Abraham Lincoln has said, “With public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. He who moulds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or decisions possible or impossible to execute”.
Public sentiment is everything; do politicians know it or ignore?
By Ajmer Alam Wani
The hectic political activity to determine whether elections will be held in November 2008 or in March 2009 has started with the Election Commission of India (ECI) headed by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gopalaswami arrived in the state to assess the situation before taking a final decision on holding the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
Before announcing any decision, the Commission comprising of Election Commissioners, Navin Chawla and S. Y. Qureshi and two Deputy Elections Commissioners accompanied Gopalaswami were briefed about the situation obtaining in the State by the Advisors to Governor, H.H Tyabji, Dr. S.S Bloeria and C. Phunsog and Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu in separate meetings yet the Commission will meet the representatives of political parties to obtain their views on holding of the elections.
As the process has started and the elections are to be conducted sooner or later but the fact of the matter is that the ‘public sentiment is everything’ which every politician who has to contest the forthcoming election should keep in mind.
Every politician should keep in mind the quote of the biggest democrat Abraham Lincoln who has said decades ago, “With public sentiment nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed. He who moulds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes or decisions possible or impossible to execute”.
But unfortunately, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir it has been witnessed that once these politicians are elected to power they work against the sentiments of the masses who voted them into power.
Every political party in the state weather regional or national, rode on the crest of public sentiments but the time has changed now rulers (political parties) of yesteryears are now like a rudderless weather beaten and battered ship drifting in choppy political waters in the absence policies acceptable to common masses of both the regions of Kashmir and Jammu which ensure their betterment and development and complete eradication of corruption.
See, last year entire Kashmir Valley was stormed with protest over the infamous sex scandal but sooner every thing disappeared and today all those who were pointed out with accusing fingers are most respectable and honest citizens of the society, the reason is simple not only maximum but every one among them were (even today are) close to those politicians who when approached the common masses for bagging votes had assured to work for their battement and ensure justice to them, but if a common man cries who cares. These things simply indicate and justify how the politicians care for the sentiments of common masses who want justice and corruption free working in the government offices but yet despites knowing every thing these people are easily befooled by these ever claver politicians who appeared before them as ‘Bolt From The Blue’ and bag for votes.
It is expected that the recent agitation which started first in Kashmir and later spread to Jammu over the issue of Amarnath land row might bring some change in the political situation in the state. As the time is changing and developments are taking place indications are there that people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh would not allow politicians now to toy with them and their sentiments.
All those now sitting at the helms of party affairs are mere featherweight in the political arena and have no clue how to run the party or even conduct themselves personally and get the voters influenced as they don’t have a solid agenda which would be acceptable to the people of all the three regions i.e Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh which seem divided politically, economically and even socially. Those who had no voice earlier have suddenly become the voice of common people by sidelining the veterans and stalwarts who would have done better jobs than those now dominating the scene.
The political setup in Jammu as well as Kashmir Valley looks like that of part of a political circus where the leaders have nothing to do but to perform tricks on trapezes to win the applause of the poor who want bigger acts to lift them from the miseries and problems.
In the recent past there was hardly any seriousness among the cabinet colleagues on important public issues. Let them claim to have done more than enough but still there are many villages in the state where people have no water to drink, no road travel (even on foot), no electricity, no healthcare facilities, no buildings for schools and women during pregnancy die in inhuman conditions as they cant be reached to most nearest hospitals which are net less than 30 to 40 kilometers away from these road-less and unconnected hamlets in the hilly terrains.
These brave politicians of our state who are the creation of these suffering people are more worried about their own comforts and busy winning public applause.
Oblivious to the plight and miseries of the masses and worsening law and order situation prevailing in every nook and corner of the state, politicians of past, present and future were and are interested in pursuing their own agenda while sitting in cozy palaces but the future demands something, a little contribution from these politicians for their own people.
The Jammu and Kashmir state has a soap opera with political parties (big and small) and many times it has been observed that individual politicians bargaining for everything.
With little time left for elections, every political party and politician will try to their best to influence the voters so they could survival for next six years or so for which after being elected will join hands with even those politicians (parties) against whom the voters cast their valuable votes. They form the coalition governments without caring for the interests of voters who sentiments are vanished. Coalitions with parties of indifferent ideologies and polices are formed not in the interest of common people but for the politicians themselves so they could enjoy the corridors of power is luxury AC rooms. Why at that time these politicians can not go on the public and ask for their public opinion about the formation of coalition?
This spectacle, as it unfolds, puts forward for public review the ugly side of coalition politics.
After analyzing the recent divorce between the PDP and Congress over the land allotment issue as main besides many hidden conflicts, one thing has to be accepted that in our society, the government formation by alliance wouldn’t hold out for much longer time, the reason being there could be either differences among the allied government or could be ideological clash among the parties.
Keeping in view the present political situation, it is clear that no party will won through simple majority and the party who’ve had comparative majority would take aid of other parties which have won enough seats to make the main party to be triumphant.
The small parties would help the major party not keeping in mind the interests of people of the state but for the favours bestowed on to them by major party.
In-fact this has become a business to small parties which is more profitable than finding diamond fields at their site. Transaction of people into the needy parties by exchange of money has been institutionalized nowadays.
With the formation of government in this manner, how could the government survive for a longer time? Just because to satisfy few power thirsty and greedy people, how correct is to make the common man to hold the burden by conducting election so frequently and the money spent on it would be collected by common man in the name of Income Tax and so many other legal names which are meant to ruin the common man.
Hence, there is a need of a altruistic government and philanthropist leader and where the meaning of coalition would mean accepting the best practices and ideologies from different parties and where a party would mean a group of people who are not influenced by any materialistic stuff but work for interests of the people of the state and the nation itself.
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