Author: Anand soondas & M Saleem Pandit
Publication: The Times of India
Date: October 17, 2005
The Army has been called out in Srinagar.
Only, this time it is the people who are calling out for them.
In village after ravaged village, people are
huddling around the Army and condemning the Mufti Mohd Sayeed government which
remains confused, slothful and directionless. The popularity of the PDP-Congress
has sunk to an all-time low.
In Chholan, 12 km from Uri, the anger was
all too apparent. "Let the politicians come here asking as for votes,
we will rub their noses on the ground," said Nazir Ahmed. "No one
from the civil administration has come to us," added Akbar Shah. "We
are dying of cold and hunger, but Mufti is not bothered."
There are also allegations that whenever people
from the civil administration come with aid, the relief is distributed on
partisan grounds. "First the local politician, and then the supporters
and rich get home and come the next day," says Rashid Mir in Tangdhar
"It is better that we are helped by the
Gorkhas, the Rajputs and the Jats. They don't have any ulterior motives in
distributing aid because they have no local agenda," said Kamal Khan,
a teacher in Baramulla.
