Jammu and Kashmir was witness to a day-long drama Wednesday, culminating in the dissolution of the state assembly. All things considered, this was the best course open to Governor Satyapal Malik, apparently taking advice from the top political establishment at the Centre. Kashmir is simply not another state. Considering the sensitivity involved in the goings-on there, the Centre and the Governor as its representative answerable to the President cannot be mere spectators and must be promoting national interests.
It was out of the blue that the PDP of Mehbooba Mufti and her arch rival in politics Omar Abdulla of the National Conference let bygones be bygones and took the Congress party’s outside support to cobble a “majority” in the state assembly and staked claim for forming a ministry. Mufti, whose government collapsed after alliance partner BJP pulled the rug from under her feet in June, was obviously waiting for a chance to return to power. Rather than being in the wilderness, it should suit Abdullah as well, even if this meant making compromises with his main rival, especially in the Kashmir region. So too with the Congress, which along with Abdullah was left out in the cold ever since the last assembly polls about four years ago.
Admittedly, Mufti had not acquitted herself well when she headed the government as chief minister. Among other things, she was instrumental in giving a long rope to the stone-pelting youths, and it was essentially a case of misplaced sympathy. Her police failed to act firmly against such law-violators, militants and anti-national forces. Clearly, the BJP was embarrassed on several matters like this, even granted that this coalition’s longevity was suspect from Day One. The saving grace was the involvement of the security forces under the command of the Centre to restore a modicum of law and order, though there yet was no full-stop to violence. The home-grown militants in Kashmir colluding with terrorists infiltrating from across Pakistan and playing mayhem in the Valley and elsewhere was a situation that required strong counter-steps. Mufti’s kid-glove treatment was unacceptable.
What however is a matter of concern is that the overall scenario in Kashmir leaves much to be desired despite the Modi government claiming to turn things for the better there in the past nearly five years of its rule. Admittedly, no miracles are expected in Kashmir. It is, at best, a work in progress.