Omar Abdullah , at least, has the courage to manifest the sentiments of his people, unlike a cornered and virtually invisible 'Imphal-monarch" Ibobi Okram, allow me arrange his name in order. If it had not been dared by his predecessors, it would be right to conclude that neither they had the courage ,nor the sense to understand the sentiments of their own people.
Unfortunately, the discussions are deliberately veered towards what the top generals feel , and a large degree of distortion was displayed by one well-known TV channel; before the discussion started it ran a long report on which Kashmiri militant was behind the Delhi High Court blast. Why not the killings and rapes committed by Indian army? In the discussion that followed a random Kashmiri was thrown in among a pack of top generals; it was certain that he wouldn't be that articulate as those generals, and thus a defeated and distorted argument was fed into the mind of the people that AFSPA is indeed needed in the region, and those opposing are against the Indian nation.
Such is the one-sided and narrow interpretation of a people's sentiments which they have never experienced and a sad reflection that the J&K and the North-Eastern region are rather colonies of the country. They want those people to accept whatever they do and be happy with it, just like important event like parliamentary session; begin with irrelevant national anthem, debated in Hindi, as though everyone speaks Hindi in this country and we all should learn it and accept it as our first language.
If different leaders were expressing different opinions it would have been understandable, and one would advise them to do so after having assessed the ground reality and spoken to the people out there, but not after a brief chit-chat with few bureaucrats and generals.
To witness the voices of generals prevailing over that of the politicians and the people ,in particular, is a shame for Indian Democracy. If the country is democratic enough then why not conduct a poll to see whether the expressed opinions from J&K and the North-East and the decision like that of Omar are the true manifestation of people's sentiments. I bet the army or the union government wouldn't dare.
There is a strong need for decision makers to comprehend the fact that the need to abandon conventional perspective of India, Hindi-speaking people in sari and Kurta who grew up on roti, is important. Only an understanding that the people of this country are as diverse as its geography would enhance the idea of one country; feeling that one still can be Indian without having to lose his/her ethnicity and rights being not compromised.
If deployment of strong army empowered with AFSPA and clandestine politics were meant to win peace in these regions, they would have achieved decades ago. What we have been noticing is just the contrary of what we would like to achieve. Shouldn't diplomacy be the right way to deal with those " anti-India" elements so that we can achieve a bloodless and rather dignified solution? You could kill hundreds of thousands, imprison millions in the name of maintaining orders, but never forget the fact that those few will always come out with unforgettable resentment to seek vengeance.
To witness the voices of generals prevailing over that of the politicians and the people ,in particular, is a shame for Indian Democracy. If the country is democratic enough then why not conduct a poll to see whether the expressed opinions from J&K and the North-East and the decision like that of Omar are the true manifestation of people's sentiments. I bet the army or the union government wouldn't dare.
There is a strong need for decision makers to comprehend the fact that the need to abandon conventional perspective of India, Hindi-speaking people in sari and Kurta who grew up on roti, is important. Only an understanding that the people of this country are as diverse as its geography would enhance the idea of one country; feeling that one still can be Indian without having to lose his/her ethnicity and rights being not compromised.
If deployment of strong army empowered with AFSPA and clandestine politics were meant to win peace in these regions, they would have achieved decades ago. What we have been noticing is just the contrary of what we would like to achieve. Shouldn't diplomacy be the right way to deal with those " anti-India" elements so that we can achieve a bloodless and rather dignified solution? You could kill hundreds of thousands, imprison millions in the name of maintaining orders, but never forget the fact that those few will always come out with unforgettable resentment to seek vengeance.
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