpose to enlarge the area of ISIs wicked plan to “bleed India with a thousand cuts”. Indian Army if responding in the same way shall have to engage the Dogra population across LoC stuck in PoJK. The predominantly Punjabi led Pakistani Army has no love lost for the people of illegally occupied PoJK. The Kashmiri boys lured, indoctrinated by the ISI agents in Kashmir Valley and trained in ISI run terror training camps are ‘disposable’ commodity for Pakistan. The Pakistan Army drugs them after radicalizing and pushes them across LoC to die a dog’s death with no pity or remorse. Both sides the deaths are of Indians.
[box type=”note” fontsize=”20″ radius=”5″]Silent spectators will obliterate; warns war veteran[/box]
Unfortunately, the opportunist pseudo Kashmiri leadership is adding fuel to fire by encouraging these ill-motivated brats driven to evil direction of death destruction and their own doom. Instead, they should motivate them to shun the gun, surrender and join the main stream of national life. Ironically, they want to weaken parliamentary forces by reducing their powers, opposing, defaming and suggesting of down grading of their weapon systems when the whole world is upgrading these for their forces.
The surrounding of Army camps in Jammu, Samba, Kathua by so called temporary settlements of migrants, non State subjects and now even foreigners of debatable purpose and leanings is alarming. Their concentrated settlements of common ethnic background, selective community based support to them with the government looking the other way makes it murkier and raise suspicions. For sure the loud mouth supporters of Article 35A have turned a blind eye and deaf ears about this deliberately designed demographic overhaul suppressing the silent, secular and hospitable peace loving local Dogras of all communities. The collective resentment by all Dogra secular communities is not being paid any heed.
The attack on Sunjwan Camp, by heavily armed terrorists, moved un-noticed for 300 km from south Kashmir through series of check points, Nakas and reports of transiting/ camping in Jammu before attack followed by first of its type stone pelting on the Army post from the direction of the Rohangiya settlement only confirm the apprehensions of a definite designed and the kind of local support that the Defence Minister referred to when she visited the site at Jammu.
What have we done about it? Visibly, nothing; The Rohangiya settlements surrounding Army camps are un-questioned. Not even fencing erected around the repeatedly soft targeted family quarters. Nothing heard of the whole truck scanners or the 200 Surveillance towers for Jammu region-all these are approved, to be paid by New Delhi but not being undertaken in the State by the coalition government too busy in granting amnesty and re-settlement of the unlawful hoodlums and criminals.
The prevalent climate in J&K State can be gauged from the blatant reality that when the bodies of the Army Martyrs were being lifted and the wounded being evacuated a ‘law maker’ was raising pro-Pakistan slogans, loud and clear inside the Legislative Assembly after discussing the tragic criminal episode of attack on the nation; purportedly on Pakistan’s behest. What could be more glaring after he refused to even regret or take back his blatant anti-national outburst even outside the house, where privileges do not apply? Where is the law of the land?
No sane and right thinking person could stay from strongly condemning and ridiculing the sad criminal act of a minor’s rape and murder in Kathua. In one voice, one and all demanded stern exemplary punishment to the criminals involved. Such criminals do not belong to any religion like the terrorists involved in heinous crimes in J&K or elsewhere in the world. Yet there were efforts to give a communal colour to this tragedy. Once again it was an effort to erode the communal harmony and inter-personal brotherhood that has so far withstood all such irritations and instigations.
The badly balanced biased (78:22) share of power down to class IV employees in the J&K Secretariat due to accumulated impact of corrupt back door entries over the past seven decades has pressed the non-Kashmiri speaking population of Paharis, Dogras, Ladakhis and Gujjars to the wall. The Coalition Governments seems unaffected though not un-aware.
The de-silting of the Ranbir Chanal is held up for want of funds release. It is the irrigation life line to the vast agricultural area of Jammu that serves as the rice bowl for the state and produces the world famous ‘Basmati’. Starving this area of water means a doom to the Jammu region that will be left to the mercy of a defunct Public distribution system, already famous for its corruption. The weather men forecast is of poor rains this year and the farming is in for a disaster. Going by the local apprehensions, it is a design to let more water go down in Jhelum to Pakistan. There is a special GoI representative operative as an interlocutor in the State these days. Should he not be reading these writings on the wall that the Jammu region is under deliberate erosion?
What about the so called Jammu based leadership? They seem to have no time for Jammu.
They need to wake up to these realities. Not much time is left for them to prove there pro-Jammu credentials, if at all any. Time is running out for them, or else they will be discarded by the same very people who made them what they are today and pinned lot of hope on them. Other Jammu leaders who were shown their place in the last elections seem to be relaxing and relishing the comforts of the personal gains made during their last tenures. It is also their very last chance to learn from their failures and take selfless stand for Jammu region: plunge in for the sake of Jammu or else parish in oblivion. Next elections may obliterate many self proclaimed stalwarts from the political scene of the state.
Jammu needs a new order of selfless workers. It is time for the youth to come forward. It is time for the erstwhile disciplined nationalists to unite. It is time for the time tested leaders from the parliamentary forces to display their loyalty to the region and the nation. For that, they have to come forward as a cohesive citizenry above communal, political and religious bondages. They have history and experiences of living that way. Surely, they can contribute to pull the State out of this self destructive path and save Jammu from being eroded. It is Jammu that absorbed the victims of 1947 genocide. It is Jammu that stood by the nation after Punjab was on fire. It is Jammu that absorbed the Kashmir Valley migrants during 1998-2000 after they were criminally forced out from their ancestral homes and hearths of Kashmir. It is Jammu today that is representing the three regions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. Unfortunately it is Jammu that is most deprived today and under threat of losing its identity.
(The author is State Director of the War Decorated (India)