|| ZUHAIB YOUSF MIR
The “mission 44+”slogan of the BJP led all the political parties in J & K adopt such a defensive election campaign that it led to the fractured mandate and also what is deeply disappointing fractured J & Kon the basis of religion. Playing on the communal image of the BJP and enunciating the threat, that could ensue, of saffron brigade taking over the valley, PDP and NC ensured the Muslim dominated Kashmir valley voted predominantly to keep the Hindu-right out. And Jammu predominantly being Hindu region voted for the assertion of their might, obviously played by the BJP as usual communal trick.
Disheartening to say that the secular fabric has been heavily disturbed where overtly now Kashmir is seen as Islamic region and Jammu as a Hindu region. This sectarianism can be extremely detrimental in the future. May be Late Mufti Mohammed Sayeed recognized this problem and thought to himself that in order to restore peace in the state and for bridging the gap between regions it is necessary to forge an alliance with ideologically antagonistic BJP. He also did this as he probably was aware of the fate of his health condition and wanted to ensure his prodigy MsMehbooba Mufti to carry on with his legacy. But the later stage of his life wasn’t made any better by his very own alliance partner and the instances of constant altercation ranging from denial of transference of power projects to making the government of J&K literally beg to the central government for funds etc needs no introduction.
I must say theit must have been a very tough time for him as he virtually faced wrath and diatribe by the people throughout. It was so till Mr Modi our prime minster made that pompous show of 80000 crore package to the state and what is worst after the announcement of the package for relief and revival of the state the center plainly kept Mr Mufti begging for the disbursing of funds till he past away. Precisely why the curtain on the government was drawn as the maverick died. Obviously the agenda of the 10-month-old alliance was brazenly betrayed and the show of which was seen by everyone in the state one literally fails to understand what really was the reason for this 3 month sabbatical under the guise of more bargaining.
Now that the PDP has unanimously decided to join hands with the BJP and Ms mufti is going to be the first woman Chief Minister of the state she and her government needs to address some important issues which are pending in front of her as a baggage from her previous regime of her father. T he issue of beef-ban needs to be addressed. The stand on Afzal Guru needs to be clarified by the PDP as BJP cannot sell that Afzal was a martyr forthcoming elections this year in Pondicherry, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and most importantly Uttar Pradesh early next year.
PDP has to clear its stand on the redundant laws in the Ranbir Penal Code , one such law is the beef ban under article 298 A and 298 B. It will also have to explain to the people of Jammu and Kashmir the modalities under which the power projects will be transferred back to the state government. It will have to be straight forward as to how they want to deal will hurriyat and the separatist faction.
And lastly it will have to exibit courage and power to make people believe that they can do better than what his excellency governor NN Vohra did in the short stint of 3 months because as a matter of fact the what MrVohra did in 3 months more than offsets the performance of the 10 month government of BJP-PDP part one previous year. This is the opportunity for the PDP to exhibit courage and be a sustained inspiration for the people of Jammu and Kashmir or get engraved in the history of nothingness, something that’s not new for the people of the sate. Let us see how it unfurls for remarriage of BJP-PDP in part 2. I will want to believe it’s a coalition of conviction and not convenience driven by power hungry individuals on both the sides.
(Zuhaib Yousf Mir MSc Economics University of Edinburgh )
The issue of beef-ban needs to be addressed. The stand on Afzal Guru needs to be clarified by the PDP as BJP cannot sell that Afzal was a martyr forthcoming elections this year in Pondicherry, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and most importantly Uttar Pradesh early next year. PDP has to clear its stand on the redundant laws in the Ranbir Penal Code , one such law is the beef ban under article 298 A and 298 B. It will also have to explain to the people of Jammu and Kashmir the modalities under which the power projects will be transferred back to the state government.
