Drift, drift, drift

I am in full accord when you say in your editorial, 8216;Mufti8217;s long year8217; IE, November 7 that 8220;there is no doubt that th...

I am in full accord when you say in your editorial, 8216;Mufti8217;s long year8217; IE, November 7 that 8220;there is no doubt that the violence directed from across the borders in still a major handicap in turning the situation around to sustainable peace and prosperity.8221; However, I am not willing to endorse the formulation that the 8220;government of Jammu and Kashmir has made unprecedented progress during the past one year it has been in power8221;.

Has the Mufti come up to our expectations? Has he done anything substantial during these 365 days to provide a good, corruption-free and responsive government? Unfortunately, there8217;s nothing to even remotely suggest this.

It is in fact difficult to avoid the conclusion that he has wasted one full year harping on irrelevant issues such as an insistence on a dialogue with those who are firing on our soldiers and mercilessly killing innocents; ordering transfers on an unprecedented scale; enabling his own men occupy most of the 8220;lucrative8221; offices in the police and revenue departments and politicising the vital service sector as well as educational institutions.

He and his supporters been following the same old anti-people policies and resorting to methods of seeking favours and exploiting their political clout for personal ends. Besides, there are reports that they have been constantly interfering in public administration and indulging in corrupt practices. The situation has now come to the point that one of the coalition partners, Bhim Singh 8212; Panthers Party chief 8212; has openly stated that the 8220;Mufti-led government is worse than the one provided by the National Conference8221;.

The viewpoint of some of the leaders of the Congress, another crucial coalition partner to the Mufti government, is no different. They too openly criticise him, saying that his style of functioning is autocratic and that he is taking decisions on his own on vital issues without taking his cabinet colleagues from other parties into confidence. In this connection, they refer to the October 10 unilateral decision to hold polls to local bodies, including the Jammu and Srinagar municipal corporations, in November and December this year.

The worst part of the whole situation is the manner in which the coalition government subverted the offices of deputy commissioners and block development officers in order to politicise the vital employment sector. The Mufti and his cabinet colleagues organised a number of rallies in different parts of the state, where they distributed appointment letters to their supporters. Even more disturbing perhaps was the manner is which they allowed their rank supporters outside the government to distribute the so-called appointment letters. Such things can happen only in local oligarchies.

The Mufti has also failed to induce the over three lakh displaced Kashmiri Hindus and Sikhs to go back to the Valley. They continue to lead miserable lives in one room tenements in refugee camps set up in Jammu, Udhampur and elsewhere in the country. No one has come forward to redress their problems.