Author: Arvind Lavakare
Publication: Rediff on Net
Date: October 15, 2002
URL: http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/oct/15arvind.htm
While the electoral eclipse of the
autocratic Abdullah dynasty and its non- governing National Conference
has opened the gates of hope for the future of the commoner in Jammu and
Kashmir, the state could well go from the frying pan into the fire if the
People's Democratic Party takes its poll agenda too seriously in its role
of a major partner in the coalition that is getting set to rule from Srinagar.
That is the clear and present danger
emanating from the past role of PDP's chief, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, during
the 1986 genocide of Kashmiri Hindus in Anantnag which compelled K N Singh,
the then general secretary of Congress (I), to openly accuse the then Congressman,
Mufti, of fomenting what was a blatantly Islamic jihad. Sonia Gandhi, who
proclaims her "secular," anti-communal credentials at every chance in every
nook and corner of the country, would do well to read about that gory event
at ikashmir.org before she finally decides to join hands with the one whom
a Kashmiri Pandit has dubbed as "the butcher of Anantnag."
The PDP believes that J&K is
an international dispute, that a dialogue with Pakistan and with terrorists
and separatists in the state is necessary, that the Special Operations
Group -- the counter-insurgency arm of the state police -- and the Prevention
of Terrorism Act have no role to play in the state. Now all this is an
igniting ideology, preoccupation with which will distract all attention
from what the J&K people need first and foremost: good governance,
a burial of widespread corruption and nepotism, and unprecedented surge
of socio-economic development, along with dedicated efforts to honourably
resettle the thousands upon thousands of Kashmiri Pandits who, for a decade
and more, have become refugees in their homeland, deprived of their belongings
as well as their soul. Such a new deal alone can remove the state's all
pervading discontent and gloom of the previous decade, create new aspirations
and generally convince the people there that they are a part and parcel
of the freedom-loving, friendly and forward-looking nation called India.
As it is, there's the Vajpayee government's
recently announced package of 60 billion rupees that's just awaiting the
state government's active involvement so as to enable its transformation
into reality. The major components of this package which, unfortunately,
has not received the publicity it deserves, are as under:
The 287-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramullah
rail line is planned to be completed in five years so that the first train
will roll into the Kashmir valley on August 15, 2007. Estimated to cost
Rs 36 billion, the project will boost socio-economic development, give
immediate employment to hundreds of local people and strengthen the country's
security infrastructure.
Doubling of the Jammu Tawi-Jullunder
railway line in the next five years at an estimated cost of nearly four
billion rupees.
Completion of Nimu-Zangal-Padam-Darcha
Road in the next four years at an estimated cost of nearly two billion
rupees.
The all-weather 474-km road to
Leh via Manali to be completed by 2010 at an estimated cost of over Rs
13 billion.
Completion of the road from Batote
to Kistawar-Sinthan Pass-Khanabal by 2007 as against the earlier deadline
of 2013
Development assistance of Rs 700
million rupees over five years to J&K's traditional cottage industries
of wool, pashmina, sericulture, handicrafts and carpet weaving --- all
providing employment to a large number of artisans and craftsmen.
Assistance of one billion rupees
over five years to agri-export zones for apples and walnuts
Eco-restoration of degraded catchments
of Chenab, Jhelum and Shivatiks at an estimated cost of one billion rupees
over five years.
Increase of five billion rupees
in the State's Border Area Development Programme over the next five years,
with half the amount being made directly available to district rural development
agencies.
80 million rupees this year for
Police Welfare Fund for use in upgrading hospital facilities, establishment
of a rehabilitation centre for widows and of schools for orphans.
Increase in ceiling of financial
assistance to Kashmiri migrants from Rs 2,400 a month to Rs 3,000 per family.
To ensure that each of the above
promises of the government of India gets translated on ground, the new
coalition in J&K will clearly have to interact very closely with the
bureaucracy in New Delhi. And it would be an excellent example of people's
participation if task force groups of the 87- member state assembly were
entrusted with this task instead of leaving the job merely to the minister
or ministers concerned.
To put Delhi's considerable financial
assistance to optimum use, the new government in Srinagar will have to
spring clean and shake up its own bureaucracy as well as pump a lot of
haemoglobin into it.
There is, for instance, this columnist's
letter to the state's chief secretary asking whether, as reported in a
book of the fifties, the state government had passed legislation permitting,
as an exception, people from outside the state to acquire immovable property
in J&K for industrial purposes. That letter was sent from Mumbai on
April 9, 2001. The chief secretary's reply to it is dated August 31, 2002
--- nearly 17 months later. It is, of course, very apologetic about the
delay, and says the answer to the query that had got misplaced was now
being enclosed. But it wasn't! Yes, yes, the reply meant to be enclosed
was not enclosed. This lapse was communicated to the chief secretary through
a registered letter sent out in the first week of September; there is no
reply from Srinagar till this is being written.
Such bureaucratic lethargy will
simply have to be history in the new deal which the oncoming coalition
government must give to the people of J&K. These people have braved
bullets and grenades to vote out the National Conference and they now have
the moral right to get their day- today problems responded sincerely and
quickly.
It is the top bureaucracy, such
as the chief secretary, and the ministers who will have to work together
in a way that gives top priority to the belief that the future of the state's
big army of unemployed, direction-less and frustrated youth lies in constant
and close interaction with the rest of India in the spheres of information
technology, education and business/industrial opportunities. And the lower
cadres of babus in government offices will have to be persuaded to earn
their salaries or else.
Apart from the big economic front,
there is the massive corruption to be tackled, the alleged illegal detention
of citizens, the alleged custodial killings and the inordinate delay in
trial of those put in jails. These are challenging tasks with which dialogues
with militants, separatists and Pakistan have absolutely nothing to do.
Nor will it do, as the PDP intends, to dissipate energy and valuable time
with a commission set up to expose the corrupt deeds of the previous National
Conference governments. There is really no time for vindictive acts. Indeed,
time and energy are of the essence in the new deal for J&K; as the
words of 'Alice in Wonderland' tell us, 'It takes all the running you can
do to stay in the same place; to move ahead you must run twice as fast.'
All that is required in tackling
the various tasks on hand is a no-nonsense but committed council of ministers
that does not stand on prestige in seeking help of the central government.
Corruption, for instance, can be
reduced by making the Parliament's Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988,
immediately applicable to J&K and implementing it vigorously. Corruption
cases should be quickly tried by setting up special courts for the purpose
in each district of the state with the help of Delhi's law ministry. That
ministry can help the J&K high court to set up similar special courts
for quick trials of arrested persons. Custodial killings can be curbed,
even eliminated, by establishing full-time human rights cells in major
districts with the help of NGOs from outside the state.
So on and so forth is the new deal
which the Congress and the PDP /owe to the people of J&K. If they deliver
that deal, Pakistan's terrorism in the state will drastically reduce over
time, almost magically, because it will lack local support.
Sadly, the early indications are
that the PDP is determined to pursue its own agenda which the Congress,
with all its faults, will find difficult to accept without sacrificing
its nationalistic principles. The coalition of the two seems headed for
the impossible mix of oil and water. Unless pragmatism prevails, J&K
could be moving to disaster worse than what the Abdullahs have wrought.
