A victory and then a downer-Jammu tales continued

First of all, those expecting an installment of Galle tales in this post are sure to meet with disappointment. There have been some fresh developments which I could not resist from sharing with all of you. So here we go.

I was feeling ecstatic yesterday, when the three individuals who claim to "represent the sentiments and aspirations of Jammu and Kashmir", were denied entry into a central-governement sponsored meeting meant to broker peace with the SASS (the group that is spearheading the campaign in Jammu), even though they were representing the team from central government. These three will definitely top of the list of those completely responsible for the current situation (in addition to Mufti,Omar,Hurriyat Conference and the Congress leadership-both central and state), and hence their presence on a group meant to find a solution to the problem did not make sense at all! In fact I believed we had achieved the first victory in for our self-respect and that too a big one at that! At least from August 9 onwards, these three will not be able to say that they represent the STATE of Jammu and Kashmir. The people of Jammu gave them the taste of their own medicine by refusing to talk to them.

But my happiness was short-lived, not that I expected anything better from the government. But it is really shocking that even though the central team was supposedly formed to defuse tensions in Jammu, it has ended up appeasing the anti-national sentiments. Today the government announced that traders in Kashmir who have had to suffer losses because of the so-called "economic blockade" from Jammu region, will be suitably compensated-all this at their threat of sending goods to Muzaffarabad (for the uninitiated, a city in PoK which was a couple of years ago connected to Srinagar via a road)!!

So, again a blackmail from a section of people and the government's relucatance to take them head-on has again landed the government into a questionable spot. This also goes on to show that while the Indian government considers the concerns of people who raise Pakistani flags, burn Indian flags and raise anti-India slogans as legitimate, those protesting for self-respect in their own country, are not at all important! Where else in the past in India have people been compensated because of losses due to protests? West Bengal is closed for 200+ days of the year due to strikes. Did the governement ever compensate the traders there? Why is the government so much concerned about the well-being of the people who in the first place do not even believe India is their own country? What is the kind of message we are trying to send across? That this country values only those who raise anti-national slogans, else you are a part of a billion-strong crowd that does not matter!!

While the government has already done suicidal mistakes by spitting and then licking back on the Amarnath land transfer issue, it is further complicating the situation and is getting itself deeper into the pit. The government still believes that like always, the people in Jammu will finally shut their mouths while the sentiments of Kashmir need to be kept in check. But this time, they are grossly mistaken and even after 45 days of unrest, it seems the government has still not realized it. This reaction of the government to the ongoing tussle will have far-reaching repurcussions. Public opiniong all over India is strongly building up in favor of the protests in Jammu and against what has been happening in Kashmir, it's high time the government realized this.

The media finally seems to have woken up to the fact that the anguish of people of Jammu is indeed genuine, and that the protests are not communal or driven by political parties. The past couple of days have seen much more news-space being granted to print and digital media, but the stand they have taken is still variable. I am particularly disappointed with the timesgroup who have given limited coverage to the events in Jammu. While Yasin Malik's illness makes first-page headlines both in print and the internet, they didn't even bother to mention the martyrdom of people from Jammu in the protests.

While media has finally stepped in, I expect different messages and perspectives to come out. For all the readers of this blog, I am repeating the following points just to make sure those not completely aware with the situation in Jammu are not left confused:

1. This is not a Hindu vs Muslim fight. People from all communities in Jammu are supporting the building up of shelters for pilgrims at Amarnath and for the larger issue of continuous discrimination that Jammu has faced over the past 60 years
2. People are protesting against the appeasement policies of the government. Every time an anti-India slogan is raised in Kashmir, every time an Indian flag is burnt there, the government starts offering them goodies instead of taking them head-on
3.People in Jammu too have sentiments, they can't be played around with; especially when each inhabitant of Jammu feels for the country, people from all communities included

Thank you for reading through this. As before, please do not fail to post your comments.