From past some years the talk over the exploitation of resources in the state of J&K has consistently occupied a space in the public domain. Political parties, on both sides of the divide - a divide that is very established in this state - have been making public statements over the issue of resources of the state being exploited. One group of political parties raises this issue to prove that the mainstream politics per se has been responsible for this loot of resources. This, they link with the political uncertainty that prevails here as the Kashmir problem has been allowed to fester. So for them, the solution to the question of exploitation is inalienably attached to the overall question of Kashmir; unless this issue is resolved no stop can be put to the dastardly trend of the exploitation of our resources. Seldom have we seen the separatist camp go beyond this. It means that beyond giving a general impression that the exploitation of resources is an issue of vital importance to them there is no follow up in this camp. Otherwise also we have seen this camp tangentially pass through the issues somehow connecting it to the larger problem of an unresolved dispute. This kind of a mindset has given birth to the politics of ease. You can blame the other quite easily and yourself sit on the fence. You are in no willing to get down to the details and fight the battle the way it ought to be. Since they presume that the lager issue is a capping on all the issues, following the smaller ones is a distraction of sorts. This has been an easy escape route for the separatist politics. Why there is no engagement with the issues that are of huge significance to all the people in J&K consistently and in a very methodical way is explained by this mindset of the separatist politics. That is how the talk of resource exploitation in the separatist camp is a proxy way of doing there usual politics. This contributes to the lack of any coherent stand being taken at public level by all the political parties.
Another kind of politics in Kashmir is known by the tag of Mainstream. Now without getting into the discussion that who actually deserves to be called as the mainstream in Kashmir, this stream comprises the political parties who take part in the electoral process and on whose shoulders falls the responsibility of managing the affairs of this state. The talk of resource exploitation, particularly water resources, has been a consistent cry in this camp also. The latest is now the revelation made by a minister about a Cabinet document pertaining to the sharing of benefits accrued on the power projects and the ownership of these mega projects. This has again given birth to a shrill blame game in which each party blames the other.
The usual way of doing politics aside, this is a huge task in front of the mainstream parties to put a stop over the exploitation of water resources. The incoherent and inconsistent approach of these parties has resulted in the loss of thousands of crores to this state, and the loss continues to happen. Rather than blaming the opponent it is important to urge on all to formulate a joint response so that a better deal is clinched. This also must be realized that a bad bargain can not be undone over noight. It needs lots of disciplined and honest work. The political parties in this state can do better by looking into the details of the loss with a positive mind to stop the further loss. Of course the culpability needs to be fixed for any wrong, but that should not come in the way of dealing with the future. 

Lastupdate on : Mon, 23 May 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 23 May 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 24 May 2011 00:00:00 IST