Ghulam Nabi Khayal
It is high time that Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed now save his bruised skin from more bites being inflicted upon him by snakes he has been feeding with sweet milk for about a year now. His hugging the communal political organisation, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a born enemy of Kashmiri Muslims and patron and mentor of Kashmiri Hindus, has given this veteran Kashmir politician nothing except unrest and mental disturbance out of this dangerous accord between a liberal regional organization and a pack of unbridled deadly wolves out to tear to pieces the ethos of a most secular Kashmir.One is at loss to understand as to what great strides Mufti sahib is thinking of making for an overall economic development and political stability for the people of Kashmir, who have been suffering miserably at the hands of their suppressors and exploiters within and without for about seven decades now.
As the situation is prevalent in the state, he may not achieve this goal due to the fact that his coalition enemy shall in no case allow him to have his own way particularly with regard to a comprehensive progress of Kashmir and its majority Muslim population.
BJP has its own nefarious agenda to change the demographic character of a Muslim Kashmir, strengthen its roots over here to complete its design of saffronisation and installing a Jammu Hindu as the State chief minister paving way for continuing with anti-Kashmir policies and draconian laws including scrapping of Article 370, making Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) a permanent feature, doing away with State’s Constitution, flag and legislature besides many acts based on BJP’s RSS guided diktats. This way Mufti rule shall again end up in his honest exercise in futility.
Contemporary political history of Kashmir is a witness as to how all successive Central governments have all along treated Kashmir as their colony. State regimes headed by Sheikh Abdullah (1953), Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammad, Shamsuddin, Syed Mir Qasim, Abdullah (1977), Farooq Abdullah and G M Shah have been unscrupulously dislodged without any constitutional obligation or legal authority.
The Sheikh family however proved quite brazen faced in clinging to seat of power by hook or crook for half a century. Keeping in view the present disturbing scenario, shall Mufti Sayeed also be included in the list of power hungry politicians essentially for not delivering goods as a weak and compromising chief minister?
• Of late and expectedly, Mufti has been pushed against the wall. He has been left with no option to express sympathy with those innocent civilians killed by the Indian forces, peaceful demonstrators thrashed violently by police, even female protestors are cruelly beaten and thrashed on roads by the forces.
• His entire attention is now directed towards fast development of a Hindu Jammu at he cost of totally ignored Kashmiris who have been forced to spend their days and nights in darkness immediately after an outdated Durbar Move.
• It may also be his political compulsions that Mufti no more speaks of his strategy of self-rule as a viable resolution of Kashmir problem. When Farooq Abdullah was in power; he once advocated that India should bomb Pakistan-administered Kashmir like Israel has been doing against Palestine. Out of power, as chameleon changes colour he now shouts repeatedly that it is a part of Pakistan. Similarly, Mufti seems to have changed the gear box of self-rule with the result that the gear is stuck and the vehicle has come to a standstill.
• There are hundreds of Kashmiri students studying across India in various educational institutions. They are continuously harassed and brow beaten by Sangh Parivar’s goons. No voice is raised to guarantee their security and safety and promising Kashmiri youth is left at the mercy of killers and anti-Muslim hooligans.
• Being a staunch Muslim, and that too a Mufti, the chief minister should have demanded severe punishment to Kamlesh Tiwari of Vishwa Hindu Parishad for his blasphemy. His nonsensical utterances against Holiest of the Holy, the Great Prophet (S.A.W) demand death penalty for Tiwari. Mufti has chosen to keep mum even on this sensitive matter.
• There are scores of detained Kashmiri youths languishing in jails for years now, even on unproved charges. They are neither tried properly in a court of law nor are set free. What has been done to do justice with these detained people by the present state government?
Unfortunately, Mufti didn’t have in his store worthy candidates for his party for 2014 elections. With the result that most of his incompetent cabinet colleagues are quite particular about their publicity in print and electronic media and laying of foundation stones before clicking cameras. None of them, except Altaf Bukhari, has accomplished any praiseworthy and pro-people task. They also feel shy speaking in their mother tongue, Kashmiri, before media and turn to speaking in incorrect Urdu and occasionally English languages.
No doubt, the predator offered shelter to a prey. How long? The combine shall collapse one day or the other like a pack of cards. The sooner the better.
Time is still left for Mufti sahib to spit at his half-broken chair of power. All is not lost. He can regain his fast declining popularity he is losing presently among the people. He better withdraw from a dangerous ally, call for fresh elections, join hands with the Congress, not with National Conference, and re-emerge as the leader regaining his lost glory.
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