Create a society of opportunities

Arun Joshi

Leadership is not all about heading political groups or institutions or to the positions some are nominated – the culture of election to positions in a democratic society that we boast of is history now. Most of this class of leaders is insecure. Their insecurity stems from their incompetence that they seek to hide by deflecting issues, and offer pretences that help them keep in the seats they occupy.

The need of the hour, as the phrase goes, in Jammu and Kashmir is to build a society of opportunity. It is the absence of the opportunity that has choked politics, economy and social aspirations in the state. It is at the root of the conflict that has consumed the J&K state’s abilities to march ahead. The state is stagnant is an understatement, it is in decline.

Indisputably, Jammu and Kashmir as the current political map of the state exists, was born out of unique circumstances in 1947-1948 when Pakistan unleashed a war on the state and changed the whole complexion of its status. It never became a normal state because of the situation that followed in which political instability became a normal feature and the opportunities were buried under the illusion that state’s fate was yet would be decided sooner or later.

This theory gained credence with unending series of political mischiefs to which Delhi and Srinagar resorted. Pakistan, of course, was not sitting idle, rather it was hyperactive. The political instability was the best bet for Pakistan. Delhi and Srinagar fell in Rawalpindi’s trap. The opportunities to set the clock right for the narrative of construction and recognition of capabilities were lost.

Now when the election is going on to choose the federal government, Jammu and Kashmir is not having a single narrative. It is divided on communal and regional and sub-regional lines. Inevitably, the state will appear in the Lok Sabha, as always, with differing voices – often contradicting one another in shrill tones. That wipes out the chances of shaping a narrative of building Kashmir anew.

In the current season of elections, voters are watching with intrigue how the political narrative is being moulded to expand the conflict. Leaders and groups are unable to comprehend the disasters that the expansion of conflict brings with it.

Whether it is a call for absolute autonomy or resistance to the idea of doing away with the special status for the state, there are equally strong forces working against these ideas. So the conflict grows. Is that what we are looking at? If so, have we weighed the consequences? Sacrifices of the past and call or more sacrifices have not brought closure to any of the miseries under the pile of which the whole state is suffering.

There is need to talk of serious issues and focus on opportunities in society rather than putting a lid on these by deceptive campaigns where illusions are blinding the realities and pathways to opportunities.