As the rape & brutal killing of 8 year old girl Aasifa has taken the entire country by storm and all section of society across the states, communities and religious groups have come openly against the dastard and inhuman act but there is still a section of society particularly in Jammu region , who are still trying to mislead the general masses but putting across misleading facts and rising the traditional bogey of Patriot Hindus of Jammu v/s Separatist Muslims of Kashmir. After facing sharp criticism and outrage from all the sections of society, the Jammu Bar council and its backend supporters changed their stands overnight though a mean and communal campaign is still being run in Jammu through social media wherein the distorted facts are being circulated along with the bottom-line that Jammu Dogras are being changed into a minority in Jammu and Gujjars and Bakerwals are smugglers, Lal Singh is a great leader who got AIIMS for jammu and was getting encroached land of forests back from Nomads, the Officer who is investigating the crime is very close to Hurriet and all other bullshit. In all this murky game BJP is finding itself cornered in a communally charged Jammu as on the one side Prime Minster has condemned the rape and assured that justice will b e delivered and the entire country up against this brutal act and on the other they are not able to cash in on this communal sentiment anymore , which could have provided them an appropriate opportunity to raise the tempers of Jammu people and play their communal politics, which is the bottom-line of their ideology. Under frustration they have issued a hard hitting statement against NC leader and MLA Nagrota Devinder Singh Rana accusing him of portraying jammu region as communal and bringing shame to the region. But the fact remains that this outburst against the NC leader is just depiction of frustration, the BJP has found itself in after losing the golden opportunity to play the communal card in Jammu once again after losing the ground it gained during the Modi wave
It is quite interesting that the NC leader has issued various statements in the recent past wherein he repeatedly blamed the communal elements for hatching conspiracies to communalize the situation in the state in general and jammu region in particular. Kathua incident and its larger & hidden plot to dislodge Gujjars from various areas of jammu has now substantially proved him right and although the brute rape & murder case has been investigated and charge sheet filed but the actual game plan behind this crime is yet to be investigated. PDP –BJP combine may hardly get the larger conspiracy investigated as it may open a Pandora box for the combination and both partners knew very well what was the motive beneath the brutal act. It is worthwhile to mention here that a section of society in Jammu region has become habitual of using tricolor and Jai shri ram slogans to justify every sin and crime and they are convinced that such a drama will win them the sympathy & support of hardcore hindu elements in entire spectrum of politics, media, administration & even security forces. This phenomena is quite dangerous and has its repercussions for the state and country. The same mantra was used during economic blockade of Kashmir during Amarnath yatra agitation and was also tried this time to hide a heinous crime and protect the culprits.
The voices which are raised to expose such elements are at the receiving end in Jammu region as BJP continues to protect its vote bank by encouraging communal elements which is quite clear from the statements of two ministers who joined the rally of rape accused supporters and they have clearly stated that they were asked by the party president to reach Kathua. So it is very important that voices like Deveinder Rana, who exposed the game plan of BJP need to be appreciated by all secular minded people of the state and though he is the lone Non BJP MLA in Jammu region, he should not feel lonely in his crusade against the forces of communalism and hatred in Jammu region. A challenging task lies ahead in front of such leaders as it is not easy to challenge the fascist elements on their home turf. The fact remains that despite a large constituency of Communal elements in jammu & separatist elements in Kashmir, there is a much larger section in both the regions who want to live in peace and are eager to strengthen the relationship between the regions .The recent decision of traders federation Jammu who rejected the call of Jammu Bar association for jammu bandh is one such example which was appreciated across the regions by all peace loving people. Further the politics of Tiranga & Ram Ji ki Jai for every criminal act should be denounced & rejected by all and it must be made clear to such elements that any act which violates the rule of law will be dealt with sternly under rules & Tiranga and slogans of jai Shri Ramji can not save any culprit and neither can allow anybody to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere of the State.
Author can be mailed at rafiqbhatt@yahoo.co.in
