A word for Mr. Omar Abdullah

Formation of a popular government in Jammu & Kashmir on 16 October 2024 has generated a momentum among the masses, particularly in the Kashmir valley, that is hard to miss. This momentum at once smacks of both hope and desolation. Hope in the belief that the people have their own elected government which they relate to, and desolation because of their bitter experiences with their impossible circumstances for decades and crafty economic disempowerment since August 2019. While battling cancer in a Srinagar hospital since May this year, I had ample spare time during the weekly chemo shots to travel within the Valley to renew contacts, talk to the people to understand their enthusiasm, mood, aspirations, and their fears of known and unknown. It was heartening to see an overall positive mindset generated by the recent elections and peoples’ expectations of happier tidings ahead. The public see Omar Abdullah as embodying hope for a better future. The large mandate to the National Conference too reflects that. On the flip side the elections have sharply polarized the Jammu region, where I live.

The political disquiet brewing in Jammu division about separate statehood for Jammu appears to have gained traction post the election results. In such a sharply hostile political climate where Chief Minister’s powers are restricted, and where the unelected people are making most important decisions, it will be a herculean task for Omar Abdullah to measure up to public aspirations, retain, and expand on his political capital, yet keeping Central Government on his side. In such a milieu, there is a need to create frameworks of possibility in certain important areas to effectively address the critical political, developmental, administrative, and cultural issues.

Although many pressing issues like healthcare infrastructure and its administration, school and college education, fair public distribution system, issue of political prisoners, reservations, development of neglected rural areas, and inculcating public trust which stands so badly damaged, require Chief Minister’s focused attention, the three critical and vexing issues of unemployment, political polarization, holistic security infrastructure, and the center-state relations require creation of frameworks of possibility and therefore, should receive priority attention of the Chief Minister.

The first framework of possibility should address the critical issue of unemployment that stands at over 23% and is at the core of many socio-economic and political problems. A good number of centrally sponsored ‘free for beneficiaries’ job linked skills programs have not yielded desired results because of the static, inflective, non-synthesizing, and apathetic bureaucratic hubris. Whereas this should have been the priority task of the government, it is assigned to tired and ineffective officials who continually dodge the targets on one pretext or the other.  An Equity Impact Assessment (EIA) of all the districts may help in arriving at the vocational targets to be allocated. Periodic performance appraisals should lead to course corrections to ensure meeting the deadlines. The UT Government should use their connections in the Union Government and the India Inc to get maximum CSR funding for vocational skill development since the government schemes are woefully inadequate. The self-employment component should also receive greater attention to tap the opportunities available within the UT. The government may consider setting up of a Skill Development Council, within either Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) or Rural Development department, comprising of industry experts from the India Inc to advise the Chief Minister on formulation and implementation of a practical objective-oriented jobs-linked vocational skills development plan. Vocational training in schools and colleges, already being taught, should similarly be appraised to enhance its effectiveness.

On the political front, the divisive tendencies for political considerations by various groups/political parties, particularly since the 2008 Shri Amarnath land allocation controversy, have resurfaced with sharp focus on communally dividing Jammu & Kashmir. The silence of the central leadership on these ad hominem utterances portends fear and a bleak outlook that could become ‘a crop of inextinguishable regrets’.  Such sinister strategies should be rejected across the political spectrum. It would be wise to remember that Jammu & Kashmir is not Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, or Madhya Pradesh where divisions were undertaken for better administrative management of the territories. Jammu & Kashmir, a model of political pluralism, is the crown jewel of Bharat and has singular geographical and geo-political significance unmatched anywhere in the world. The strategic geography of Jammu & Kashmir accords India a unique politico-geo-strategic prestige. This strategic significance can be retained only by strengthening the state as one unified unit. The discussion should, therefore, revolve around the ways and means of restoring the state to its pristine pre-partition status rather than dividing it further through hoarse vehemence of communally charged nay-sayers for short term electoral gains. Omar Abdullah must navigate through this explosive turf deftly to retain the sanctity of Jammu & Kashmir as one entity by winning over the hearts and minds of the people in Jammu region. His approach should be one of political sagacity that demands patience, political accommodation, and nuanced constructive statesmanship.  This is no mean task.

