Beating drums, holding rallies ,staging protests and processions by mainstream parties and their leaders is just confined to two kilometer radius only around highly fortified Lal Chowk areas as if there is no politics outside the highly fortified areas of Lal Chowk and civil lines areas of other cities and towns in Jammu & Kashmir. This is what happened on 5th August this year on second anniversary of Article 370 abrogation when BJP started celebrating the Article 370 abrogation with traditional dances amid drum beating at it’s Jawaharnagar office in the vicinity of Lal Chowk and PDP Chief Mehbooba Mufti took out a protest rally against article 370 abrogation amid anti-BJP and anti-government sloganeering at a place which is at a stones throw from city centre Lal Chowk. It may be mentioned here that normally people dance around political leaders but for the first time in the political history of Jammu & Kashmir the people of Kashmir saw BJP leaders dancing around their workers brought in hired vehicles to the selected venue at party headquarters in Lal Chowk area. Equally disgusting it was that Mehbooba Mufti the PDP President and former Chief Minister yet to recover from shocks of “milk, toffee remark” against the civilian killings during her reign of power was seen shouting slogans against detentions and article 370 abrogation in the highly fortified Lal Chowk area. Interestingly both BJP and PAGD allies carried out Tiranga rallies and protest marches only in the highly fortified Chowks ( four way crossings) in the commercial hubs of civil lines areas in other towns of Kashmir valley including “Khanabal Chowk” in Anantnag and “main chowk” in Handwara.
Better for the mainstream parties to take politics from the two kilometer radius of Lal Chowk down to the level of grass roots deep into the interiors of cities, towns and villages and allow hassle free commercial activities in commercial hubs of cities and towns. Let politics be confined to ballots but not the streets.
Even in Jammu region the Tiranga rallies were taken out in highly fortified civil lines areas of Jammu city and other centrally located places in the civil lines areas of major towns of Jammu region. Mainstream parties and leaders confining their politics to high security zones in cities and towns are by the dint of their actions proving it beyond doubt that they themselves are disconnected with the people at grass roots and tend to demonstrate fake shows of popularity to hoodwink their political mentors and symapthisers in Delhi. Had people been involved in tiranga rallies and protest marches taken out on August 5 in the vicinity of Lal Chowk, the reports about police breaking the locks of shops won’t have been reported by newspapers after going viral on the social media sites. The real strength of democracy lies in the public mandate which is always being misused by both the ruling party at the centre and as well as the mainstream parties in Jammu & Kashmir for fulfillment of their own wishes but not the aspirations of the people. Better for the mainstream parties to take politics from the two kilometer radius of Lal Chowk down to the level of grass roots deep into the interiors of cities, towns and villages and allow hassle free commercial activities in commercial hubs of cities and towns. Let politics be confined to ballots but not the streets.
