With Omar Abdullah taking over the reins of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir there comes a number of responsibilities and formidable challenges to be taken care of especially the ongoing vicious cycle of violence which no doubt has seen a decline in the last nearly one decade but still the problem existed as was testified by another targeted killing reported from Ganderbal district where ultras shot dead seven persons including a doctor.
Going by the past practice, when the people in governance and political circles condemned such targeted killings as in recent times J&K had seen many of such horrendous terror attacks, one can say that condemnation from the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha are crucial but as far as the case of the new CM of J&K is concerned he must act differently to come out with some effective policy that can address the root cause of violence and ensure the safety of all residents including those who belonged to other regions but are here on one pretext or the other.
It is known to one and all that after J&K’s transformation into a Union Territory and the related changes, the Chief Minister of this region has been debarred from directly controlling the police thus making it difficult for Omar Abdullah to oversee the law and order situation as compared to the time when the J&K was a state and police working was a prerogative of the CM’s office.
As seen in the past also the condemnation of terrorist killings had become a mere rhetoric without substantive follow-up. Those leading the new government in J&K should know that their roles should be more than just vocal disapproval because it is expected that they should take measures to nurture peace and bolster the security.
If the Omar Government has no power to direct the cops directly, it should come up with suggestions and panacea before the Home Ministry and ask the stakeholders to do the needful so that vicious cycle of violence could be contained fully in J&K because the people have given mandate to NC Government to help them get out of morass and misery faced by them in the past.
All said and done, it is time for action to curb violence of all sorts in J&K as mere condemnation either by one entity or the other will serve no purpose. The newly installed government in J&K should ponder and do everything necessary to ensure that the people of Jammu and Kashmir have a future free from fear and violence.
