By GL Raina
Disasters do not always arrive one at a time. At times they come in clusters—natural, social, and moral—forcing a society to confront uncomfortable truths about itself. Jammu & Kashmir has faced such a moment in recent weeks. Torrential rains and flash floods washed away lives, livelihoods, and infrastructure. The horrific Pahalgam incident jolted the Nation’s conscience. And just when people were trying to recover, the scandal of rotten mutton broke out, shaking trust in basic essentials of life.
At first sight these appear unconnected—one a natural calamity, another human tragedy, and the third an economic scandal. Yet beneath the surface they reveal a disturbing common thread: reckless consumerism, short-sighted governance, and a society increasingly driven by greed rather than restraint- our traditional attribute.
Nature’s Fury Is Man-Made
The devastating floods across Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand were described as “acts of God.” But in truth, they were largely man-made tragedies. Unprecedented rainfall and cloudbursts would have been severe in any case, but it is reckless human interference that has magnified the scale and spread of damage.
Rampant deforestation has loosened soil cover, making landslides inevitable. Riverbanks and wetlands—nature’s flood buffers—have been encroached upon in the name of “development.” Agricultural land has been converted into concrete colonies, narrowing the space for water absorption and reducing food grains production. Springs are drying up, canals silting, and glaciers retreating. These are not natural phenomena alone; they are the consequences of decisions we took and the habits we cultivated.
The fury of nature is not random. It is a response to its systematic exploitation on large scale. What we are witnessing is less a “natural disaster” than a man-made disaster amplified by ecological imbalance.
Rotten Meat: A Symbol of a Broken System
Equally alarming was the rotten mutton scandal that erupted in Kashmir. On the surface, it was a question of food hygiene: traders supplying substandard meat, consumers falling sick, and public anger spilling over. But the scandal is about much more.
It is about the collapse of regulatory mechanisms. It is about profiteers, locals included, exploiting scarcity and consumer demand. It is about a society so heavily dependent on imports that it becomes vulnerable to the whims of the unscrupulous. For hotel owners and restaurant businesses already reeling under the impact of the Pahalgam tragedy, this was a second blow.
Rotten meat is not merely a public health issue. It is the symbol of a broken/rusted supply chain, eroded ethics, and fragile consumer confidence. When scarcity meets greed, exploitation thrives.
The Western Model of Development and Its Limits
Both nature’s fury and the rotten meat scandal point to a deeper malaise: the blind adoption of a Western model of development that is incompatible with the ecological and cultural realities of civilisational societies like ours.
This model, built on the logic of infinite consumption and perpetual growth, assumes that well-being is measured by the quantity of goods consumed and possessed. It prioritizes accumulation over sustainability, profit over ethics and dependency over self-reliance. Globally, it has produced climate change, widened inequalities, and accelerated cultural erosion. In fragile Himalayan ecosystems, the damage is more immediate, widespread and devastating.
Consumerism, a central pillar of this western model, equates happiness with possession. It insists that demand must always rise, because demand fuels production and growth. But our civilizational wisdom has long taught the opposite. From Lalla Ded to Nund Rishi, and from Mahatma Gandhi to Lal Bahadur Shastri, the message has been clear: restraint, balance, and controlled consumption.
Shastri’s famous call during the food crisis of the 1960s, asking Indians to skip a meal once a week to reduce dependence on imports, was not merely symbolic. It was a demonstration of how restraint at the level of individuals could strengthen the resilience of an entire nation.
Food Security: The Silent Emergency
The most under-discussed issue in J&K today is food security. While the rotten meat scandal made headlines, the larger picture remains largely ignored. The numbers are alarming:
By 2030, Jammu & Kashmir, a food deficit state, will require 1.82 million tonnes of food grains. Kashmir alone is projected to face a 50% food grain deficit.
Agricultural land is vanishing at an alarming pace. It is being converted into housing colonies, shopping complexes, and non-agricultural uses.
Farmers are shifting away from food grains to horticulture and cash crops, which are more profitable but less useful for meeting staple requirements.
Nearly 45% of mutton and poultry demand is already met through imports. The same is the story across sectors.
This growing dependency is not merely an economic issue. It is a strategic vulnerability. A society that cannot feed itself is a society that can be easily destabilized. In fact vested interests are using the issue in different ways. The rotten meat scandal, therefore, is not an isolated problem but a symptom of a deeper structural weakness. Opportunistic politicians try to save their skin by shifting blame usually to outsiders.
A Test of Leadership
Crises like floods, the Pahalgam carnage, and rotten meat scandals are not simply events to be managed—they are tests of leadership. Unfortunately, the dominant response so far has been to assign blame, pass the buck, and move on until the next crisis.
But true leadership—whether political, social, or religious—demands something more. It demands the courage to:
- Introspect and look inwards instead of blaming Others.
- Diagnose root causes rather than apply cosmetic fixes.
- Protect agricultural land from reckless urbanization.
- Incentivize food grain production to strengthen local self-sufficiency.
- Ensure accountability in supply chains and punish profiteers.
- Revive cultural values of restraint and sustainability, making them part of everyday public behaviour and school curriculum.
Society cannot afford leaders who only manage headlines and social media. It needs leaders who can confront uncomfortable truths and push for long-term corrections.
Returning to Restraint
The solution is not to reject modernity but to integrate it with discipline and balance. Our traditions offer profound guidance in this regard.
Lalla Ded warned against excess and attachment. Nund Rishi emphasized the control of senses, avoidance of greed and anger, and living in harmony with nature. These were not abstract spiritual musings but practical social wisdom. Controlled consumption reduces pressure on supply chains, makes regulation easier, and creates room for ethical practices.
If a famine-stricken India in the 1960s could respond to Shastri’s appeal with voluntary sacrifice, surely we too can rediscover the discipline to restrain our consumption for the sake of sustainability and future generations.
The Path Ahead
The floods, the Pahalgam tragedy, and the rotten mutton scandal are not isolated events. They are warnings—loud and clear—that Jammu & Kashmir is at a crossroads.
We can either continue on the path of blind consumerism, unplanned development, and moral compromise, or we can course-correct towards restraint, sustainability, and responsibility.
The choice is stark: either we leave behind a valley of abundance for our children, or we condemn them to inherit a wasteland shaped by our negligence.
The question is not whether nature, markets, or fate will allow us another chance. The real question is: will we learn, or will we look away yet again?
(Girdhari Lal Raina is a former Member of the legislative council of erstwhile Jammu Kashmir and spokesperson of BJP JK-UT)
