Omar govt adrift as fresh wave of violence hits Srinagar

Font Size

Print

Feedback

Email

Discuss

Related Articles

Voting ends in R'sthan by-polls, 50% polling recor...Indira Gandhi proved India is not a soft stateProve majority within week: Governor to HoodaState Govt responsible for Khagaria carnage: RJD

Srinagar: Srinagar erupted again today after the the body of a missing youth, Asrar Mushtaq, was found with his throat slit, sparking angry protests on the streets with securitymen coming under attack and a police vehicle being torched.

Violent protests such as the one witnessed today are becoming more frequent, adding to the problems of Omar Abdullah who, when he took over as chief minister earlier this year, had raised hopes of giving J&K a politically serious and administratively accountable government. Six months and two major incidents in Shopian and Baramulla later, questions are now being asked about his government’s efficiency.

Consider the following:

* The 37-year-old Abdullah had promised a generational shift. But today, there is no young face in the Cabinet — he remains the youngest, grappling with 20 portfolios ranging from Home to Planning, Agriculture to Information Technology. Cabinet expansion has been repeatedly put on hold.

* The NC decision to field Abdullah’s uncle Mustafa Kamal in the Hazratbal Assembly by-election has not gone down well since Kamal had been defeated earlier in Pattan. It has only strengthened criticism that the family comes first.

* Abdullah has continued with the administrative arrangement put in place during Governor’s rule. Questions were asked when senior officers failed to respond to P Chidambaram’s queries during a recent meeting.

* The promise of an open and transparent government remains just that. A 24/7 call centre in the CM office to provide greater public access is still to materialise. Nor has the promise of a stringent RTI been kept.

* Despite NC’s promise, there has been no engagement with separatists.

* J-K Police is in a mess. The force has two DGPs, is ill-equipped and lacks training to make the shift from counter-insurgency to crowd-control. Stone-pelting protesters have been dealt with live ammunition, people being shot above the waist. The killing of four protesters in Baramulla is one such example.

* Abdullah’s critics have been calling him a “non-resident CM” because of his frequent travel to New Delhi where his family lives. Sources said he has visited the Capital 20 times ever since he took charge.