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oes the UPA government in Delhi need to be reminded that India has adopted the parliamentary form of democracy in which we are ruled by the cabinet system of governance, which works and acts based on joint cabinet responsibility? Cabinet system of governance implies that all decisions and actions of the government are taken by the cabinet jointly. The Cabinet is responsible for its deeds and misdeeds to the legislature and the people through the Prime Minister. There is therefore no scope for disagreement and dissent in the government’s words as these words form the basis for action or deeds. Any such manifestation is therefore deemed to be the failure of the Government in its basic duty to rule by majority vote if not by consensus. Some days back the Home Secretary of India revealed in a talk with a news channel that 25% reduction will be made in the deployment of security forces from such areas of J&K State where terrorist activities have been contained and arrested by anti-terrorist measures adopted by the security forces. He stated that the troops will be reduced gradually as the situation improves. He explained that thinning of security forces from such areas is designed to remove the causes of suffocation and irritation of the people of Kashmir, which otherwise their presence generates. The State Government is also reported to be thinking of reviewing the areas it has placed under Disturbed Area Activities Act so that such of the areas of the State are de -notified from the gambit of the Act. This Act arms security forces with powers to search and arrest suspicious and dubious elements with a view to ensure peace and calm for the people in the area. The Indian Army which is considered to be one of the best disciplined and apolitical armies in the world has all along performed a complementary role to other organs of state, both in periods of crisis and peace. It has maintained a fine balance with civil administration and helped it often in maintenance of law and order duties at times of national and/or natural crisis. It has remained non-invasive except when requisitioned for civil duties, where also it has maintained a low profile. There have been very few abrasions and this fact has made all Indians proud of its grand and marvelous Army. It is therefore the duty of all well wishing citizens of India to trust and honor it for its inherent worth and contribution in building and fighting for the security of this great nation. While reacting to the statement of the Home secretary, the Chief of Army Staff of India revealed that he was not aware of any such moves of troop reduction from the militancy infested State proposed by the government, even though he is one of the main actors in terrorist control and containment measures employed in the state under a Unified Command. He also stated that Army does not feel that the situation has yet improved to such an extent, which can justify troop reduction or thinning in the Valley without inviting more risks and subsequent relapse to the terrorist chaos of the nineties. He further opined that government, if it so wanted could reduce the Para-military forces but Army should maintain forces at present levels at the borders to seal infiltration routes and maintain vigil on ingress of armed terrorists and arms from POK and Pakistan. He stated that the tremendous sacrifices made by the Army in men and material during the last two decades for restoring control of the Valley, which had otherwise sunk into terrorist anarchy cannot be allowed to be wasted. He further advised that such areas which have been cleared of terrorists by the valiant efforts and supreme sacrifices of the security forces over more than two decades should not be risked away in a dreamy gesture called “confidence building measures” to placate vested interests, because conditions are not that conducive yet in the State. These differences and clash of views and approach of two main ministries involved in terrorist containment and control measures in the State are nothing short of unfortunate. It belies the systemic failure of collective and joint government functioning in he J&K state. One feels that there is no cabinet coordination even on such crucial issues which relate to our national integrity, security and solidarity. It is therefore high time for North and South Blocks in New Delhi to calibrate their moves with proper administrative alacrity and diplomatic veneer to present a united approach to such problems which are of vital interest to our survival as a nation. They need to think and act collectively and present a joint approach to such problems so that people and enemies of the country do not see cracks in government policies. The Home Ministry had therefore no business to declare an intended policy of the Government in troubled Kashmir without taking the Ministry of Defense into confidence. The least one could expect from the government was that the Army is not pushed to the wall by ignoring its advice from such crucial decisions, which may force it to grudge and rebound. GOVERNMENT OF INDIA has detailed a group of Interlocutors headed by Dileep Padgoankar to interact with different segments of people and opinion in the State in order to resolve the crisis that gripped and plagued the Valley during six months of 2010. Without commenting on the professional competence of the Group members, it has to be stated that it was expected that the Group will perform a positive and viable job by interfacing with various stake holders in the State. This group has already made several trips to the Valley and the other two divisions of the State during the last three months in order to assess and assuage pain and sorrow of the people of the Valley. The Group members have met a cross section of people of different views to assess their feel on the current situation in the Valley and report it to the Central Government for