Prime Minister Narendra Modi not bothering to address the elected legislators either during ten month long PDP-BJP coalition rule under the leadership of late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed or the 22 month long PDP-BJP coalition rule under the leadership of Mehbooba Mufti in Jammu & Kashmir but choosing to address an audience of the recently elected panchs and sarpanchs at his official residence in Delhi speaks volumes about the intents of holding civic polls despite boycott by two largest regional political parties National Conference (NC) and Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). Had Prime Minister Narendra Modi bothered to reach out to Panchs and Sarpanchs in their few selected wards or sent even his any cabinet colleague to some wards in selected blocks in all the three regions of the state the people in Kashmir would love to acknowledge the Prime Minister’s remarks that his gates are open to every Kashmiri. Prime Minister Modi throwing up an audience to recently elected panchs and sarpanchs of Jammu & Kashmir is still remembered for snubbing late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed as elected Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir in a public rally in full public glare in November 2015 when late Mufti had sought his attention towards dialogue with the separatist leadership in Kashmir and resumption of bilateral dialogue with Pakistan over Kashmir and he refused to taken any such advices from any one in Jammu & Kashmir.
The panchs and sarpanchs who interacted with the Prime Minister at his official residence in Delhi would have overtaken the legislators and parliamentarian in discharging their duty of public representation if they during their interaction with the Prime Minister would have demanded an impartial high level judicial probe into the recent killing of seven civilians in Pulwama district.
Snubbing an elected chief minister and throwing up an audience to panchs and sarpanchs elected through an election exercise marred by the boycott of two largest regional political parties National Conference (NC) and Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) is a crude joke. Conduct of an audience for recently elected panchs and sarpanchs is just an attempt to deflect the attention of the people from the continuing public outcry against the continuing civilian killings in Pulwama Kashmir. Not to talk of the Prime Minister of this country but even naives in India would show no reservation in gladly accepting the hard reality that security of the life is preferred over democracy and all tracks of good governance in any part of the world . Better it would have been for the Prime Minister to announce a high level judicial probe into recent killing of seven civilians during his address to panchs and sarpanchs of Jammu & Kashmir at his residence than to discuss with them the issues of grass root level democracy. The panchs and sarpanchs who interacted with the Prime Minister at his official residence in Delhi would have overtaken the legislators and parliamentarian in discharging their duty of public representation if they during their interaction with the Prime Minister would have demanded an impartial high level judicial probe into the recent killing of seven civilians in Pulwama district.
