It always plays out the same way. It was June 2015, a delegation (including myself) of contractual employees association walked into a ministers office, files in hand, urgency in our voice. We waited for hoursto get a meeting. We finally sat across from a minister concerned, we presented our case with fervor, convinced him, as we spoke facts and truth. The minister listened patiently, nodded, expressed sympathy, and promised to look into the matter. We thought ministers influence in our cause is enough. We celebrated as if we won our cause. A few weeks later, nothing changed. Frustrated, we turned to the courts, hoping for justice. But the legal process dragged on for years, drowned our cause in paperwork and technicalities. Some took to the streets, organized protests and demonstrations. The media covered it briefly, but soon, the noise faded. With determination and hope, we repeated the cycle. We went back to the government office, the ministerwe met earlier was upgraded to new department to handle, new one was unaware of our issues, we presented the facts and truth to new minister. He listened us patiently and agreed to discuss our issue at the highest level. After a month, nothing happened. This is the grand illusion of influence—the belief that those in political office or judicial chambers hold the real power to effect change. The truth is, they don’t. Ministers make promises, but they are bound by party politics and electoral calculations. MLAs raise concerns, but they rarely shape policy in meaningful ways. Courts interpret laws, but they do not create them. Even when they issue landmark rulings, enforcement often depends on forces beyond their control. By the time we got beatings at our buttocks near press enclave Srinagar, I was convinced that we are knocking the wrong doors. I told to my colleagues in the association, we must change our strategy, as power sits elsewhere. Real power resides in the regulatory bodies that draft policies, the corporate and financial institutions that fund industries, the media houses that shape public discourse, and the think tanks and research institutions that create the intellectual foundation for governance. In our case real power was with few select bureaucrats in the department concerned. By the time we realized this, we were ignored by the real-power center, not heard, not given importance. There were reasons to it. Wehad done blunders. We had taken steps to drag some of them to the court rooms though. That didn’t go well.
“Strategic engagement with academic institutions ensures that new policies are rooted in data that aligns with real needs. Real power does not respond to complaints. It responds to influence. It is time to step into the rooms where the future is actually being shaped. It is time to engage with the real power centers, not their ceremonial figureheads. Because the question is not whether we should engage with power. The question is, are we engaging with the right power? Coming back to our issues to get resolved. We are struggling till date.”
Lessons: If we, or any other person, association, NGO, or trade union truly want to change the system.Stop appealing to its ceremonial extensions and start engaging with its actual nerve centers.Instead of wasting time knocking on the wrong doors, genuine issue redressal seekersmust pivot their approach and enter spaces where real decisions are made. Power is not in press conferences, protests, demonstration, bhook hartals or ministerial meetings; it is in the technical committees, expert panels, and bureaucratic drafts where policies are first shaped. Anyone seeking meaningful change must infiltrate these spaces, participate in consultations, and influence policy frameworks before they become law. The most powerful tool of influence is not legislation—it is perception. Major policy shifts do not happen in a vacuum; they are made palatable by media discourse. Instead of hoping for coverage, worker associations must shape the conversation by embedding themselves in influential media platforms and digital spaces. No policy is enacted without justification, and that justification often comes from think tanks, universities, and expert reports. If we want to change laws, we must first change the research that supports them. Strategic engagement with academic institutions ensures that new policies are rooted in data that aligns with real needs. Real power does not respond to complaints. It responds to influence. It is time to step into the rooms where the future is actually being shaped. It is time to engage with the real power centers, not their ceremonial figureheads. Because the question is not whether we should engage with power. The question is, are we engaging with the right power? Coming back to our issues to get resolved. We are struggling till date.
(The author a freelancer is also teacher and a researcher based in Gowhar Pora Chadoora. The views, opinions and conclusions expressed in this article are those of the author and aren’t necessarily in accord with the views of “Kashmir Horizon”)
