The non-conduct of the elections in J&K tops the list of all the issues which people are facing. Rather, the conduct of elections, and letting people have the popularly elected Government, is going to solve the majority of the issues which the people are facing on a day-to-day basis. On top of it, having an elected Government is the democratic right of the people and the same needs to be facilitated, which the Government of India is duty-bound. Now that we have a democracy at the grassroots, thriving and blooming across J&K, in the shape of effective functioning of the Panchayati Raj System, there should be no hindrance in letting it flourish in the larger picture too for greater impact.
Mr. Shah, during his visit, is reportedly going to announce ST status to the Tribal Community of J&K; even though the move is being resented by the members of the community, the same is being viewed as another landmark decision that the Government is going to take concerning the empowerment of the people of the said community. Even the political leaders who have got their vote bank in the Tribal Community, despite being in the opposite camp, have welcomed the move. However, there is now a need for coming out of the selective approach, putting an end to not looking at the ground demands and aspirations.
The large, visible aspiration on the ground continues to remain in the conduct of the election and the restoration of Statehood for J&K: this is what the Government has promised, not to political leaders, but to the people of J&K, from the floor of the Parliament, and now is the time to fulfill that. In this direction, the Home Minister must show the intent of the Government of India and that could be done by at least trying to break the ice concerning the conduct of elections and the restoration of the Statehood of J&K. A noteworthy point here is that: whatever the Government had planned concerning the streamlining and bringing transparency in the system has been achieved to a great extent and now there is a need for paving a way for people to reap the fruits by letting them elect a Government without further delay in addition to the restoration of the promised Statehood.
