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EDITORIAL Normally the revival of the Praja Parishad should have rekindled sentiments of a considerable section of the population of the Jammu region. A self-professed champion of the cause of this province and its people the party had a strong presence particularly in some of the urban areas. At the local level it had the active help at one point of time or the other of Mr Balraj Madhok and Mr Kidar Nath Sahani both of whom later rose high on its spectrum of politics at the national level. One of its experienced leaders was the late Premnath Dogra and it drew strength from the dedicated cadre of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The party found quite a few takers of its strident political campaign on the plank of 'ek desh mein do vidhan, ek desh mein do nishan; ek desh mein do pradhan nahin chalenge' ('in one country, .......more Imagine the joy of Takar Chakraborthy of Kolkata when he must have found on his arrival on the sacred hills of Trikuta that he has become part of history. He turned out to be the sixth-million pilgrim to pay obeisance at the holy cave of Vaishno Devi this year. Very rightly the Shrine Board has given him rare gifts and as one understands he will be entitled to free hospitality and special darshans in future. It was anticipated in these columns some months ago that the pilgrimage to the Trikuta hills would surpass all past records in 2004: so far the maximum turnout was in 2003 when 5.4 million pilgrims had come. This conclusion had its .......more |
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By S R Timmaraju The Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh said in Parliament on December 21, that he had told Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf that while India is willing to look at various options for a negotiated settlement of the issue of Jammu & Kashmir, India will not agree to any redrawing of boundaries or another partition of the country. Though the Prime Minister expressed a similar opinion .......more US
links Jehadi terrorism By P N Khera It is unlikely that the US will declare Pakistan as a State that sponsors terrorism but it has managed to send wrong signals by its formulation linking Islamic terrorism to events in Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir which is apparently intended to give comfort to Islamabad by giving its involvement ......more By M N Minocha The Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram's call, in his Mid-Term Review of the Economy, for a stable tax regime is unexceptionable. But stability in tax structure goes hand-in-hand with a culture of full voluntary compliance among the tax-paying public. The record here, it must be said, is abysmal with fewer than 3 per cent of the population paying income tax. There is no gainsaying the fact that tax avoidance/evasion is a universal phenomenon, .......more |
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EDITORIAL Normally the revival of the Praja Parishad should have rekindled sentiments of a considerable section of the population of the Jammu region. A self-professed champion of the cause of this province and its people the party had a strong presence particularly in some of the urban areas. At the local level it had the active help at one point of time or the other of Mr Balraj Madhok and Mr Kidar Nath Sahani both of whom later rose high on its spectrum of politics at the national level. One of its experienced leaders was the late Premnath Dogra and it drew strength from the dedicated cadre of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The party found quite a few takers of its strident political campaign on the plank of 'ek desh mein do vidhan, ek desh mein do nishan; ek desh mein do pradhan nahin chalenge' ('in one country, two constitutions; in one country, two flags; in one country, two prime ministers would not be acceptable') and for the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution guaranteeing special status to the State. It had found wholehearted patronage across the country from the Bharatiya Jana Sangh with which it later merged itself as a natural corollary. The thrust of its protests --- almost every day its workers would take out processions in this city --- was directed against persisting with the distinct identity of the State by designating its popular head as the Prime Minister and by having its separate charter and standard. In both the avatars --- first as the PP and afterward as the pradesh unit of the Jana Sangh the party addressed the Hindu sentiments and was instrumental along with the vested interests that whipped up Muslim passions in the Valley for sharpening the regional divide in the State. One would notice a slow change in its outlook and performance after it assumed the banner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) following the collapse of the Janata Party experiment. As long as it was in the opposition the BJP showed awareness about the necessity for preserving the unity and integrity of J&K as an inseparable part of the Union (it opposed moves for the State's trifurcation and pleaded instead for setting up regional councils) and while it stressed the need for tough steps against the terrorism it was careful not to play the communal card in the State. Once in power the BJP underwent complete somersault. It completely turned away form the hawkish PP and JS phase. Apparently it realised the inevitability of striking conciliatory tunes in the Valley. It made peace with its arch enemy National Conference and gladly included it in the party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). It succeeded in generating a lot of goodwill but its past continued to haunt and did not yield any electoral breakthrough in the Valley. On the other hand, it had its traditional base in the Jammu region slipping away to the extent that the RSS too in the last Assembly polls turned its back on it and backed the Jammu State Morcha instead on the slogan of creating a separate state of Jammu. There was intense infighting. As a fall-out the party suffered immensely in the Jammu area not only in the Assembly but also in the Lok Sabha polls in which it was defeated in the two constituencies of Jammu and Udhampur it had won before that. What is to be noted is that the RSS and the JSM also did not gain in the process but in the case of the BJP these reverses notwithstanding, there was general feeling that the party's Central leaders meant well by the State. Broadly speaking, two reasons could be identified for the BJP's poor showing in the polls: the lack of participation of its pradesh leaders in the ruling Central leadership's vastly changed plans for the entire State and intra-party quarrels which had their genesis in the BJP-RSS tussle as well as the differences between the party leaders on account of their varied styles of functioning. Given this background the reasons for the latest split in the pradesh BJP unit and the recent revival of the PP by one of its factions are easy to understand. Although the veteran leaders like Rishi Kumr Koushal who can justifiably claim the PP's legacy having constituted its backbone at one time are involved in this exercise it is doubtful whether they have the requisite organisational strength to carry it through. Most of them have got together because they nurse a grouse for having been marginalised in their parent body. It is evident from the proxy media war that is on between them and the ruling BJP group. What is fantastic, however, is the propaganda that the Congress has a hand in influencing the PP leadership. This is hoodwinking the truth that the BJP has to look within for its problems which it may find are entirely of its own making. The emergence --- in this case renewal --- of one more party in the name of Jammu and its people will lead to the division of votes and hence be detrimental to the cause all of them claim to serve. It can be anybody's guess. Imagine the joy of Takar Chakraborthy of Kolkata when he must have found on his arrival on the sacred hills of Trikuta that he has become part of history. He turned out to be the sixth-million pilgrim to pay obeisance at the holy cave of Vaishno Devi this year. Very rightly the Shrine Board has given him rare gifts and as one understands he will be entitled to free hospitality and special darshans in future. It was anticipated in these columns some months ago that the pilgrimage to the Trikuta hills would surpass all past records in 2004: so far the maximum turnout was in 2003 when 5.4 million pilgrims had come. This conclusion had its genesis in the enhanced pilgrims' interest and devotion, constant step-up in facilities during the trek through the divine hills and excellent means of travel. In 2000 and 2002 too more than five million devotees had made their way to the cave singing the glory of Vaishno Devi. The way the number of pilgrims has skyrocketed indicates an extremely rare success story of the Shrine Board as a manager and facilitator of the pilgrimage. Since it was conceived and established about two decades ago there has been more than four-time increase in visitors. As the word has spread about the entire yatra having become a remarkably smooth and comfortable affair it has encouraged people to undertake the expedition not only from distant corners of the country but also from all over the globe. Non-resident Indians notably have used it as an opportunity to fulfill their life-long ambition. What is to be welcomed is that there is a keen desire on the part of the concerned authorities to keep improving the existing arrangements and adding to them. This enthusiasm must be retained at all costs. This is all the more necessary with a railway line having already been constructed in the same vicinity expected to have its first train soon. |
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