Brunt of Incompetent Leaders: Nullification of Roshini Act!

The successive governments of different parties and coalitions that held power in J&K had the opportunity to make the ‘Roshni Land Act-2001’ constitutionally guaranteed by the country’s Parliament under Article 35 of the Constitution of India for the benefit of the people, but they chose not to do so and instead created a hollow skeleton out of it that largely favoured the chosen, and ultimately made life for the deserving people, who benefited from it, a living hell. All of it washed away shortly after Articles 370 and 35-A were repealed, leaving the people with nothing; casting a dark shadow over the abilities and vision of the leaders chosen by the people to serve as their representatives.

In reality, whatever people are facing currently in J&K, it has turned out, is the failure of Abdullahs, Muftis including Azad, who are now unconsciously presenting that it was their incompetence that they did not take the necessary measures to protect the fundamental rights of the people which could have been only guaranteed by the parliament under the Article 35. Additionally, it has also come to the fire that these leaders did little to defend the interests of the populace as a whole during all of these years but just sought power. That alone reveals their lack of attention to detail and capacity for thinking through the worst-case scenario, which has since come to pass and has proven to be devastating. They created an Act and believed that it would never be trashed, how naïve!

These leaders were chosen by the people of J&K with the expectation that they would support them by defending their fundamental rights, but they failed to do so—a prime example of this being their inaction about the Roshini Land Act. The benefiting of the J&K citizens under the Act was never their primary motivation, which is equally accurate and explains their inactivity. They chose to proceed with a skeleton in the form of an Act; didn’t think about or even imagine the worst-case scenario, which would have required them to erect an iron shield to defend the people.

Our political leaders and representatives never advocated for the needs of the people; the elected leaders must do so because that’s what makes them leaders. They must also be accountable for the decisions they make and be willing to accept responsibility for their actions—or lack thereof—especially those that are currently harming the people of J&K the most. People must come to realise that they have been electing ineffective people to represent them at the same time they need to see the incompetence of these leaders and their reasons for holding power over the decades, which were anything but the sustained and planned well-being of the people. Who gets to patch the hole in the bottom of the boat needs to be seen!