Farooq’s wooden spoon

An inept government always blames it either on law and order or some strange foreign hand but even the duties that are to be performed by this government are being ignored. Take a look at the re-settlement of Kashmiri migrants. If there is blatant suppression of human rights in India, it is here. We have left these families to fend for themselves. The NGOs (including UN bodies) are not allowed to do their work unfettered under the garb of security restrictions and add to that the interfering ways of the MEA, and you have a heady cocktail of disaster on your hands.

The truth of the matter is that it helps Farooq Abdullah to have Kashmir on the boil. His report card never gets scrutinised since he always manages to change the terms of reference. Is there any reason why the state should not pursue its own admitted agenda which is that of providing security to its people and equipping them with the basic tools of development? While one does appreciate that Pakistan will never cease its dirty tricks campaign in Kashmir, should we also blame them for inadequate power? Should we also blame Pakistan for lack of basic development? Should Pakistan be blamed for not running a tourism-directed communication campaign?

If you look around Kashmir, it is today a hunting ground for making quick money and playing golf! The tragedy is you have a pliant chief minister who has in effect lost the faith of his people; he is an incapacitated leader without the imagination and will to govern, and govern effectively. He is more comfortable swooning over petty filmstars than he is grappling with the problems of his state. Is he a modern-day Nero? I would believe he is. It is also convenient for the Central government to have him there: he is the face of democracy that can be shown to the world. In this marriage of convenience, no one but the common man (and what’s new) is the loser. You have a state that is ravaged and no one seems to care.

The militancy that exists may have been tempered by creating windows of economic growth; here also we have failed. The sham that is development in J&K is now all the more apparent. We have yet again indulged in tokenism. Starting a Kashmiri TV channel is not the answer to effectively owning the Valley. You have to first have the people believe in you. And how can they? They see the simmering tensions of a state government which is insular and weak. They see a leader who no longer cares (if he is there, that is) and they see a Central government which is more into fire-fighting than anything else.

We keep talking about the degradation of Bihar, but Bihar is kindergarten stuff when compared to J&K today. There is an even stronger case for president’s (or governor’s) rule. We cannot let a state government be unaccountable, especially in as sensitive a state as J&K. So why do we? Because we don’t wish to ruffle feathers. If in the meantime we lose yet another state, who cares? The real tragedy of the state is there may still be hope for India and for the inhabitants of Ja-mmu and Kashmir. At every forum, all they have asked for is a safe and secure life and the state has been unable to guarantee either! It is bankrupt of money and bankrupt of governance. It became idea-bankrupt a long time ago. It’s a classic case of the blind leading the blind. Ask anyone in J&K as to who runs the state.

It’s not the cabinet, not the ministers, but the unholy trinity of the chief minister, the chief secretary and the principal secretary. What have they done to prove their credentials? Precisely nothing. They haveengineered the rot and have never ever felt the need to stem it. They have run am-uck consumed by their limitless authority. Why can’t the governor do anything about this? Perhaps this is yet another case of empowerment!

The recent massacre of innocent Sikhs is just another intelligence failure on the part of the state, like so many in an unending list. The massacre tells a poignant story. The return of Sikhs to the perceptual map of terrorism. The state needs to consider this trend seriously and nothing can be done in this regard only from Delhi. The Home Ministry can and must only do things to a point, but the gro-und realities must be met by state government initiatives. We cannot allow just expert opinions on Kashmir. The time for visible development and not mere lip-service has arrived and if we do not act we will lose the people not to another state but in pure emotional terms. We cannot allow a government to abdicate its responsibility to the people who elected (even though that claim itself is suspect) it.

We must be seen to act, with deftness and a sense of purpose. And if to achieve that you have to tweak democracy itself, so be it.

The time for Farooq Abdullah to stand up and be accountable is here. He must remember that mere Pakistan-bashing will not wash with his people any more nor will his legacy of being the Sheikh’s son!

The very strategic focus on Kashmir needs to change. It can no longer be viewed from just a security angle. It must be measured along developmental parameters. It is this that affects the people most. If they are economically sound, the rest will fall into place and here we have the example of Punjab before us.

The winds of change also need to permeate the rest of India. Governments must learn to communicate with people of not just the state that is affected but also those who inhabit the rest of India. This needs to be done now more than ever before. Till then, let’s hope someone is listening and we can move from the 18th hole to a well of goodwill and real development!