Self interest has driven the people in Kashmir against their own community and latest such examples have been set by the Kashmir Private School Association, mutton dealers and lately by the Passenger transport operators’ one after the other. Surprisingly the Kashmir Private Schools Association threatened to ground their school buses without any rhyme or reason immediately after the announcement of the opening of schools by government. The move by all standards of understandabilities was an abortive attempt to blackmail the parents who have to send their wards to schools after almost two years of complete shutdown of schools. Had Chairman Fee Fixation Committee Justice (Retd) Muzaffar Hussain Attar not taken strong note of the highly objectionable move of the Kashmir Private Schools Association, the parents and their wards would have gone into a worst form of trauma from which they won’t recover till the beginning of new academic session. Justice (Retd) Attar deserves compliments not only on his decision over the suspension of transport services but also on revoking the previous controversial order on school fee hike. With this landmark decision on school fee hike Justice (Retd) Muzaffar Hussain Attar has shut all the doors of institutional and administrative blackmailing tendencies and trends of Private Schools Association Kashmir. In fact the decision over the school fee hike should have been applied even to coaching centres who too are blackmailing the parents just to grind their own axe. Apparently even the mutton dealers are blackmailing the price controlling agencies of the Jammu & Kashmir Government by going on an indefinite strike over their demand for unprecedented rise in the rates of mutton. Knowing the compulsions of people in buying mutton due to ban on poultry products in the backdrop of bird flue scare the mutton dealers have ceased the opportunity to renew their demands for hike in the rates of mutton only in view of the growing demand for mutton in the upcoming marriage season in valley .
Question can be asked that fuel prices have not gone up in Kashmir only but across India and if there is no demand for hikes in passenger fares in any other part of the country, why it happens only in Kashmir only. Question can also be asked that if there is no demand for hike in mutton rates in any other part of the country, why only mutton dealers of Kashmir demand increase in mutton rates. Just ponder how private school owners, mutton dealers and passenger transporters are blackmailing their own community in Kashmir. When our own people are blackmailing us, why to blame others?
The seasonal and situational blackmailing practices by Kashmir Private School Association and mutton dealers have now emboldened even the passenger transport operators to threaten an indefinite strike from February 24 over their demand for hike in passenger fares in view of unprecedented rise in fuel prices. Question can be asked that fuel prices have not gone up in Kashmir only but across India and if there is no demand for hikes in passenger fares in any other part of the country, why it happens only in Kashmir only. Question can also be asked that if there is no demand for hike in mutton rates in any other part of the country, why only mutton dealers of Kashmir demand increase in mutton rates. Just ponder how private school owners, mutton dealers and passenger transporters are blackmailing their own community in Kashmir. When our own people are blackmailing us, why to blame others?