The recent two incidents of desecration of places of worship in Jammu are condemnable by one and all in severest possible words. Miscreants on different occasions hurled insults at temples in sequence which looks not normal incidents that compel a commoner to smell some foul play behind these. The abyss behind the incidents are intriguing and to be probed honestly to clear the clouds of suspicions in the minds of the people. May be the miscreants did these misconducts being mentally imbalanced or in an inebriated condition but their actions cannot be justified under these arguments.
As the state of Jammu Kashmir resonated with its latest tragic desecration acts, with a few leaders and some elements trying desperately, it seems, to make the vandals as part of some “radical fringe group”, such consequences could be back linked to faulty set basics of the state administration.
Even though the culprit of the Nanak Nagar Shiv Temple desecration was imprisoned under PSA, the occurrence of such event right after the Aap Shambu Temple incident appeared alarming.
The state administration appeared to be in shambles when the word about Aap Shambu incident went viral. With the CCTV video routed on WhatsApp, the incident shaped up into a highly sensitive matter required to be handled by the ones at the helm of affairs.
Adding fuel to it, a head constable blew it by “killing the messenger”, thus infuriating a protest and leading to the loss of property with the city burning at the night. By the time the machinery could realize what was going on, the protest went viral sending chills of a “riot like” situation across Jammu Province.
The administration's mishandling clearly says about the immaturity and claustrophobic mindset of the section of those available at the behest of the administration to deal with crisis like situations.
The protests that followed were obvious reaction by the residents and religious groups as their religious feelings were hurt. But the counter reaction by the police and administration using brute force against the protesters is not the right solution to contain the anger of the people. Dealing with such situations are not new to the police and administration as they have been facing more severe protests and stone pelting incidents on other side of Pir Panchal. They were often advised to use restraint in dealing with such situation and which they indeed do. Unfortunately, they forget these advices while dealing protesters here in Jammu. Over and above, the irresponsible uttering by the Jammu District Magistrate about the protesting people was deplorable.
Nevertheless a decision of snipping the mobile internet came in a little too late while the broadband service still remained active in the city.
Despite administration's ‘better show' at Nanak Nagar incident, the mere existence of the second one is oxymoronic. But real credit goes to the local residents of Nanak Nagar as members of both the community gathered on the spot of incident and caught hold of the miscreant and handed him to the police. The locals even snubbed out few outsiders who wanted to flare up the situation. The shops of both the communities were immediately shut in protest. The maturity shown by the residents is appreciable.
The district administration, of late, seems now in action as it has started establishing contact with the citizens, social groups and media to diffuse the situation further which is good steps and it will bring positive impact. However, the people of Jammu has shown enough maturity and tolerance to absorb these unfortunate incidents which those on helm of affairs should appreciate.
