Woes of EWS Colony Roop Nagar

Sir,

The Jammu Development Authority, the Power Development Department, the Public Health Engineering Department have turned a Nelson's eye on the EWS colony because economically weaker sections of the society live here. Had it been a colony of Legislators, bureaucrats, contractors or any other of the lot as Roop Nagar colony is then here should not have been choked drains, broken culverts, dilapidated roads, no street lights, erratic power supply, dripping voltage, water visitation after 10 days. Gone are the days when Abraham Lincoln remarked: "God loves the common folk and that is why they are more in number." The authorities of these Departments are of the opinion that the common folk is as flies to wanton boys so are they to these authorities and they can kill them for their sport. Whenever any authority most particularly the PDD is contacted on the telephone to complain against the erratic power supply and dripping voltage the curt reply received is "Why don't you self your house there and come to some good area" Probably thinking that the people living here also make fat bucks as they do.

So a sharp division exists among those who monitor and interpret the trends in our State. Their effort is to understand what is happening to our people, who are the actors on the scene and who the victims and the sufferers, who the beneficiaries, all these at what cost. The division is between the perception of those who have benefited immensely from the five-decade-long self-governance and that of those who are strong in their conviction that they have been betrayed; betrayed by their own people by a system of their own making resulted in the immense benefit for some on the one hand, and cruel callous betrayal for many others on the other. The betrayal and the deprivation are the results of one and the same process by which the beneficiaries also come up. The Paranoic myth recalls the churning of the ocean, which brought poison and nectar from beneath the subliminal layers of the ocean. The former brought menace to the living but the latter brought fascination and greed, and the devas of course snatched it and disappeared from the scene. In actual life, the labour for the churning comes from deprived like those in the EWS Colony and the benefit accrues and accumulates in the reservoirs of the sophisticated crafty like those manning the Jammu Development Authority, the Power Development Department and the Public Health Engineering Department.

Should I hope, that with the coming of the new government this deprivation of the inmates of the EWS Colony shall not be allowed to run deep into history in terms of time and deeper into human nature in terms of kind and quality, ravaging in its strides, ethics, morality, and natural rights. Let the authorities also remember PB Shelly: "If winter comes can spring be far behind." Common people can move the mountains and throw them into the sea.

Yours etc...
Predhuman K.Joseph Dhar
Jammu.

J&K Assembly polls

Sir,

The J&K Assembly polls should be an eye-opener to Pakistan with voters casting their votes in large numbers at the polling booths. The foreign observors who watched the elections have called them as Impartial, without co-ercion and satisfactory. Deputy Prime Minister, L K Advani refers to " The fair, free and well-participated elections as a knock-out of Pakistan's idea of plebisite." These elections are also a rebuff to President Musharraf for calling them as "Sham". The foreign observers and other Independent Agencies are also witness to Pak-sponsored terrorist threats and attacks to scare and kill the candidates as well as the voters who have been in several cases victims of their bomb-blasts. To brave "terror" and to cast votes freely is remarkable. The world attention is now on terrorist atrocities and crimes of Pakistan who propagates to the world that the terrorists are freedom fighters which is an open lie so much so that even British foreign Secretary, Mr. Jack Straw, snubbed Pakistan and asked her "to stop calling the terrorists as freedom fighters." America, Russia and other Western Powers also do not subscribe to this Pakistan's propaganda on the basis of ground realities. Pakistan is notably a partner of the International coalition against terrorism. She is also a signatory to decisions taken at the Almaty Conference and the Asean anti-terror Pact at Bander Sori Begawan to eliminate terrorism. General Musharrafs historic speech after the 11th Sept, 2001 Terrorist attacks on World Trade Centre and Pentagon in America to reform Islamic Madrasas, end all terrorism, Introduce democracy in Pakistan etc. was Internationally hailed as "ground-breaking"! wily General Musharraf has gone back on his International Commitments and unless he matches his words with deeds, the first step should be to put an economic squeeze on Pakistan, short of declaring her a terrorist State.

Yours etc...
Babu Ram Sharma
443-A
Gandhi Nagar Jammu.