Kya Shaan Hai Is Kamaan Ki

T N Dhar Kundan

Over the last few months, during prime time, Doordarshan has been dishing out a variety of assorted fare highlighting the achievements of Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao during the last five years of his 'charismatic rule. Shamelessly, this "His Master's Voice" has been projecting him as the only saviour of the nation (we are the largest democracy in the world, you know!) who has saved it from going down the precipice. All others in the Government or the ruling party are nowhere in the picture in these media presentations.

"Kya Shaan Hai Is Kamaan Ki'' is the refrain that is being denied into our ears day in and day out. Now we have reports that a massive Rs 250 crore publicity blitzkrieg is in the offing to further boost the PM's image to leave an impression on the minds of the voters. Truly, there is no parallel to this leadership which is characterised by 'achievements' galore: the Bombay blasts of 1993 involving several ruling party politicians sympathetic to Dawood Ibrahim, the infamous St Kitts controversy; the telecom scandal paralysing an entire session of our Parliament, near-paralysis of the limbs of Government resulting in frequent resort to public interest litigation which has led to increased judicial activism, the sensational Purulia arms drop case and the latest recovery of huge cache of arms from a caravan bus in the nation's Capital itself laying bare the chinks in our security set-up; widespread corruption culminating in the Hawala transactions involving not only senior Cabinet Ministers but top politicians of several political parties, and lately, the downward slide of the rupee vis-a-vis the dollar, threatening the entire liberalisation process. These verily are the 'shining symbols' ' of the grandeur of this "Kamaan"!

Let us in this context, ponder for a while over what this "Kamaan" has achieved insofar as our Kashmir is concerned. When we look back at the events that engulfed our State six years ago, we find ourselves stuck up where we were, notwithstanding the palliatives offered by the present "Kamaan" from time to time Militancy continues unabated with sporadic bomb blasts and rocket attacks resulting in more and more Barshalla type massacres; foreign mercenaries are ruling the roost, security forces are under constant strain while fighting the proxy war; numerous innocent lives are lost almost every day, in cross-firing and firing from across the border, women are being kidnapped and raped by terrorists themselves, education has become a casualty and young boys and girls are looking skywards for some ray of hope; sufferings of the masses are mounting with economy in a shambles; and lakhs of migrants continue to bide time under most inhospitable environs outside the Valley, hoping against hope that someday they might be able to return to their abandoned homes. 'Achievements' indeed to boast of 'Kya Shaan Hai Is Kamaan Ki'!

Apart from several abortive bids to hold elections in our State and vague offers like anything 'short of azaadi' with 'sky as the limit', without defining the parameters of such generosity, what has this 'kamaan' done all these five years? They only get excited whenever Benazir or any Pakistani leader makes a hollow offer to hold talks with India or if any visiting Head of State or Government makes a customary observation on our soil that Kashmir issue should be settled bilaterally under the spirit of the Shimla agreement, a pact to which nobody now attaches any significance They also see positive signs if even some second rank militant leaders suddenly come forward with offers for talks without any backing from frontal organisations Isn't it unthinkable for the Government of such a big country to jump at such unsolicited offers?

We wonder if this Government has at all been serious in solving the problem. No "kamaan'' worth its salt would have allowed this policy of drift and appeasement to go on unchecked and let the ship of the State take its own course in the most turbulent waters. What was expected of this "kamaan' was to stamp out militancy and terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir with an iron hand by giving a free hand to our security forces which are known the world over for their valour and patriotism, to decisively deal with the situation. This has not been done obviously because our 'kamaan' lacks the understanding, and the necessary political will and initiative to take such risks for maintaining the territorial integrity of the country lest they annoy their so-called 'vote-bank', which even otherwise would betray them. Merely repeating parrot-like that Kashmir is an inalienable part of India and its accession to India is final and irrevocable, hardly makes any sense.

Whatever assessment the historians may make about the achievements of this "kamaan'', Kashmiris in general and Kashmiri Pandits in particular have seen nothing but the lack of will and direction to act and bring about a discernible change in the prevailing grim scenario in Kashmir. We can only pray and hope that the coming general elections will result in a total transformation of the political complexion of our country throwing up someone at the helm with a better understanding of the situation to hammer out a permanent solution to the satisfaction of all.

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Courtesy: T N Dhar ‘Kundan’ and  March 1996 Koshur Samachar