Recently the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and the president of the Peoples Democratic Party Mehbooba Mufti claimed that her party entering into an alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party was a mistake.
Her party shared the power with BJP for more than three years and when she was in power she endorsed the policies of the BJP. When PDP joined hands with the BJP in 2015 both the parties decided that they would carry forward the agenda of development and would strive to improve the living standards of the people.
Soon after the PDP came into power it forgot its agenda of bijli, sadak and pani for which it had sought the votes from the people. The party started talking about big issues like resumption of talks between India and Pakistan and the resolution of Kashmir issue. The PDP leaders forgot that these issues don’t fall in their domain and they have no mandate to interfere in these issues.
Elections in every part of the world are fought to empower the people and the elected representatives become the bridge between the government and the people. But in this part of the world elections are fought to reap the fruits of power and to keep the conflict alive.
It’s high time for Kashmiri politicians to realize that the times have changed and people are not interested in rhetoric which they have been selling for the past so many years.
Kashmir problem has been lingering for the past seven decades and none of the Valley based mainstream politician has been able to play a role to bring India and Pakistan on the table. Whenever India and Pakistan have held talks the decision about it has been taken by New Delhi and Islamabad. Kashmiri leaders never had a say. During all these years they have just pretended to act like a bridge between India and Pakistan but the fact is that they have had a no role.
Today Kashmir is in a mess. People have lost faith over the election process as the mainstream politicians have failed to deliver. It’s unfortunate that they have kept people busy in such things which they cannot do anything about. To an extent the Kashmir based parties are responsible for people losing faith over democracy and the democratic process. These politicians have pushed mainstream leaders to the edge and they are at the verge of becoming irrelevant.
National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party have decided to boycott the forthcoming municipal and panchayat polls due to many reasons and one of the reasons could be that they fear that they have lost the ground in the Valley. To avoid embarrassment they have said no to the forthcoming polls.
The political parties which are blaming New Delhi for Kashmir being in mess seem to have forgotten that they too are equally responsible for Kashmir being at precipice. Leaders of the mainstream parties have failed to live upto the expectations of the people. It has been observed soon after candidates win elections they first shift their bases from native places to posh Gupkar area in Srinagar city. They spend summer in Srinagar and winter in Jammu. It’s unfortunate that after coming into power the politicians forget the people who vote for them as the first thing they do is deserting them and move to greener pastures.
Today these politicians are feeling the heat as they have no guts to reach out to the people and tell them to vote for them. They know that people won’t accept them. They are citing all reasons to stay away from democratic process except their failures and shortcomings.
The tactics being followed by the mainstream politicians in Kashmir should also serve as an eye opener for the people sitting in New Delhi. It’s high time for them to realize that they cannot depend upon a group of a few selected people, who have been ruling Jammu and Kashmir during all these years. Others who believe in democracy and need to give a peace chance should be encouraged so that they challenge the hegemony of the leaders who treat Kashmir as their fiefdom and project themselves as the only ones who can rule Kashmir.
Politicians, who are blaming, New Delhi for all the ills need to sit back and introspect. Their sermons have no takers.
(The writer is member of JK Youth Alliance)
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