Opinion Democracy in deficit
Every time the question of Jammu and Kashmir comes up in Indian politics,there is a forceful assertion that J&K is an integral part of India
Every time the question of Jammu and Kashmir comes up in Indian politics,there is a forceful assertion that J&K is an integral part of India. Two summers ago,during some troubles,there was a bold plan to send an all-party parliamentary delegation to J&K. (Why such formality? Could the MPs have not gone in any case as Indian citizens?) At the meeting which decided on the visit,47 out of 49 parties in Parliament repeated the mantra of J&K being an integral part. The only two which did not were both Kashmiri parties. You know why?
Last week,the Prime Minister and the Congress president (why only Congress; why not all parties,at least of the UPA) inaugurated a rail link between Jammu and Kashmir,which has now connected Kashmir to mainland India. One should ask,why does it take a country 66 years to physically join Kashmir with the rest of India,if it is an integral part? Apparently the scheme originated in 1983,when Indira Gandhi was PM. So,first it takes 36 years to even imagine the link and then another 30 years to build it. The Chinese have built roads and railroads in Baltistan,which will link them to the Arabian Sea across Pakistan,to say nothing of their road-building in Aksai-Chin in a fraction of that time.
Over the last 30 years,different parties have been in office in Delhi. BJP,which goes on about Article 370,was in office for six years,from1998 to 2004,and didnt do anything about the rail link. Four non-Congress,non-BJP coalitions were in power and they too failed to act. Kashmiris have a right to feel cynical. Their mobile phones can be shut down. The Army can stay there forever and AFSPA remain imposed,endless committees appointed to alleviate their problems with no follow-ups,but they dont get a rail connection. India wants Kashmir to be a part of itself but,only as an appendage hanging loosely from one end.
But even the mainland is not taken care of very much if it is not near Lutyens Delhi. How long have we known that the temples of Badrinath and Kedarnath are valued pieces of heritage and much loved by Indians who want to visit them? The route is hazardous,and perhaps that is part of its appeal as you get more punya if you suffer adversity getting there. As they have prospered,more and more Indians have wished to go there. But the latest tragedy shows that there is an appalling lack of even basic infrastructure for pilgrims to visit the sites. (A similar problem is with Amarnath too,but leave it for another day.)
There was a rush of ramshackle lorries and trucks and heroic rescue efforts by the jawans and ordinary citizens,where a fraction of the VVIP helicopter money would have been a great help. Of course,our leaders watch benignly from their helicopters. They also manage to make every tragedy into a political hungama. There is no feeling of a single nation facing a tragedy.
The National Disaster Management Authority exists only to be ignored. Each state with its chief minister wants to get into the act to save their own citizens and rush to claim credit. Scuffles break out between rival political parties eager to get publicity for saving a few people. An uncoordinated mishmash of equipment is rushed to Uttarakhand with drivers and volunteers often unaware of what they have to do when they get there. Their task is to be photographed with the leaders who can salve their consciences that they have done something before retiring behind their Z-security in their Lutyens bungalows.
Recall Hurricane Sandy,which struck on the eve of the US presidential elections. Obama and the governor of New Jersey,political rivals,cooperated to salvage citizens. Obama had the election only days away and there was no guarantee that he was going to win. But he set his own agenda aside and took time out to help the distressed citizens.
India may be the largest democracy but it has a deficit of concern for its people.
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