Need for a New Political Alternative to emerge in the UT of J&K : Lalit K Kaul

                             Need for a New Political Alternative to emerge in the UT of J&K 

Lalit K Kaul

LeT claims responsibility for killings of migrant labourers in Kashmir and thereafter the Home Ministry gets busy with the security and intelligence gathering agencies to strategize neutralization of the terrorists. Any claim made by anybody, including the scientific inventions and archeological discoveries, cannot be accepted without going through due process (es) of verification(s) of the claim(s). In this particular case, the LeT’s claim may be a ploy to mislead the government so that the other newly activated killer groups may not come under their lens. Given the possibility that the government may have a near foolproof system of verification in place; then having identified the new outfit it becomes imperative to locate its ideologue. All such activities/responses form part of an administrative set-up that’s burdened with the responsibility of maintaining law and order as also protect life and property of citizens. No matter how laudable the services of intelligence and security agencies are/have been, they do not address to the politics that essentially promotes/instigates such inhuman acts.

Contemporary politics’ edifice is intrinsically corrupt:

The political axiom: Politics is the art of the possible. There can be nothing more corrupting than this axiom because it imposes no restraints and thereby detaches public activity (politics) and public activist (politician) from the domain of good Ethics and Morals. This detachment affords politicians to employ all possible means and ways, at their command, to achieve the set political goals that can swing from capturing political power to create such magnitude of turmoil in the society that leaves it dehumanized and traumatized. Unfortunately the people of the erstwhile J&K state have been/ continue to be the witness to both the sets of goals and for such state of affairs the politicians of the erstwhile state and newly born UT of J&K are responsible- it may be in our own good interest to keep Pakistan’s role under the carpet and focus more on the nefarious political designs of the local political mafia. The reorganization of the erstwhile state of J&K in to UTs of J&K and Ladakh may have put paid to some extent the nefarious political designs of our two neighbouring countries, but has not changed the political discourse in the UT of J&K because the long term covert political designs of the so called mainstream political parties have not changed.

Therefore for the sake of internal peace and security it’s a political imperative to disrobe the fossil political outfits entrenched in the Valley insofar as their role in navigating the erstwhile state of J&K from being peaceful and harmonious one to a state of barbarism and rabid communalism by facilitating arming of fun loving people of Kashmir with deadly weapons to cause destruction and target vulnerable sections of the society and in the end be eliminated and neutralized by the State power and thus leaving whole society dehumanized and traumatized.

How possibly can the fossil political parties and their ideologues and leaders be held accountable for their political chicanery?

Panchayats BDCs and DDCs can cause Paradigm Shift in the Political Discourse:

The Panch, Sarpanch and the Councilors at the block and district levels are not government employees; at their respective levels, they are grass root elected representatives of the people and the contemporary Panchayati Raj Act gives them enormous powers to design and implement welfare schemes for the people; initiate projects that enhance job opportunities for the formally and informally educated people, both young and old; bring out plans for improved infrastructure in their respective villages, towns and/or cities. They can submit their plans/projects at appropriate levels in the government offices and follow it up to ensure their implementation. While not being arrogant yet they must be conscious of the fact that they are not subservient to the babus and that the babus are there to facilitate completion of their proposed projects; and in case the babus act dishonestly the grass root representatives may bring pressure upon them with the help of the people they represent.

They are called grass root representatives because they are supposed to be easily accessible to the people of their constituency, at their respective levels and through a bottom (Panch) to top (District Councilor) link up. Panchayati Raj Act is guideline for genuine empowerment of the people and the initiatives of the grass root representatives shall decide how much the people got empowered in their tenure as grass root representatives

Empowerment is not just Economical it’s Political too:    

A political narrative pregnant with evil intentions can be countered only by such people who are well informed of the history of the region and are also very conscious of their societal dynamics as it evolved/evolves. The fossil political parties have been able to exploit the emotions of an uninformed mass of people by manipulating historical facts to suit their political interests.

It’s in the interest of the UT of J&K and her people that well informed students/academics/youth about the history of the J&K, since the days when Sheikh Abdullah floated Muslim Conference to protest against what he articulated as atrocities of the Maharaja down to eruption of insurgency in the year 1990 in the erstwhile J&K, conduct debate sessions - with the locals in their respective areas and also with the local representatives of fossil political parties – on the issues like, 1) India forcibly occupied J&K, 2)India not complying with the UN resolutions, 3) Essence of Article 370 and its defining relationship with the Indian Union, 4) Landmark political decisions in 1966 and 1974 in regard to Article 370 and 5) Its so called abrogation in 2019.

In conducting such an enormous exercise, the grass root representatives can play a very important and crucial role in that they can motivate and mobilize people to participate in such debates.

The debate won’t be complete unless Pakistan’s role in Kashmir at the bilateral and international level is discussed. Issues like, 1) Why Pakistan refused to take Kashmir when it was offered to her in exchange of Junagadh, 2) The violation of Standstill Agreement by Pakistan that was signed between her and Maharaja Hari Singh, 3) The role of Pakistan in the UN insofar as implementation of the UN resolutions was concerned, and 4) What was Pakistan’s belated desperation to annex the princely state of J&K and then erstwhile J&K state as a part of the Indian Union.

At the UT level the leaders of the fossil political parties may be invited for a debate on the issues as listed in the aforesaid lines. The debate shall be based purely on historical facts and no fossil leader shall be allowed to politicize it.

Educating people about the historical facts is the only way their venom against the Indian Union can be dried up and it’s the imperative for eternal peace and prosperity in the UT of J&K.  

How a New Political Alternative may emerge:

The grass root representatives by dint of their work for their constituencies may turn out to be a sound stepping stone for launching new political outfit(s) by them. The new political outfits shall prove to be people friendly if their Political Economy is based on sound Value System and not led by the axiom: Politics is the art of the possible.

The regional political parties in Kashmir have failed to deliver in the interest of the people and so has the National party failed to deliver in Jammu even after getting thumping support from the Jammu region.

Therefore the Dogras/Hindus/Pandits in Jammu and elsewhere in Kashmir need to think of launching political outfit(s) that may help fulfill aspirations of the people of Jammu region; here again the grass root leadership can play an important role.

Unless the hegemony of the fossil political parties and their splinter group(s) in Kashmir and that of the National party in Jammu is challenged to capture political power for the people of the UT, there is very little hope that people’s aspirations shall be met with over a period of time in the future.