The recent statements by the Abdullahs show the level to which politicians can stoop down to in despair, not realising that they dig their own grave in the process. Not content drowning the state into an abyss of hopelessness, they now want to drown the entire nation that is purposefully chasing the only glimmer of hope it sees in a long time.
By calling Modi’s India ‘communal’, they are displaying their brand of Secularism. Infact my generation onwards, find this entire debate on ‘Secularism’ by politicians of various shades and ideologies, unfortunately, very amusing. Because for many of us man-made boundaries of religion, caste and creed which simply don’t exist. We have learnt to sustain in a talent-filled, performance-driven world where probably the only divide is the ‘digital divide’ and the divisions as a result of that divide.
While following the Abdullahs and delving into the history of J&K, politicians of the state were probably wise enough or must I say practical enough, not to ratify the 2 core values of the Indian Constitution added by the 42nd Amendment – Secularism and Socialism. After all, why give lip service to something one doesn’t wish to adhere, whether it out of belief that it is not needed or it already exists. Yet it is ironical to witness these ‘wisdom-filled politicians’ conjure the ‘S’word in times of ‘need’ (read crisis, self-doubt and annihilation). If a secular ethos is the hallmark of Kashmiriyat, what forced everyone into silence at the time of exodus? If all and sundry, especially the benevolent Abdullahs, were so pained by the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley why didn’t they make any concrete efforts to bring them back and rehabilitate them in their long tenure spanning 3 generations? Who stopped them from doing so? Or were they so highly inspired by the Nehru-Gandhi family and their non-functional Garibi Hatao yojanas that the Abdullahs attempted to apply similar populist and non-functional tactics to this beautiful, once peaceful and prosperous land.
Today, after more than 3 decades the Pandits remain a homeless lot or have created homes ‘away from their homes’. Young officers like Major Mukund Varadarajan regularly lose their life amidst animated debates over the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (APSPA).
The chaos over Article 370 was not sufficient, the recent information explosion further upsets young electorates who realise how individual families have run this country and its many states like personal fiefdoms, with scant respect for the well-being of its people. Besides the ‘hope for change’, it is this ‘Anti-Dynastic Wave’ that is manifested in the ‘Modi Wave’.
– K. Aayushi
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