The current coalition government in the state of Jammu and Kashmir took almost three months to form the alliance. Both parties were discussing some internal issues confidentially but it happened only after the former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah who acted as interim Chief Minister on the advice of Governor; resigned and governor rule was established; both the parties were compelled to from an alliance at an earliest. Earlier, PDP was given unconditional suppor by all opposition parties including its major rival opponent National Conference to form the government by avoiding the BJP’s support. But PDP was adamant to form it only with BJP as they were of firm belief that they could get more financial packages from the central government by forming government with them which later on turned into despair.
After long discussion between both ideologically dissimilar parties , coalition government was formed. Peoples Democratic Party leader Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took oath to become chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir State on 1st March . Sayeed’s taking charge ended 49 days of Governor’s Rule since the assembly election results were announced in December.Bharatiya Janata Party leader Nirmal Singh took oath as deputy chief minister.The new Jammu and Kashmir State government is the first time an alliance has been formed between the PDP and the BJP. Sayeed, 79, who founded his party in 1999, has dubbed the PDP-BJP alliance as the meeting of “North Pole and South Pole.””We have to merge North Pole and South Pole,” he said after taking oath. “We want to make this alliance a turning point. We want to do justice for all people.”
The coalition sustained only for ten months as CM Mufti syeed died after prolonged illness at New Delhi and again Jammu and Kashmir was put under Governor’s Rule on 8 January 2016.The governor rule remained in operation for two months as again a tug of war had started between the PDP and the BJP over portfolio distribution.The decision to take oath earlier than expected was necessitated to set to rest various speculation made by the media and finally Mebooba Mufti took oath on 6th Aril 2016 as first Women Chief Minister of the State.
I am surprised to see these two parties in coalition, as such the party manifesto of both of these parties are dissimilar and contrarian to each other. Where on party has self-rule as a pivotal objective in the party manifesto especially during elections; other party has abrogation of article 370.Where the former dreams the resolution of Kashmir conflict through self rule, other demands centre’s rule in all matters.
I remember the day, when PDP was making election campaign during 2014 Assembly Elections, the self rule policy was used as a currency in all conferences,rallies and road shows to influence and motivate the electorates to vote in their favour. The Party had further declared openly that, “ our fight is not with National Conference or Congress but our fight is with Saffron Flag Party (BJP) and it must not come in power because the party is against the ideology of Muslims in general and against the resolution of Kashmir dispute in particular, so we have to over run it.Nobody should vote in favour of the BJP,as it may emerge as more dangerous and more harmful for the whole state.” This is one of the statement used by the green flag party to motivate the voters.
The people were innocent to know that the promises given by the party were fake.The people voted in favour of the party with this intention that party is going to resolve the Kashmir conflict as per the aspirations of the people in general and as per the self rule policy in particular.
Before the formation of new government, both parties took almost three and half month to form so called Agenda of Alliance. The very top prioritized points mentioned in the Agenda of Alliance document were; demilitarisation,resolution of Kashmir dispute,talks with separatists and Pakistan, employment,etc. But unfortunately, though the half of its tenure is over now,the party failed to fulfil even single point of it.In fact, it seems that this Agenda of Alliance document was just a crude joke for the general masses to justify the party’s move with the Saffron party.Moreover, the Agenda of Alliance document promises for demilitarisation,gave military rule.In fact, from the day the party took oath,whole Kashmir has been converted into a cage where militray rule is more clear and visible than the goverment.It even failed to maintain peace in the state especially in the Kashmir province, how could we expect the development and resolution of Kashmir conflict by their hands.
Now, the whole state knows that PDP-BJP Coalition did nothing to the common masses. It touch heights in terms of corruption, unrest, communal politics,nepotism,unemployment, draconian policies and so on. This coalition brought a huge damage to the development scenario of the State. In fact, it has mere verbal speeches and assurances for the poor and common masses and not any employment or welfare programmes.This Coalition was formed just to satisfy the interests of the legislators within the party that can be observed as it has reshuffled portfolios several times and brought state twice under governor rule since its inception.
After every incident that happened in the Kashmir region,mere discussions and debates are held and nothing concrete is done on the ground level to de-escalate the tensions. The coalition doesn’t bother about the threats given to the life and liberty of the people. The government just condemn the brutal and shameful incidents ceremonically done by the security forces on the back of government itself.And the brutalties cross the limitations when the social networking sites were banned in the region following some incidents when people uploaded the videos of brutalties and tortures on the internet.Actually these videos were the evidences and were making government liable. The government washed the blood shed hands with clean water by blocking social networking sites in the region.The government ruling in the state and at centre doesn’t let the world community know the exact situation in Kashmir and the extent of brutalties upon the innocent masses.The Agenda of Alliance promised to develop the state into new heights but make the life more difficult to survive. Even the college and schools are not spared by the security forces. Our sisters are being raped & harassed,brothers are tortured and fierced with pellets and bullets. The Coalition seemed helpless to give justice to the victims like Asifa, Nelofar, Ad kya,etc.Can we call it democracy? No, Actally it is perverted form of government where a government is elected for the specific period of 5 or 6 years, and during these years, it snatches all the rights and liberties of the people. The people have no right to recall it even if it kills them.They can just pray to Almighty and seek His Mercy.
To conclude, it can be said that this Coalition exists mere for militarization of Kashmir into a cage, giving protection to the rape accusers and other criminals.The coalition is there just for giving fake promises and proved devastative and destructive for the demography and topography of the state.Moreover,the government is happy with the packages of pellets and bullets being transported to Kashmir for the common innocent masses. In fact its spirit survives in the present turmoil and it can just give us killings in place of welfare and development. Maintenance of peace is a Herculean task before the government to achieve. Every family irrespective of residence in any corner of the valley is a victim of the government in general and security forces in particular.
Shabir Ahmad can be reached at sahilshabir@rocketmail.com
