Ashu Kumar
Jammu Tawi: Jammu once again stood still — not because of a natural calamity or security threat, but because a few VIPs decided to move and show their presence. On New Year’s Day, Baghe Bahu Road turned into a symbol of administrative failure, where roads were blocked, citizens were halted and humiliated, ambulances with patience were stuck, and journalists were harassed — all in the name of VIP movement.
Is it a hazard of governance or institutional arrogance?
When an ambulance is forced to wait in traffic while VIP convoys pass unhindered, the system sends a chilling message: Privileges of VIPs matter more than Commoners’ lives. What kind of administration justifies blocking an entire city so that a handful of powerful individuals can enjoy “hassle-free darshan”?
The most disturbing aspect is the reported harassment of a local journalist, stopped for nearly 15 minutes and prevented from reaching his home. If journalists — whose job is to ask questions — are treated this way, what hope does the common citizen have? Is this how a democratic system treats its watchdogs?
Residents of Bahu Fort, Gorkha Nagar and adjoining localities were effectively placed under unofficial lockdown, unable to reach their homes. No notice. No explanation. No apology. Just barricades, police shouting orders, and a city forced to surrender its dignity.
Jammu is increasingly beginning to feel like a city ruled by convoys, sirens and barricades, not by law or public interest. Every roadblock reinforces a bitter truth — when power moves, the people must stop. Office-goers, students, patients, senior citizens — all are expected to wait silently, as if inconvenience is the price of democracy.
Many residents openly recall that during the LG administration, VIP movement was limited and such frequent disruptions were rare. Today, with a large elected setup in place, VIP culture appears to have returned with vengeance. Is this what the people of Jammu voted for — more traffic jams, more harassment, and humiliation?
Equally alarming is the perception that J&K Police listens only upward, not outward. Senior officers’ instructions take precedence over medical emergencies, citizen pleas, and basic human decency. Policing that ignores public suffering ceases to be service — it becomes control.
The people of Jammu are angry, and rightly so.
They are tired of being stopped, questioned, shouted at, and treated as obstacles in their own city.
They are tired of a system that bends for the powerful and stiffens against the powerless.
This is not just about one VIP movement.
This is about a mindset that believes roads belong to rulers, not residents.
Jammu deserves better.
It deserves governance that moves with the people, not over them.
It deserves an administration that remembers one simple truth
