New deal a must for J&K

That is the clear and present danger emanating from the past role of PDP's chief, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, during the 1986 genocide of Kashmiri Hindus in Anantnag which compelled K N Singh, the then general secretary of Congress (I), to openly accuse the then Congressman, Mufti, of fomenting what was a blatantly Islamic jihad. Sonia Gandhi, who proclaims her "secular," anti-communal credentials at every chance in every nook and corner of the country, would do well to read about that gory event at ikashmir.org before she finally decides to join hands with the one whom a Kashmiri Pandit has dubbed as "the butcher of Anantnag."

The PDP believes that J&K is an international dispute, that a dialogue with Pakistan and with terrorists and separatists in the state is necessary, that the Special Operations Group -- the counter-insurgency arm of the state police -- and the Prevention of Terrorism Act have no role to play in the state. Now all this is an igniting ideology, preoccupation with which will distract all attention from what the J&K people need first and foremost: good governance, a burial of widespread corruption and nepotism, and unprecedented surge of socio-economic development, along with dedicated efforts to honourably resettle the thousands upon thousands of Kashmiri Pandits who, for a decade and more, have become refugees in their homeland, deprived of their belongings as well as their soul. Such a new deal alone can remove the state's all pervading discontent and gloom of the previous decade, create new aspirations and generally convince the people there that they are a part and parcel of the freedom-loving, friendly and forward-looking nation called India.

As it is, there's the Vajpayee government's recently announced package of 60 billion rupees that's just awaiting the state government's active involvement so as to enable its transformation into reality. The major components of this package which, unfortunately, has not received the publicity it deserves, are as under:

• The 287-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramullah rail line is planned to be completed in five years so that the first train will roll into the Kashmir valley on August 15, 2007. Estimated to cost Rs 36 billion, the project will boost socio-economic development, give immediate employment to hundreds of local people and strengthen the country's security infrastructure.
• Doubling of the Jammu Tawi-Jullunder railway line in the next five years at an estimated cost of nearly four billion rupees.
• Completion of Nimu-Zangal-Padam-Darcha Road in the next four years at an estimated cost of nearly two billion rupees.
• The all-weather 474-km road to Leh via Manali to be completed by 2010 at an estimated cost of over Rs 13 billion.
• Completion of the road from Batote to Kistawar-Sinthan Pass-Khanabal by 2007 as against the earlier deadline of 2013
• Development assistance of Rs 700 million rupees over five years to J&K's traditional cottage industries of wool, pashmina, sericulture, handicrafts and carpet weaving --- all providing employment to a large number of artisans and craftsmen.
• Assistance of one billion rupees over five years to agri-export zones for apples and walnuts
• Eco-restoration of degraded catchments of Chenab, Jhelum and Shivatiks at an estimated cost of one billion rupees over five years.
• Increase of five billion rupees in the State's Border Area Development Programme over the next five years, with half the amount being made directly available to district rural development agencies.
• 80 million rupees this year for Police Welfare Fund for use in upgrading hospital facilities, establishment of a rehabilitation centre for widows and of schools for orphans.
• Increase in ceiling of financial assistance to Kashmiri migrants from Rs 2,400 a month to Rs 3,000 per family.

  To ensure that each of the above promises of the government of India gets translated on ground, the new coalition in J&K will clearly have to interact very closely with the bureaucracy in New Delhi. And it would be an excellent example of people's participation if task force groups of the 87-member state assembly were entrusted with this task instead of leaving the job merely to the minister or ministers concerned.

  To put Delhi's considerable financial assistance to optimum use, the new government in Srinagar will have to spring clean and shake up its own bureaucracy as well as pump a lot of haemoglobin into it.

  There is, for instance, this columnist's letter to the state's chief secretary asking whether, as reported in a book of the fifties, the state government had passed legislation permitting, as an exception, people from outside the state to acquire immovable property in J&K for industrial purposes. That letter was sent from Mumbai on April 9, 2001. The chief secretary's reply to it is dated August 31, 2002 --- nearly 17 months later. It is, of course, very apologetic about the delay, and says the answer to the query that had got misplaced was now being enclosed. But it wasn't! Yes, yes, the reply meant to be enclosed was not enclosed. This lapse was communicated to the chief secretary through a registered letter sent out in the first week of September; there is no reply from Srinagar till this is being written.

  Such bureaucratic lethargy will simply have to be history in the new deal which the oncoming coalition government must give to the people of J&K. These people have braved bullets and grenades to vote out the National Conference and they now have the moral right to get their day-today problems responded sincerely and quickly.

  It is the top bureaucracy, such as the chief secretary, and the ministers who will have to work together in a way that gives top priority to the belief that the future of the state's big army of unemployed, direction-less and frustrated youth lies in constant and close interaction with the rest of India in the spheres of information technology, education and business/industrial opportunities. And the lower cadres of babus in government offices will have to be persuaded to earn their salaries or else.

  Apart from the big economic front, there is the massive corruption to be tackled, the alleged illegal detention of citizens, the alleged custodial killings and the inordinate delay in trial of those put in jails. These are challenging tasks with which dialogues with militants, separatists and Pakistan have absolutely nothing to do. Nor will it do, as the PDP intends, to dissipate energy and valuable time with a commission set up to expose the corrupt deeds of the previous National Conference governments. There is really no time for vindictive acts. Indeed, time and energy are of the essence in the new deal for J&K; as the words of 'Alice in Wonderland' tell us, 'It takes all the running you can do to stay in the same place; to move ahead you must run twice as fast.'

  All that is required in tackling the various tasks on hand is a no-nonsense but committed council of ministers that does not stand on prestige in seeking help of the central government.

  Corruption, for instance, can be reduced by making the Parliament's Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, immediately applicable to J&K and implementing it vigorously. Corruption cases should be quickly tried by setting up special courts for the purpose in each district of the state with the help of Delhi's law ministry. That ministry can help the J&K high court to set up similar special courts for quick trials of arrested persons. Custodial killings can be curbed, even eliminated, by establishing full-time human rights cells in major districts with the help of NGOs from outside the state.

  So on and so forth is the new deal which the Congress and the PDP /owe to the people of J&K. If they deliver that deal, Pakistan's terrorism in the state will drastically reduce over time, almost magically, because it will lack local support.

  Sadly, the early indications are that the PDP is determined to pursue its own agenda which the Congress, with all its faults, will find difficult to accept without sacrificing its nationalistic principles. The coalition of the two seems headed for the impossible mix of oil and water. Unless pragmatism prevails, J&K could be moving to disaster worse than what the Abdullahs have wrought.

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