The Union cabinet has recommended extension of President’srule in Jammu and Kashmir for the next six months. This was inevitable in thesituation that the state is undergoing at the moment, where there are manyreasons for and against the continuation of the Central rule – third six montheach spell in a row, that began with the imposition of the Governor’s rule onJune 20 last year that triggered a lot of name calling between the erstwhilecoalition partners BJP and PDP after the collapse of the government and thereasons cited thereof by the saffron party that had pulled the plug from the government. President’s rule wasimposed on December 19, but it was endorsed by the Parliament on January 3rd,so the next spell of six months would come into effect from July 3rd.
This extension should help people in other parts of thecountry to know that Jammu and Kashmir has a separate constitution, where theCentral rule starts with Governor’s rule for the first six months, when thehead of the state has both executive and legislative powers. The mention of theJ&K constitution is a necessity because it underscores the reasons that whythe state is having special place in the union of India and what rules governit, while being part of the Indian state. This is a historical fact with a lot of weight of historical eventsbehind it.
At this point of time, a quick recall is necessary to knowhow the state reached this point and what are the big takeaways from the pastone year. It is a truism of sorts that the two ideologically different partieswith different political orientations should not enter into a coalition in adiverse state like Jammu and Kashmir. There was a big overstatement about theregional conciliation, necessitated by the volume of the mandate that came forPDP, a Kashmiri-Muslim centric that believed in soft separatism, and the BJPthat had noting in common with the party with a green flag and the electionsymbol that was borrowed from the erstwhile Muslim United Front that hadcontested election on the symbol of pen and inkpot. It was the genius of themen who drafted an Agenda of Alliance to bring the two parties together. Butthe reality is that the two parties worked out the game of the arithmetic thatthey thought suited them best, before realizing it was worst experiment. It istruism of the politics of the state between March 2015 and June 2018.
Secondly, whenever the Centre thinks of imposing its rule inthis state, it should have a clear cut roadmap with the clear milestones inmind. Governor’s rule, and the subsequent President’s rule, in J&K have adifferent connotation for the people of this state that is religiously,ethnically, linguistically more diverse than any other state in the country.There are different political aspirations and those have become more pronouncedwith the conflict of the past 30 years, and it is continuing.
Now when the extension of the President’s rule beyond July3rd is a reality, Centre’s share of responsibility has increased manifold. Itis directly responsible for whatever happens in the state. It is a fact thatmany a dissenting voices have chosen silence over the aggressive statementsafter the re-election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recognizing a bigreality that the country has given him a vast mandate and that is going to stayat least for the next five years. Modi 2.0 is a reality. No one can shut eyes fromthis stark reality. Modi’s continuation means that he has a lot to deliver onhis promise of addressing the problems in Kashmir, ranging from the high rateof unemployment in the economically stressed and investment deprived state, tothe encounters resulting in casualties of militants, and the attacks that killsoldiers. It is now Delhi and Delhi alone that has to address all theseproblems directly or through its men in the state.
The past one week was rich with positives with GovernorSatya Pal Malik hinting at new opportunities for the youth who have picked uparms. He has a task at hand to translate these words into action, and for thathe needs cooperation of all the peace loving forces. That cooperation alone canmake it possible that the Centre acts in the manner the people want it –deliverance of governance at their doorstep. Politically, it would be worthwatching that how the political scene unfolds that could lead to the holding ofAssembly elections. That all depends how the things shape in next few weeks.This is a process, where real-time intelligence works and not the mouse clicksthat changes things on computer screen instantly.