There are certainly no such templates that would convince an ordinary Kashmiri into taking the claims of the government seriously.
It has become fashionable for the government to publicize its day-to-day “duties and responsibilities” for which its functionaries are paid fat paychecks every month; besides, of course, the other privileges and perks. And, it goes without saying, the need for publicizing the “duties and responsibilities” is taken more seriously than the need of the execution itself. Speaking of which, it has been seen that the “persuasive” announcements (in the form of press releases) of the proposed development activities – made by the Department of Information and Public Relations, Govt of Jammu & Kashmir (DIPR-JK) – fails to keep pace with the actual execution process. As a result, it is the “bureaucratic rhetoric” only that takes shape, whereas the policies and their implementation are put on the back burner. The inability of the government to demonstrate progress in developmental works gives rise to a feeling of discontent and disengagement among people.
Case in point
Recently, people of Jammu and Kashmir were informed – by non-local media-persons who were brought to the UT and acquainted with the past one year’s “progress and development”– that the government plans to construct a 600-km-long road connecting various border areas from Gulmarg to Drass (now in Ladakh UT) via Kupwara.
If the project really moves beyond the official rhetoric and takes shape on the ground, within the stipulated time period, I would be happy to see my own analysis being rendered irrelevant. But there is little hope of such a thing happening anytime soon. In parenthesis, there are certainly no such templates that would convince an ordinary Kashmiri into taking the claims of the government seriously. For a long time now, people here have seen promises of development falling flat on their faces before being forgotten altogether. They have also seen some notable and noticeable of the projects dragging on endlessly without reaching anywhere – and finally, authorities taking pride in presenting these delayed projects to the public in ‘as is how is’ state, and then also demanding their gratitude and appreciation for it!
While the officials were making boastful claims about the construction of this proposed border road which they say would open some of the breathtakingly beautiful places for the tourists, nobody would bother to ask, nor would the bureaucracy inform anyone as to why the development discourse in capital Srinagar city has not moved beyond lanes and drains?
The so-called up-gradation of roads and streets in the city has been confined to the annual rudimentary ugly patchwork – resembling the worn-out and badly torn but overly patched cloak of some fakir or a beggar in an Arabian Nights tale. And, now the people here are asked to start dreaming about something called a “ring road” around the Srinagar City and a similar road connecting the frontiers.
Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh Flyover project is a good case in point. The flyover, after missing a number of deadlines over the years, was finally thrown open for the public in a great hurry even when it was nowhere near completion. And, since its opening, the remaining work of the project is going on at a snail’s pace.
This is what the development in Kashmir is all about – ‘big boasts and small roasts!’ People are promised the moon and stars, but when it comes to delivering on the ground, even the earthen lamps seem unavailable!
The same is the case with other sectors of human activity. The official neglect together with lack of initiative and imagination on part of the successive governments has turned Kashmir into a cesspool of popular frustration wherein ordinary have-nots remain at the bottomless pit of underdevelopment, not really knowing how to rise above the ordinary status of life. Indeed, one of the major reasons why this place has not been able to break free of the conflict trap, it has been caught up in for over three decades now, is because those at the helm are not ready to move beyond their rhetorical statements in order to tackle the issues, as they exist on the ground, head-on.
Take the problem of the rising narcotics trade, and related crimes for instance. Every second day, police press releases inform the general public about the drug-peddlers being nabbed and contraband seized while reiterating the administrative pledge to put an end to this menace. Recently, in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district, a “narco-terror” module was busted and a huge haul of narcotic substances and “terror money” seized. This news was shared with great fanfare, but again nobody bothered to talk about how and why such a cartel managed to operate for years without being detected by the police and other agencies well in time. Nobody said a thing about the characteristic laid-back and go-slow approach of the concerned agencies in dealing with such crimes.
It seems that nobody really wants to talk about the root causes of drug trafficking, and even more so what must be done to bring some semblance of normality in an otherwise disorganized society which is simply falling apart not only because of the cross-border machinations of a hostile neighbor but also because of the “politics of convenience” including the “patron-client relationships” within.
However, from a functional point of view, the problem of crime cannot be viewed as an isolated phenomenon. Nor can it be understood and studied as a problem apart and unto itself. But unfortunately, both our police and the civil administration, in general, are conspicuously culpable of this type of segmental thinking. Crime in general including the drug trade and its relationship with the militancy in particular, as is the point under discussion here, can be properly viewed only as one facet of a problem of general social disorganization.
The opening of the door on the study of crime confronts one with a broad vista of social disorganization. Such aspects of this dreary scene as unemployment, demoralization or deterioration of societal values, disease, political disenfranchisement or general disenchantment with the politico-legal systems, and many others, including the crime itself, are parts of the whole picture. They are not separate problems but tightly interlinked. A sound approach to the field of crime would therefore involve an approach to all these other problems, which are part and parcel of the etiology of crime.
To put it simply, if any intervention is to be made to address the causes of crime or the problems confronting youth including their involvement in militancy, the government will have to acquaint itself with the basic issues of unemployment, popular political disenchantment, as well as all other causes that push the young people towards crime. Certainly, this is something that the police cannot do. The institution is neither mandated nor equipped to address basic social and political issues.
Police, which is organized to prevent generally what is known as ordinary petty crime, will tell you that its function is in the field of a crime purely, and it has no place in fields such as conflict resolution involving big political issues or resolving the conflict between the concept of guaranteed rights and their actual availability to the people; inconsistencies between the income and welfare, private and governmental housing and healthcare, and other fundamental issues. This is a no-go area for the military (army) and other central security forces as well.
Public posturing aside, intellectually and logically, members of police (and other security forces including the army) will admit, at least in private conversations, that they cannot hope to successfully address the causes of the crime unless they get into all the related fields. But obviously then it is the government’s job to devise policies to ensure that all these issues are tackled with an all-round approach.
Jobs, higher wages, economic security, healthcare and education, and political empowerment are some of the most important things in life. These issues must be met squarely, courageously, and militantly. “You don’t, you dare not come to the people who are unemployed, who don’t know where their next meal is coming from, whose children and themselves are in the gutter of despair – and offer them not food, not jobs, not security, but supervised recreation, handicraft classes, and character-building!”
But unfortunately, this is what is being done here by the government and its agencies.
All this has to change. If the government wants to change the perception of people as to how they interact with the government and identify with it, and its policies, not as passive participants, but as the active participants.
- The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s).