The state government has fallen behind in almost all developmental works in all regions making the excuse of unrest, for its failure to deliver untenable. Khursheed Wani reports.
In mid-September, the Cabinet Committee on Security in New Delhi put the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government on notice with a governance-deficit remark. The unrest in Kashmir that started in January over the killing of teenagers and reached its crescendo in June after another spree of civilian killings. However the unrest provided an alibi to the government to escape the blame, which propagated it as main roadblock for the functioning of the government.
However, the picture of performance in other parts of the state – Jammu and Ladakh – as also in relatively peaceful areas of the Valley like Karnah and Gurez, is not too rosy. The legislators representing these areas complained during the current assembly session that the developmental works have either not been taken up or carried out on a sluggish pace. “I can say with authority that just five percent of the development works have been carried out in my constituency. There was complete peace and conspiracies to disrupt it were frustrated,” Karnah legislator Kafilur Rahman said in the House.
The BJP leader Prof Chaman Lal Gupta and Panthers’ Party legislator Harshdev Singh also lamented the poor performance of the government at the ground level. The bulk of questions raised during the session, in both Houses of the legislature, were about the dismal performance of the government. Even most of the members complained of dishonouring decisions taken in the District Development Board meetings.
Apart from the question whether the unrest that triggered in the aftermath of the May-end killing of three village boys in a fake encounter in Macchil sector of Kupwara by the Army, affected the governance in the entire state, the government acknowledged that it failed to take corrective measures to stem the turmoil at first place.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that he would repent for his entire life for not taking effective corrective measures to stop the turmoil in the beginning.
But, observers feel that despite its acknowledgement the government is reluctant in taking remedial measures to offer much-needed reprieve to the people.
The issue of infrastructural development took a backseat in Valley following the unrest that claimed 110 civilian lives at the hands of police and paramilitaries. Hundreds of people got wounded in security forces’ action and hundreds others were jailed.
Following the announcement of CCS-approved 8-point politico-economic package to the state, the home department announced to release 50 persons, mostly youngsters alleged to be involved in stone-pelting. The government acknowledged that 336 persons have been jailed during the current turmoil though independent estimates put the number at five times the official one. A legislator Sheikh Abdur Rashid alleged in the assembly that the state police are continuing nocturnal raids to arrest youngsters.
The continued detention of most of separatist leaders may have its impact on the politics of the Valley, but some avoidable detentions have crippled the functioning of vital organs of the government. During the peak of turmoil, police detained Kashmir High Court Bar Association President Mian Abdul Qayoom for his backing to the secessionist ideology. His lieutenant and Bar’s General Secretary Ghulam Nabi Shaheen was arrested soon after when he announced indefinite strike of the lawyers against the “government’s crackdown on Bar”. Ever since the courts, especially the High Court and the busy Lower Court in Srinagar are crippled. Even as the court registry marks admission of cases and the judges report to the court rooms, the functioning of the courts has hit a major road bump. On curfew days, the judges too have not reported to their duties.
A senior lawyer told Kashmir Life that the government has allowed paralysis of the judicial system by continuously detaining Bar Association leaders. “It was in the interest of the public and helpful to the image of the government to release Bar leaders to restore functioning of the courts”, he said. Some lawyers argue that the Bar’s decision to announce indefinite strike was also escapist and taken without application of mind.
“When the Bar is openly favouring separatist campaign, the leaders are bound to be taken to task by the authorities. In such a situation, it was necessary to make stopgap arrangements and help people in the trying times,” another senior lawyer said on condition of anonymity. Interestingly, most of the clients plead their cases sans counsels to get relief in most urgent matters. In a state where, 56681 civil and 2496 criminal cases were pending in High Court besides 66435 civil and 117601 criminal cases in subordinate courts (by March 31, 2010), the state of affairs is not altogether encouraging.
Locals say that the state government has miserably failed to reach out to the hundreds of persons injured during the recent turmoil. In fact, the government sought to offset the gravity of the problem by over-emphasizing injuries to four thousand police and paramilitary personnel due to stone pelting and related incidents.
Though the independent estimates suggest that around 2000 civilians were injured, the state home ministry confirmed in the assembly that 534 civilians have been wounded during “engagement with the deployments on ground”. The government admitted that 29 persons were undergoing treatment in different hospitals of the Valley while 13 persons have either permanently or temporarily been disabled in the police action.
Observers say that revealing statistics on police casualties expresses the callousness of the government. Even as everyone from Chief Minister to each legislator of the ruling party who spoke on the current turmoil in both Houses of the legislature, expressed dismay over the turn of events in Kashmir, no effective measure has been taken to fix responsibility for the 110 killings.
The Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice (retd) Bashiruddin Ahmad has just begin investigation, even as its mandate is to probe initial 17 deaths in June. The scope and jurisdiction of the CoI has not been extended. Worse, the government has admitted that it has filed only 19 FIR’s against police and accepted Magisterial Inquiry into the June 29 killing of three youngsters in Anchidoora pocket of south Kashmir’s Islamabad district. The killings were widely reported as “cold-blooded murders” and the Chief Minister had ensured action against the culprits within 24 hours during his visit to the town, a few days after the incident.
A senior legislator MY Tarigami said that the government is deliberately paying Nelson’s eye to important issues related to the safety of the common people. “It is disturbing that the response to the current crisis in Kashmir is lackadaisical and the government is not keen to put brakes on the violations of the rule of law”, he said.
Tarigami cited the example of his rejection, at the introductory stage, of a Bill aimed to provide punishment for torture inflicted by public servants or any person inflicting torture with the consent or acquiescence of any public servant. Law Minister Ali Muhammad Sagar opposed the Bill citing the reason that the Lok Sabha is in the process of formation of a law to address the torture issue. The insinuation was that the state would copy the law formulated by the Center.
The rejection of the Bill’s introduction indicates that the state government is not keen to address the burning local issues. “There has not been significant let-up in the abuse of legitimate rights of people since 1947 in J&K. As a matter of fact, custodial deaths, extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances have considerably increased during the period of ongoing turmoil”, Tarigami said adding, “Torture has become rampantly institutionalized in the state of Jammu and Kashmir”.
“Police and other security forces catch hold of men with snow white beards, wrinkled visages, rickety bodies on the street and shamelessly brutalize them at bayonet points,” Tarigami rued while introducing the Bill. However, the government chose to ignore his pleas.
