At present state’s, most politicians are all out to bash governor Satay Pal Malik and his way of running the state. Some are annoyed with his continuing as administrator and others the way he governs without any political consideration and concern for the political constituency to promote his political career. During the last several months, no one has raised a finger against the integrity and honesty of the governor but feeling isolated politicians leave no chance to tolerate the governor to have his own time. Some explored the ‘fax’ factor and others his open and honest description of politicians and political parties.
Anyways, politicians may not be comfortable with Mr Malik, but the common people on the street find him and his governance restored than politicos who are so eager to be back to power. If it won’t be impolite to say the present government looks ‘lesser evil’ than the earlier political régimes, but these words of mine in no way should be construed as censure for people’s rule.
I know many people on either side of the political spectrum and many others will get annoyed with my words of slight agreement for the present administrative structure and can even brand me a stooge. But facts are facts and experiences makes you differentiate between intentions and corrupt intentions. However, without bragging much about his intentions and integrity a few days back, Mr Malik openly made a sweeping million dollar statement about work culture in the state. It was interesting but at the same moment very scary to hear about the constitutional head of the state relating his firsthand experience of delay and decay in our governance. In his own words ” I am learning from bureaucracy in Jammu and Kashmir how to take four months to pass a file from one table to the another” (GK 25 January 2019). And frankly speaking, this is not the right rating of our administrative mechanism and character. However, I am sure by bureaucracy the Governor does not mean only the top government officers but middle and lower rung officers and officials as well who are equally important and responsible for running the government. So the governor’s experience of intentional delay in delivery of good governance is not confined to the four walls of civil secretariat but widespread; almost in every aspect of governance.
These delay tactics are encouraged and run by few bureaucrats [government personnel] who either have to hide their inefficiency or explore it as an instrument of corruption and nepotism. Governor sahib may have to share many other interesting practices about Jammu and Kashmir that he did not experience during several decades of his political and administrative experience earlier to his Kashmir sojourn. But sensitiveness of his more administrative agenda than his gubernatorial assignment restrains him from making further revelations at this crucial phase of his public life. As he rightly accepted while saying that after completion of his tenure in the state he will write a book about his experiences in Kashmir[J&K state]. A book! Means Mr Malik has to share a lot. And often the sharing is about stimulating experiences.
Unfortunately, for more than two decades we are stuck in a quagmire of political uncertainty, and our prime concern should have been to come out of it. But some of us have turned shameless providing an easy opportunity to ridicule the whole nation as insensitive, heartless people who could not learn the essence of nationhood after experiencing so much gloom, death and destruction; leave alone the political deception. Governor’s statement about deep-rooted willful inefficiency cannot be brushed aside as a routine statement, but it is a dispassionate observation by a politician with absolute powers to dig deep into our administrative system. His statement sums up a systematic rot in the organisational structure patronised for the last several decades to create a different pattern of political constituency oriented dogmatic politics. Mr Malik at occasions more than a Governor behaves like an innocent politician having no political stakes and conveys what he is not supposed to convey in public.
Brethren time has come we should change our political mindset and weed out the politics and polity of exploitation patronising disgraceful administrative delivery system of delay and decay. Otherwise many more graceful Maliks will come up from plans and will slap on our face with their real observation of rot in our psyche and system. It is better to change our selves than to be ridiculed at every occasion.
maila@fidaiqbal.com