JK NEWS TODAY COMMENTRY
By Binoo Joshi
New Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik has taken a plunge and gone ahead with the local bodies and Panchayat elections in the State that had been waiting for these polls for years together . He has challenged all the forces of skepticism that spread anti-democracy vibes to perpetuate an ideology of conflict on the ground and minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially the Valley . The Kashmir Valley has been seeking to come out of the stranglehold of these forces that had been using violence to suppress the democratic and the developmental aspirations of the people for almost three decades now.
That Mr. Malik has a political background has become his asset . He is familiar with the functioning of the political parties , regional and national . And, Uttar Pradesh, the State that he comes from , and his experience at the grassroots to the parliamentary democracy , made it easy for him to take bull by horns.
The announcement of the civic bodies and Panchayat polls at the time when the separatists and the mainstream parties were considering that their boycott call would make him to go with the tide is an achievement itself . The message that he has his own mind and a task to do at the behest of the Indian nation in making the grassroots democracy to flourish in Jammu and Kashmir is very loud and clear. This is the democratic connect between the people of the state and the country that he wants to foster through these elections .
No election process is without challenges. These challenges multiply in J&K, where there are so many factors interplaying with each other and some are determined to derail the democratic process once and for all. That has been the anthem of the separatists ever since they have appeared on the stage, individually or collectively . Their premise is clear that create as much disconnect between the State and the rest of the country as much as possible.
Mr. Malik was aware of these challenges. But what he had not anticipated was that the two regional groups National Conference and PDP that had ruled the state for several years would come out against the participation in these elections . That was shocking . The political parties were retreating from their basic responsibilities . The political parties are formed and exist to fight for democracy and make the grassroots democratic institutions to flourish , not to take the steam out of them.
Undeterred by all these obstacles , the Governor has gone ahead with the announcement of the polls . This should be read as a success and a good news for the people of the State who would get an occasion to celebrate the victory of democracy over dark forces yet again.