The above can be achieved through a framework of possibility that should aim at ensuring sustained assimilation of old values, ethnic and cultural pluralism and economic development of the Jammu region, and a robust mechanism of political communication between the Chief Minister and the people, using all means available including, and particularly, the social media. Grievance redressal should be swift and genuine. The Chief Minister may consider extending his personal oversight to Jammu District Development Council to gain peoples’ trust and ensure timely implementation of developmental targets. Jammu is our greatest asset, a city that has always welcomed people from all corners of the state and many even from Punjab with open arms. Jammu’s public infrastructure is under tremendous pressure due to population overload and needs special packages to renew and expand critical infrastructure.

Strengthening the security environment is another essential area needing the Chief Minister’s personal attention. Excluding the Chief Minister from security coordination reviews chaired by the Lt Governor does not only demean the stature of his position in the eyes of his people, it also seriously jeopardizes the effectiveness of the security network. The complex security environment in Jammu & Kashmir is an off shoot of the political environment, and therefore, a holistic issue having many layers. Grassroots inputs available to the Chief Minister through his party apparatus are invaluable. Bureaucratic treatment of the security environment does not absolve the Chief Minister and his government of security lapses and their accountability to the people.

The major security lapses that led to massive stone pelting agitations in 2016-2017 were partly a result of a near non-existent and unreliable public feedback to the ruling political party through their ground level cadres. This time around the UT government should ensure that a robust system of continuous feedback through their ground level cadres and political workers is obtained, collated, analyzed, and acted upon, as required, as a matter of routine, to avoid surprises, as happened in 1989 and again in 2016-2017.

We have seen what our complacency, at all levels – political, security apparatus, police, and administration – cost us when suddenly in December 1989, flood gates flung open for the silent forces of destruction from across the Line of Control that has consumed our happiness for the last over thirty years, and continuing.  Jammu region south of Pir Panjal requires special attention in view of the recent spurt of terrorist incidents that clearly indicate a shift in terrorist focus. Reconfiguring the counter-terrorist grid and strengthening the public feedback as discussed above along with other standard measures should be another priority task. Under no circumstances should we allow the terrorist network to take root in Jammu and its surrounding areas. This evil must be nipped in the bud before its fangs dig in.

Another critical area is to foster a cordial functional relationship with the Government of India. Although, the road to statehood seems a pipe dream at present, one is confident that over time sufficient political impetus would be built for a solution to that issue. J&K has special problems that demand Center’s unconditional support. Nitpicking with the central leadership will cost us valuable time, resources, and energy and lead us nowhere.

The Chief Minister and his government should resolutely focus on issues of development, unemployment, higher grant allocations to repair a sick economy and the damages suffered over the decades, resolution of political prisoners, higher quotas in central police and armed forces, more industry, service sector avenues in the state, development of tourism facilities to partly address unemployment issues, locating software parks and institutions of higher learning, better and congenial relations within the communities despite political differences and other such matters that are not possible without whole hearted support of the central government in the spirit of cooperative federalism. Issues like special status etc. should be left for legislative debates and not allowed to distract the Chief Minister’s energy and efforts at objective governance.

His political ability would therefore, lie in continuing consultations to ensure convergence and complementarity of dialogue with the central leadership, as well as with his political opponents in the state.

Political communication should be sharp, objective oriented and devoid of jargon to ensure its effectiveness. People respond to their frayed sentiments disregarding possible outcomes and consequences as was amply displayed in the recent Kupwara-Baramulla Lok Sabha elections. Constructive statesmanship, therefore, should be nuanced and requires commitment. Sentimental cant has no place in governance and that too of a state as difficult as Jammu & Kashmir. It is our hope and prayer that Omar Abdullah with his administrative experience and perceptive political acumen gives the much-needed healing touch that the people of Jammu & Kashmir so urgently deserve.

(Colonel Maqbool Shah, based at Jammu, is an Indian Army Veteran.)