corrective measures and policy reforms. What have been the details of their discussions have not been made public, as was expected under the terms of reference allotted to the Group. Instead of acting properly within its role, the group has gone overboard in areas that were not to be in its prerogative. The head of the Group has been over zealous to interact more with the media than with the suffering and affected people of the State. He has been making frequent remarks regarding his working in the State and the impediments that his Group is facing. As a senior journalist it was expected of him to exercise due reticence rather than opening up with the media on one and all occasions for no reasons. This flamboyancy has exposed his intent and strategy to the people of the State as a mediocre arrangement made by the Government of India to buy time. So people of the State have already started to behave skeptically and not to take the Group seriously. The separatist groups of the Valley had already indicated their abstinence from communication with the Group, even as it was announced. So it was rationally expected of the Group to make several attempts to reach out to these separatist groups as it did. But it was not the prerogative of the Group to meet the media as many times and confess that the separatists persist to abstain to talk with the Group as is their time tested strategy for any effort at full discussion with the Government of India. The Group equally had no brief to claim that no solution to Kashmir problem could be reached without the participation of separatists and make it public through the media. The Group needs to know that the separatists are a tiny group of disgruntled and frustrated politicians of select two localities of two towns of Kashmir who think and work under the dictates of their masters from across the border. Such groups hobnob and connive with the terrorists, who continue to hijack civil society of the Valley on drummed up emotive causes and non-issues. Excluding the minuscule separatists there is a wide and vast bulk of civil society which has national, secular and democratic credentials and which is eager to participate in the mainstream democratic process of governance enshrined in the constitution of the State and the Union. These people live in all three divisions of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and form the vast majority. They have already voted a democratic Government to power by adult franchize. They are the majority voice of the State which can decide on all issues including the present one. It is their voice and views that count and matter in a democracy which works by majority vote in a civilized manner. Their agenda of development and peace can not be put to ransom by a handful of fanatical bigots and rabid fundamentalists who suffer from hallucinations and myopia of Azadi. One only wonders if Padgoankar and his Group are really authorized to add to the negative publicity of the separatists by focusing on them with undue emphasis. The Group would be well advised to focus on the job it has been assigned by the Government without making any fuss about it with its loose talk for cheap publicity. Issuing of statements and views on the job they are doing or not doing should be left to the Government. In one of his interactions with the media, Padgoankar said that there is a Pakistani dimension to the Kashmir dispute since 1947, when the issue of Kashmir cropped up. He also stated that any attempt to find a solution to Kashmir tangle is not possible without Pakistan. Did the Government of India need an interlocutor to actually state what it has avoided to do directly during the last six decades? Or was the interlocutor appointed by the Government of Indian going far beyond his brief? All these lapses and spats expose the confusion that is prevailing in the North Block and spilling to the persons who interact with it. The interlocutors would be well advised to restrict and restrain themselves strictly to the role that has been assigned to them by the Government. They need also to be reminded that their views have neither legislative nor executive sanction to speak the way that they have been doing. We have already messed up our Kashmir policy too much by our ad-hoc and confused handling. We need not to complicate the issue further by our immature and irresponsible attitude. There can be no divergence on the vital issues like Kashmir. Padgoankar further informed that the Group is working on two tracks for the resolution of Kashmir dispute. The first track is to address immediate concerns and problems like intrusive presence of security forces in civilian areas and the menace of frisking and crackdowns. He advises that people need to be given due respect by the security forces. The Group has submitted the interim report to the Home Ministry in which a basic framework has been suggested under which peace can be restored and stabilized. It suggests troop reduction and recognition of people’s right to protest. The Group feels that these moves will build confidence in the people. All these suggestions are welcome and deserve to be considered on their merit. But is it necessary to make them public by the interlocutors before they are considered and acted upon by the Government? Can interlocutors avoid such unfortunate spats? Can they exercise due reticence in this respect, which is the essence of successful diplomacy? |
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*P.N.Ganjoo was born in a modest Kashmiri family about 7 decades ago, lost his father early and was raised by his honest, hardworking mother. With her efforts he received his education in Srinagar and went on to serve in various Government Departments before retiring as a senior grade KAS officer. Presently he is working on his varied interests besides being a consulting Director of a software services company. |
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