Candidate by consensus

Sir,

It is in reference to the news item "Leh, Nobra seats filled uncontested". People of these two places deserve all praise and heartiest congratulations for their sensible decision for not projecting any other candidate against the one who is declared elected unopposed. It is good for the candidates, for the masses of that area, for the local administration, for the election conducting machinery and finally for the Govt. of India. A very wise step by the public which is firstly very very economical, absolutely free from tension, no quarrels, no killing, no lathi charge, no arrests no deployment of additional troops, no hatred, no enmity among the human beings, no irritating slogans, no politically motivated rallies, no regionalism involved in extracting votes. Well done Nobra! Well done Leh!

I sincerely pray to Almighty to give same sense to the people of the other constituencies of the State that while filling the papers of a candidate all the voters of a particular areas should sit down at a common platform, iron out their differences and for the best interest of that constituency they collectively select only one candidate who is the most appropriate for entire community of that area. With this the spirit of love for each other will prevail throwing far away the hatred for humanity.

Let us show the entire world that even if we have different ideologies, different religions, different approaches to achieve the goal but for projecting a leader of a particular area, we are one inwardly as well as outwardly.

I wish the lead taken by the people of Leh and Nobra should create a deep impact on our minds and within next couple of days, the people of J&K prove their worth by adopting same principle i.e for each seat only one candidate is projected after thrashing out all the differences among the various categories of voters/parties so that in the entire State a real wave of unity among hundreds of varieties of characters, sparks and the State flourishes much faster with all the consensus candidates/leaders being in chair.

Let us hope the dream comes true.

Yours etc...
Old Janipur,
Jammu.

Pandits and the packages

Sir,

The declaration of the financial package for Kashmiri displaced people by the Govt. of India is shocking and insulting. This exposes the poor understanding of our successive Governments about Kashmir in general and exodus of Hindus in particular. It has knocked out all our illusions about the seriousness of Governments towards Kashmir problem and its solution.

Our Home Minister before announcing the economic package should have spent few hours to study Kashmir problem, the cause which lead to exodus and the overall Kashmir problem. What good the package is going to serve to the Pandits whose thousands of houses have been burnt and destroyed, land and property worth crore of rupees illegally grabbed, their temples desecreated and their symbols destroyed. For what Pandits have to repair their houses from where they have been rejected and thrown out.

Kashmir problem is a serious problem. It should be taken as a national issue and debated throughout the country before announcing meaningless programmes and packages.

Yours etc...
Ravinder K Mahaldar
Gandhi Nagar,
Jammu.

II

Sir,

Well, the package has been announced to help the migrants to go back to Valley and start life afresh there, but the Million Dollar question that arises here is that "Is the present situation prevailing in the Valley State conducive for the return of Kashmiri Migrants back to the Valley after a long period of 13 years and that too at their own risk and cost-willingness or unwillingness as the Govt. takes no responsibility on its own shoulders which is quite evident from the Statement of Minister of State for Home Mr. I D Swami which is reproduced as follows: "There has been a sea change and they want them (the migrants) back. If the migrants think that they go back, it is their decision. No body would compell them".

Deeply going through the above statement of Mr. ID Swami Minister of State for Home, may I as citizen ask the Minister as to what sea change has taken place when the blood shed, killing of innocents, infiltration suicide attacks etc. etc. still continue rather increasing day by day. The statement therefore, clearly conveys that the Government being aware of the real facts is not bringing reality out and is not virtually taking the responsibility of returning of Kashmiri migrants back to the Valley because without providing security and creating a conducive atmosphere in the shape of peace normalcy in the Valley how can the migrants go back and start their life afresh. If the situation is normal or there is a sea change in the situation according to the statement of the Minister as quoted above, then let Mr. Minister move just a kilometer in the Valley of Kashmir without security. Then all the migrants will follow after him.

The second question that arises here is that where will a Kashmiri migrant live or take shelter after returning back to the Valley whose house has been burnt or destroyed till he rebuilds home or repairs his own house. Has the Govt. thought something about it and the package announced blindly? Perhaps nothing!

Yours etc...
Ashok Koul (Lalpuri)
C/o House No. 178, Ambica Vihar
Gole Gujral, Talab Tillo
Jammu.