MUSHTAQ BALA
The loudest debate in Jammu and Kashmir this week has been about statehood.
Inside the Legislative Assembly, the demand for restoration of full statehood generated heated exchanges between the treasury and opposition benches. The resolution seeking restoration of statehood was eventually passed, once again bringing the issue to the centre of political discourse.
The debate was politically significant. Statehood is an important question concerning the constitutional and administrative future of Jammu and Kashmir, and its restoration has remained a major political demand.
But beneath the political arguments lies another, quieter question—one that concerns every household: when will governance begin to feel different in everyday life?
For the ordinary citizen, the test of government is often much simpler than the issues debated on the floor of the House.
Is the road repaired on time?
Is drinking water available?
Can a young person find meaningful employment?
Does a government office respond without unnecessary delay?
Can a small businessman obtain the required permissions without running from one office to another?
Are hospitals and schools functioning as people expect?
Can families afford their electricity bills?
These questions may not always produce dramatic headlines, but they constitute the everyday reality of governance.
The ongoing Assembly session has, in fact, brought many of these concerns into focus. Members have raised issues relating to drinking-water shortages, damaged roads, flash floods and landslides, drainage, environmental pollution and connectivity.
The House has also witnessed discussion on unemployment, vacant government posts, regularisation of workers, reservation and electricity tariffs.
These are not abstract matters.
Behind every vacant post is a young person waiting for an opportunity. Behind every water-supply complaint is a family adjusting its daily life. Behind every damaged road is a student, employee, patient, trader or farmer trying to reach somewhere. Behind every unresolved administrative file is a citizen who has already spent time and money pursuing an answer.
This is why the Assembly matters.
An elected House should not merely be a place where political positions are exchanged. It should also be the place where citizens’ grievances are converted into questions, questions into answers, and answers into measurable action.
The government, for its part, has been bringing legislative and administrative measures aimed at improving governance, municipal services, ease of doing business and ease of living.
The real measure of such initiatives, however, will come later—not in the number of Bills passed, but in what citizens experience after those measures begin to operate.
There is another lesson emerging from the current session.
Political differences are inevitable in a democracy. Government and opposition will disagree. Parties will have different interpretations of the same issue. Members will defend their records and question those of their opponents.
That is part of parliamentary democracy.
But disruption should never become a substitute for scrutiny, and government should never regard criticism as an inconvenience.
The opposition has a responsibility to question the government. The government has an equal responsibility to answer those questions. Neither responsibility should be diluted by political confrontation.
The Assembly is also an important reminder that Jammu and Kashmir’s problems cannot be reduced to a single political question.
Statehood matters.
But so do jobs.
Statehood matters.
But so does affordable and reliable electricity.
Statehood matters.
But so does clean drinking water.
Statehood matters.
But so do roads, healthcare, education, tourism, industry, agriculture, the environment and the future of thousands of young people.
The two conversations need not compete with each other.
Indeed, a mature political discourse should be capable of carrying both simultaneously.
The people of Jammu and Kashmir have lived through enormous political, administrative and economic changes. They have witnessed governments change, institutions change and priorities change. What citizens increasingly seek is continuity in governance and accountability in delivery.
They do not necessarily expect every problem to disappear overnight.
They do expect problems to be acknowledged honestly, deadlines to be meaningful and promises to be followed by action.
This is particularly important for young people.
Jammu and Kashmir has a large population of educated and ambitious youth. For many of them, government employment remains an important aspiration, while others are looking towards entrepreneurship, tourism, handicrafts, technology, creative industries and private investment.
A policy framework that makes it easier to establish businesses, obtain permissions, invest and create employment can therefore have consequences far beyond the wording of a Bill.
Likewise, filling legitimate vacancies through a transparent and timely recruitment process can restore confidence among job aspirants.
The same principle applies to workers who have spent years waiting for regularisation or clarity regarding their employment.
Governance is ultimately about confidence.
A citizen should be able to believe that a complaint will be heard, an application will be processed, a road will be repaired, a water scheme will function and a recruitment process will be conducted fairly.
That confidence cannot be created through speeches alone.
It has to be earned through performance.
As the Assembly session concludes, therefore, the political class has an opportunity to look beyond the immediate noise of the House.
The government can take the questions raised during the session as a working agenda.
The opposition can continue to scrutinise the government constructively and persistently.
And citizens can continue to demand answers—not only during elections, but throughout the life of a government.
The real success of this Assembly session will not be determined merely by how loudly different sides argued.
It will be determined by what happens after the microphones are switched off.
Will the roads improve?
Will water reach the areas facing shortages?
Will damaged infrastructure be restored?
Will vacancies be filled?
Will young people see more opportunities?
Will businesses find it easier to operate?
Will environmental concerns receive sustained attention?
These are the questions that will remain long after the political headlines have moved on.
Jammu and Kashmir does not need less politics. It needs politics that ultimately translates into better governance.
The Assembly may debate the future of the Union Territory, but the people are living its present.
And for them, the most important debate begins when the House falls silent. Mushtaq Bala is Editor-in-Chief of Kashmir Pen, an award-winning filmmaker, cultural commentator, and advocate for peace through narrative media.
