Rajan Gandhi
Recent implementation of NRC act in Assam and resultant over forty lakh public turning out illegal residents have set the national politics on fire once again. With the monsoon session of Parliament still on, it seems BJP has just struck a master stroke and set the cat among pigeons as the whole opposition started opposing it tooth and nail in and outside Parliament in the way very much as desired by BJP. Though the NRC act was part of Assam accord penned by Rajiv Gandhi in 1985 to end then ongoing resentment and agitation, but till date no one dared to bell the cat. Even Supreme Court directions on the issue couldn’t cut the ice but the present Government after winning Assam assembly elections, to fulfill their poll promise on the issue, started working towards implementing NRC as per SC guidelines. Despite Government assurance that enough opportunity will be provided to these forty lakh people , opposition has tried to fan disturbance on the issue so much so that TMC MPs and MLAs created a ruckus on Silchar airport to politicize the issue least caring about national security issues which are above politics and should be avoided at any cost. Some parties even tried to correlate the issue on communal line and some on Bihari- Bengali angle with no concern for their own legal nationals.
This foreigner’s settlement issue is of much concern for our state as well as Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and recently Rohingyas have rattled our state politics also. On one hand all Kashmir centric parties, be it PDP or NC or separatist Hurriyat, defend Article 35 A to maintain so called Kashmiriat and safeguard rights of the locals, but on the other hand they collectively oppose deportation of Rohingyas from the state. This duplicity has confused common man, either it can be due to consideration on communal lines or a conspiracy to change the demography of Jammu region. With Jammuites already alleging attempts going on this front as number of colonies exclusively for one community have come up in the outskirts of Jammu city and recent Rasana case is also suspected to be on the same line to get population of one community be migrated from that area. To some extent these policies have paid rich dividends to Kashmir centric political parties but on the other hand Jammu based political parties remain a divided lot. Panthers party highlighted Rohingya issue to the extent that it got all the main hoardings of the city at one time highlighting the issue but the ruling BJP got stuck in the process to oppose or keep mum on the issue and ultimately took shelter under the plea that the case is sub judice with Supreme Court and thus will wait for its outcome. Congress unlike at national level on NRC issue, remains mum on the issue despite allegations that one of its ministers was the person instrumental in facilitating settlement of Rohingyas in his constituency and got them ration card , voter ID and even Aadhaar just for the sake of consolidating his vote bank in his constituency.
State BJP just kept Article 35 A and 370 under the carpet as it suited its coalition politics with PDP but in the process considerable damage to its vote bank has been done both at the state level as well as Central level. Realizing all this, of late, RSS has been exerting considerable pressure on state unit of BJP to oppose tooth and nail Article 35 A by organizing rallies, symposiums etc to counter threat propaganda of Kashmir centric parties. In Kashmir both political parties and separatists seem to be on same page as far as Article 35 A is concerned so much so that 5th and 6th August has been declared complete shutdown of Kashmir on the issue. Mehbooba Mufti has openly admitted in recent interview to a news channel that her pro Kashmir, soft on separatist policies and her stand on protecting article 35 A , 370 and Gujjars has rattled BJP and she knew they will withdraw the support. This public posturing by both BJP and PDP to address their respective vote banks has not cut much ice with their voters as public in Kashmir is in no mood to give another chance to PDP for their alliance with BJP and on the other hand damage done by PDP to roadblock Jammu development projects has simply put BJP on the dock. With parliamentary elections due next year MPs are finding it hard to get their voters on same frequency. Issues raised in Parliament by local MP’s be it Rohingyas or railway station expansion or bunkers or establishment of Kendriya Vidyalayas or railway line to Poonch were all there for more than four years and their silence on all these issues for so long has done no good. In this age of 24×7 social as well as TV media, it’s hard for parties to conceal their game plans and public in this age is quite aware of the facts and figures. Gone are the days when Kashmiri leaders can say one thing in Kashmir, one at Jammu and another at Delhi and similarly for Jammu parties they can no more hide under the pretext of coalition dharma.
Jammu has been neglected , discriminated for seventy long years and public have lots of expectations as well as aspirations with Modi Government and projects sanctioned for Jammu region are very much in line with those expectations but the ground reality is that there is no sight of AIIMS, Metro, Ring Road, River Front , Gandola projects , Smart city , Article 35 A, 370 , Rohingyas and all these are further compounded by trouble at Rasana as case has still not been handed over to CBI , resentment by Nowshera, Sunderbani belt as they feel that they have been let down by their leaders despite two month long agitation , West Pakistan residents who are still waiting for state subjects and border people who feel let down on the issues of alternative land allotment and bunkers. With less than a thousand SPOs recruited from Jammu region and same is the story with every Government job, resentment is immense and with further plans of formation of a new Government with the help of rebels, people of Jammu region expect another round of discrimination.
Most unfortunate part of all this is right now absence of any Jammu centric party, as BJP is in power, which can play the role of constructive opposition and press for demands of public. Lots of churning is going on, on one hand Lal Singh has announced a regional forum for taking up issues of Jammu and he has been organizing bazaar to bazaar campaigns and seems to be lone wolf in the race. Yuvraj Vikramaditya is another one who resigned from PDP on issues of principles and neglect of Jammu. There are other political parties like Panthers party who are daily organizing protests outside press club but lack much support among the masses. Both NC and Congress are right now fence sitters, more so the case of Congress whose Jammu centric leaders are finding it hard to remain silent on these burning issues of public importance.
In between all this, ask the ailing parents of a son or daughter working outside who cannot come to Jammu by air on a short notice in case of emergency as there are no direct flights to Jammu and with no night flight facility at Jammu politicians cannot experience the pain of sitting at Delhi airport whole night to board early morning flight or for that matter pain of an ailing person who has to change terminals kilometers apart to board a connecting flight or for that matter with no AIIMS or any other top private hospital where the patients have to go in medical emergencies.
Ask a critical patient stuck up in traffic chaos to reach hospital as absence of metro, ring road and flyovers has just made the things next to impossible for a common man. Politicians think about it, you are one among us; it can happen with anyone and if public has higher aspirations from you they are not asking for sky, its question of basic amenities for living a decent life. It will be interesting to see how different political parties play their chess on the board of politics in coming days, they realign themselves for the sake of aspirations of Jammu region or like Praja Parishad days they miss the bus again this time also and are divided among themselves with least concern for Jammu public. Lots of churning is going on but the resultant outcome is still elusive. Rise above the party lines, think upon it; united we stand benefitted and divided nobody.
“A choir is made up of many voices, including yours and mine.”
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