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release of a former militant returning to Valley under the state ' s rehabilitation policy .
Centre refused to take CM ' s assurance on Liaqat ' s credentials . And more so , when CM was speaking on the authority of J & K Police which has been at the forefront of fighting militancy in India for the past more than two decades . Centre , instead , chose to hand over probe to National Investigation Agency to determine the truth . Obviously , the centre ' s response has not helped Omar ' s image as the elected Chief Minister which was already reeling from his inabilhave
ity to prevail on the centre not to hang Afzal Guru .
In turn , this failure to represent and fulfil the aspirations of their people undercuts the credibility of the
mainstream leaders in the state .
More often than not they are perceived to be working at the pleasure of the centre rather than guided by
the sentiments and expectations of their constituencies . Thus while CM
Omar may express his deep reservations about the hanging of Afzal
Guru , it hardly changes centre ' s decision to pull him from the death row queue where he stood at 28 and dispatch him to gallows . Similarly ,
CM ' s long running earnest demand for the revocation of AFSPA has been overruled by the defense establishment . What is more , last year the
elected government and the opposition together , couldn ' t muster cournot age to pass the resolution in the Asability sembly against the execution of
Guru .
This is not the helplessness that
comes across in the conduct of India ' s regional satraps like
Mayawatis , Yadavs , Nitishs ,
Mamatas or even Patnaiks who so assertively hold on to their political turfs and aggressively respond to their constituencies .
What compounds Omar ' s problems is that despite being in power for more than four years , his government is still struggling to create a consistent political theme that could
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given it an identity . So far his Omar ' s alone . Battling his inage to deliver on the pledges to approach has been shy and furtive , and more of an open-ended , day to day nature rather than informed by a political narrative - or even some kind of a policy undertone - associated with political parties , that too of the pedigree of National Conference . True , a governance centric agenda cannot be faulted but a governance pursued for its own sake renders the entire enterprise of government sterile and by and by leads to a disconnect with the people . And when it is the government of National Conference , that is culpable of it , the conspicuity of it is difficult to ignore . For , Omar has a political legacy that not only lends him a certain aura but also creates a huge expectation . But here he looks like operating in a vacuum .
However , Omar ' s problem is his people and also fulfill some of their legitimate aspirations , Omar symbolically represents the weird operation of democracy in the state , where people elect leaders and leaders don ' t represent them or have to competitively contend with New
Delhi and the security behemoth in the state for a share in power .
However , this bizarre operation of the democracy in the state is not only with reference to the mainstream politicians of the state . The reality has rubbed off on the people too who while they do vote for the
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successive governments , they expe- rience a little sense of connection with the governance or stakes in the system . The feeling that New Delhi is a foreign place lingers in the state even more than six decades after ac- cession . In fact , the sense of alienation is deepest now . What continues to reign supreme is the discourse of conflict . In the collective conscious- ness of the Valley everything has to wait pending the final settlement of the state . And over the years this has bred a mindset that sees a deeper engagement with the problems of day to day as detrimental to the pursuit of the larger political cause of Azadi .
Hence development , environment , administrative accountability cannot be issues beyond a point .
What is more , the poor governance neither becomes an issue nor pro- vokes any protest even though it might indirectly stoke popular un- rest which soon morphs into Azadi campaign . The result has been the growth of a policy that has found in this mindset an escape from ac- countability . No government feels itself obliged to perform . And corruption which is so rife gets little attention beyond a lip service .
If people have to really have a sense of stake in the system , they need to see the governments they elect not only strong and able to de- liver but also accountable for their wrongs and inefficiency . But , at pres- ent , both these elements are missing from Kashmir ' s democracy .
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