Pandemonium reigned on the first day of the Budget session in the Jammu and Kashmir legislature, which has set the tone for the remainder of its five weeks. The PDP-BJP coalition government is set to face Opposition heat over a series of controversial issues that have already put the alliance on the back-foot.
When Governor NN Vohra spoke of “safeguarding” the special status of J&K to a joint sitting of the state’s lawmakers from both the houses in Srinagar on Wednesday, he was obliquely reacting to the upheaval on the streets of Kashmir over attempts to erode Article 370.
New Coalition’s Challenges
The proposals to set up Sainik Colonies – exclusive townships for ex-servicemen and migrant Kashmiri Pandit families in the Valley, including both state and non-state subjects in the state – have evoked strong resentment, with the separatists planning a joint agitation against the coalition government.
Although Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has repeatedly said there is no land available for setting up Sainik Colonies for ex-servicemen in the Valley – a proposal mooted in 2011 by the Rajya Sainik Board – the coalition government’s volte-face on the issue has eroded its credibility among the people.
Initially, the government denied the very existence of a Sainik Colony proposal, terming the reports as the work of “vested interests”. However, when its recent communication with the Rajya Sainik Board on the issue became public, the coalition was forced to issue a clarification, driving a wedge between the rulers and the ruled.
Kupwara Killings
In an atmosphere of political uncertainty in the valley – where separatists are speaking of ‘bitter experiences’ of the past – the issue of the civilian killings in Kupwara district last month is only going to add to the anger against the government.
Five civilians, including an elderly woman tending to a vegetable garden, were killed in a bloody week of unrest in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district after rumours of a schoolgirl’s molestation triggered violence against armed forces.
Facing public uproar, the J&K government ordered a magisterial probe, which is yet to make its findings public. Shouting slogans in the assembly on Wednesday, the firebrand lawmaker from north Kashmir’s Langate constituency, Sheikh Abdul Rashid, displayed a banner, which read:
“What happened to the magisterial probe into the Handwara killings ?”
The coalition government is also likely to face heat over remarks made by one of its ministers and BJP leader, Chaudhary Lal Singh. As a group of aggrieved Muslim Gujjars came to seek his help, Singh reminded them of the horror of the 1947 massacre of Muslims in Jammu by Dogra forces.
Although the Forest Minister apologised for his ‘unintentional’ remarks after facing pressure, the issue reverberated in the assembly on Wednesday with the largest opposition parties – National Conference and Congress – demanding Chaudhary’s expulsion from the government.
The extension of the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) for medical courses to Jammu and Kashmir is another hot potato that has left the coalition government red-faced.
Not just the opposition parties, but the separatists too have voiced their concern over NEET for J&K, arguing the apex court’s order violates the state’s special identity and is in contradiction to the constitutional protection guaranteed under the Article 370.
What Next For The New Government?
During the previous PDP-BJP government under late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the state government faced criticism for delaying the rehabilitation of flood victims as New Delhi withheld the financial assistance promised to the state.
The new government, which is only two months old, has little to show on the governance front, with the PDP knocking on the door of the Election Commission in an effort to defer the by-polls in Anantnag constituency, which was represented by Mufti Sayeed.
The government is well aware of the challenges staring it in the face. Perhaps that is why it has ordered groups of ministers set up to lead the charge in the upper and lower houses of the legislature during the Budget session.
In this charged atmosphere, where political uncertainty has brought both the separatists and the mainstream opposition parties together on a host of issues, the least this government can do is to restore its credibility. To do this, it must come clean on the controversies that have dented its image among the common people.
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