Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has posed the right question to the youth of Kashmir. What good has the gun done to the youth, families, the people and the Government, he asked. Obviously, the answer is that two and a half decade long gun-wielding has brought nothing but destruction and devastation. Its prime achievement is that the development of the State has been arrested for last twenty-five years in terms of material losses, and thousands of fatalities of innocent and harmless people have happened and to no purpose. The gun was handed over to the youth after they were brain washed so that they don’t become conscious of what they are doing. There were others who were forced to take up the gun. Whatever the case, the consequences have been extremely disastrous. The State has lagged behind in many respects and progress remained arrested.
The point is that after having lived under autocratic and tyrannical rulers for centuries at end, and having suffered stark poverty and destitution century after century, we in the State of Jammu and Kashmir had the good fortune of throwing up visionary leaders and guides who steered the ship to the safe shores of a popular democratic political structure in which ultimate power rests in the hands of the people. This opportunity came to us after thousands of years of servitude and destitution. In the new dispensation we got the opportunity of selecting our representatives through democratic process who would frame the laws, rules and practices of how we should conduct our political and administrative affairs. The need of the hour was that this system is strengthened and cemented because there is no other way better than the one we had chosen.
True some people were disgruntled with the administration. It is nothing new or unexpected. As long as people have freedom of thought and expression, other views and ideologies will find free expression. But gun is not the means that will help people accept or reject a particular line of thinking. Taking up the gun means challenging the Government. The Government, whichever party is at the helm of affairs, is enjoined by the constitution to protect life and property of the citizens and restore normalcy in the State. The Army, Para-military forces and the security forces including police etc. are maintained by the State with the primary purpose of providing safety and security to the life and property of the citizens of the State. Naturally, in a state of violence the State performs its constitutional function of protecting life and property of the people. In the process, there is likelihood of some lives getting lost despite full efforts of the authorities not to violate human and civil rights of majority of civilian population. The Chief Minister is very right in saying that dissent can be expressed by other mean and the constitution is not disallowing those peaceful means. But taking up the gun to express dissent and expect things to happen under duress is asking too much and no responsible State will allow it. Democracy leaves room for expressing one’s views freely and forcefully. Public rallies and peaceful demonstrations are not disallowed; shut down and pen down strikes are often resorted to by the protestors and the authorities have to take note of these. But when opponents to Government resort to the use of gun, it is a different story.
The Government has taken all possible measures to dissuade the youth from taking to gun. The number of youth who were lured to indoctrination and gun culture is far less today than what it was at the beginning of armed insurgency in the State. Government has given importance to counseling on social reformation level and it has yielded dividends. Numerous schemes for opening avenues of employment have been floated and a large number of educated youth have already been provided with jobs. The process is continuing at State and Central level. Banks and other funding agencies are instructed to make educational loans easier and on reduced interest. Apart from these measures, incentives are provided for self employment of the youth. These measures will bear fruit.
At the same time, the State desires in all seriousness that people take active part in elections to civic bodies, legislatures and the Parliament in order to strengthen the democratic institutions in the country. Recent Parliamentary elections in the country and in the State have shown that even the most powerful can be ousted by a tiny ballot paper. This should explain to the gun-wielding youth that power does not lie in the gun but in the ballot paper that has been given to them by the society. The results of recent Parliamentary elections have also shown that those who give call for boycott of elections do a great disservice to the people of the State. The boycott call keeps the honest, astute and efficient people outside the power mechanism and what a waste for the entire nation. Real power will flow from strengthening the democratic process. The Chief Minister deserves appreciation for wise and sincere advice to the people in general and the youth in particular.
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