Commentary:
Kashmir
Fulfil the Aspirations of People
The PDP - BJP Govt. fell like a
pack of cards with the withdrawal
of BJP from the coalition.
Governor ’s rule has come into
vogue as no other party or
combination of parties has come to
the fore to form a govt.
There is nothing surprising or
sudden in the collapse of regime
in Kashmir. In 2015 elections, the
PDP and BJP were two opposing
poles. They fought bitterly to defeat
each other. The PDP claimed to
champion the aspirations of
Kashmir people and oppose the
Hindu communal and divisive
politics of BJP. But the seats it won
in the elections were inadequate to
form a govt. So it went all out to
strike a deal with its proclaimed foe
BJP. The PDP leadership sought to
attribute ‘sane’ intentions to justify
its opportunistic alliance with BJP.
It said, the alliance with BJP was
the best option in the given situation
to serve the Kashmir people. But
the Kashmir people saw in it only a
betrayal for the sake of power.
The formation of coalition govt
and f ormulation of a comm on
agenda were uphill tasks. The
death of PDP’s leader Mufti
Mohammed Sayeed had enhanced
the strains in the relations between
the PDP and BJP. Ms Mehbooba
Mufti had to spend many sleepless
nights and engage herself in
tiresome and humiliating exercises
of bargain with the BJP leadership
before assuming the Chief
Ministership and cooking up a
common agenda for the govt. The
question before the PDP leadership
at the time was how to retain the
facade of PDP’s continued commit-
ment to the interests of Kashmir
people. The question before the
12
BJP leadership was how to grab key
positions in the govt; how to keep
the coalition partner PDP under
check and how to use the power to
consolidate and extend its support
base in Kashmir. Having a BJP led
govt. at the Centre provided an
added advantage for the BJP in
Jammu and Kashmir.
WHY THE BREAK - ?
Announcing BJP’s decision to
sever ties with the PDP, Ram
Madhav, BJP’s General Secretary
had this to say on June 19, 2018:
He said: “ It has become untenable
for the BJP to continue in alliance
in Jammu and Kashmir.”
“........dominant partner in the
alliance ( the PDP ) was not able
to handle the situation in the state.
Obstacles were also placed in the
way of development projects in
Jammu and Ladakh.”
After
tendering
her
resignation, Mehbooba Mufti said:
“Mascular policy will not work or be
successful in Jammu and Kashmir.
We cannot treat the state as an
enemy territory.” The PDP’s leader
Mohammed Khurshid Alam said,
the reasons that the BJP gave for
pulling out “are worth to hail” and
the “party feels proud of such
reasons.” “The reasons are
demands made by Mehbooba Mufti
for talks with Pakistan and
seperatists, withdrawal of the cases
against the stone throwers,
implementation of the ceasefire on
ground and measures to be taken
for successful dialogue and
reconciliation.”
These statements and counter
statements reveal some facts,
conceal some facts and seek to
blame each other for the present
crisis.
In the three and half years’ rule
of PDP – BJP combine, the Kashmir
people had experienced worst
repression. The central armed
forces, protected by special Laws
like AFSPA, had gone all out in their
attacks against the people. Both in
the course of so called anti-terrorist
operations as well as dealing with
the protest movements, they used
the guns and pellet guns freely
against the people. Hundreds and
thousands of protesting people
coming into the streets whenever
and where ever a boy was sought
to be arrested or gunned down by
the armed police; taking part in
funeral rallies of persons who lost
lives in police firings and to demand
legal action against those who
committed the crime against people
has become a common feature in
Kashmir. The people who joined the
massive protest movement of 2016
waged pitched battles with the
central forces who used pellet guns
extensively against the protesting
people. Gunning down of young
militant leader Burhan Wani roused
more anger and defiance among
the youth than striking fear in their
hearts.
The abduction, rape and
murder of a girl of 8 years in
Kathua of Jammu in Jan’2018 came
as part of a conspiracy of BJP and
Hindutva forces to communally
divide the people and terrorise a
section of people into leaving
Jammu. The involvement of
Hindutva forces in the crime and
the open and shameless support
extended by BJP Ministers to the
culprits had widely exposed the
BJP. This heinous crime has
brought the people and democratic
forces into protest actions not only
Class Struggle