Victory kisses the feet of only those who deserve it and it is a stark reality witnessed more in politics than any other stream of public life. Mamta Banerjee the daring Bengal Woman politician has proved it beyond doubt that leaders can survive in politics only if they have the fighting spirit. Unfortunately people in Jammu & Kashmir never ever saw any leader showing the spirit to fight either the rulers or their political rivals. While leaders have to lead the people without allowing others to lead them from the front but leaders of Jammu & Kashmir who headed popular governments in Jammu & Kashmir for decades and were part of several central governments never ever dared to lead their own people but allowed the leaders of ruling parties at the centre to lead them the way they liked. Though Late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah led a political struggle for restoration of the powers that were snatched in 1953 but finally he in the year 1975 surrendered his own agenda to accept the agenda of Indira Gandhi led Congress party which was then in power at the centre . So late Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in a Himalayan climb down after 21years of political struggle reduced his fight for plebiscite to agreement for return to power without pressing for restoration of the constitutional and institutional positions that were downgraded during 21 years of Congress party’s proxy central rule in Jammu & Kashmir. Dividing people during elections for the purposes of fractured mandates only to collaborate with ruling parties at the centre after the elections on fake promises like resolution of Kashmir issue, return of power projects etc etc and taking dictations like class IV employees from the leaders of political parties in power at the centre in running the affairs of the government was and is still the benchmark of politics of mainstream leaders.
Forget about fighting for the restoration of the position of Jammu & Kashmir as it existed on August 5,2019 the mainstream leaders don’t even dare to position themselves on a bargaining mode for taking back the position of statehood and the citizenship laws that remained in force in the erstwhile state for last more than seventy years. Even the enforcement of new laws on citizenship and land rights, government jobs and trade and private investments don’t bring them on the mode of fighting spirit as they are still swayed away by the beaten track policy of appeasing the political party in power at the centre.
In a way surrendering their own political agenda and implementing the agenda of political parties in power at the centre once made a non stop practice by mainstream leaders not only pushed them in jails for several months after Central Government’s constitutional moves on erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state on August 5,2019 but also shattered their dreams of ruling the people through politics of deceit and falsehood thereafter. Forget about fighting for the restoration of the position of Jammu & Kashmir as it existed on August 5,2019 the mainstream leaders don’t even dare to position themselves on a bargaining mode for taking back the position of statehood and the citizenship laws that remained in force in the erstwhile state for last more than seventy years. Even the enforcement of new laws on citizenship and land rights, government jobs and trade and private investments don’t bring them on the mode of fighting spirit as they are still swayed away by the beaten track policy of appeasing the political party in power at the centre.
