Syed Inam
Once upon a time, an academic in J&K was given the top position of an academic institution. The only condition by his bosses, to appoint the academic, was: you enjoy the chair and car that comes with the appointment, we’ll take care of the rest. This ‘we’ll take care of the rest’ included all decisions regarding the academic institution. The academic agreed and enjoyed the stint. Rest is history.
Over to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah. Given where he stands today in J&K’s governance and political structure, he seems to be no different than the academic who enjoyed the car and chair, while decisions came from somewhere else.
The transfer row involving a so-called face-off between Omar and LG is diversionary, to say the least. That Omar Abdullah has nothing else to show than this so-called face-off is more visible than anything else now. That he seems to have brazenly ruptured the people’s mandate for crumbs of power (read powerlessness!) is more evident than ever. And in this abject failure, he can only resort to this whataboutery and diversion. Otherwise a non-issue, compared to major issues facing the UT, could easily be brushed under the carpet.
J&K is facing issues related to unemployment. Employees who have been unilaterally terminated are waiting to be heard for their version on the allegations levelled against them. Infrastructure and manpower woes in the health and education sectors are worse than ever. The reservation row is staring Govt in the face. The powerlessness of MLAs is both humiliating and insulting. The statehood restoration as promised by the Prime Minister and Home Minister is awaited. But these are no priorities for the Omar-led sarkaar which is now resorting to whataboutery and diversion to assuage the brewing public anger against the Government of the day.
Soon after Omar Abdullah ranting against LG’s transfer orders, the LG hit back saying he acted well within his limits and domain. And certainly he must have. So that leaves very little room for Omar to raise this rant in future when LG makes more such transfers. Therefore the alliance partners’ resolution condemning LG’s orders is meaningless. It is just a failed attempt at making the public of J&K believe that the chief minister wasn’t powerless. But this is the last thing to help address his powerlessness. Because Omar, as on date, stands exposed. His powerlessness is only visible to the naked eye, like the elephant in the room that the Chief Minister wants people to believe is absent.
The elephant in the room is real. It is visible to the naked eye. Omar has played with people’s mandate by agreeing to the powerlessness that he enjoys. Today, people who voted him to power see more intelligent than him. If they voted him to power for the pre-election promises, they can doom him in the next election for failing to fulfill these promises. Because in Kashmir, there is hardly anything that’s is forgotten or forgiven. There is nothing that can cause diversion in the voter’s mind, least of all this failed attempt to project a non-issue like transfers as a major face-off between him and LG. Nobody has forgotten that Omar himself is unwilling to pick up a fight. He has himself said so.
Omar once told the PDP chief that she was running with the hare and hunting with the hounds after her alliance with the BJP. Today the coin just seems to have filled and the PDP chief could be well within the rights to tell Omar the same.
For now, the worthy LG has hit back at Omar with severity. It only indicates that the real power under J&K Reorganisation Act lies with LG who is exercising this power, and will continue to do so. So Omar needs to brace for more such transfers. For now, this round goes to LG.
(NOTE: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Kashmir Dot Com, its editorial staff, or its affiliates. KDC does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of any claims made in this opinion piece.)
