Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the Jammu &amp; Kashmir assembly on Wednesday night. Prior to the dissolution, he is said to have consulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and a few of PM’s advisers.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, according to media reports, is reported to have written to the Governor that she could not reach Raj Bhawan, but she tweeted in public domain, claiming that she had the support and backing of 56 MLAs. Soon after, Sajjad Lone, with only two MLAs in the assembly, showed his interest by saying that he had the support of BJP and over 18 other independent MLAs.

The legal position under Section 53 of the J&amp;K Constitution is that the action of the Governor does not need to be ratified by Parliament. It is only after the expiry of six months that President Rule can be imposed that needs Parliament’s ratification. The Governor has said that the reasons for his decision to dissolve the assembly that had a tenure till 2020, were reports of extensive horse trading and possible exchange of money in order to secure the support of legislators, thus jeopardising the fragile security scenario in the state. The Governor further said there is the impossibility of forming a stable government by coming together of political parties with opposing ideologies. 
 
&nbsp;The BJP, a partner of PDP until a few months ago, supported the Governor’s decision, saying that “J&amp;K needs a firm administration to deal with terrorism and not a combination of terror-friendly parties”. Further, BJP leaders commented, that “the best option in such a scenario is to go in for a fresh election at the earliest. This assembly cannot produce a stable government.”

Governor Malik has allowed his own reputation to be imperilled along with the impact he was reportedly making with Kashmiris by promoting his healing-touch policy, making efforts to reach out for peace and dialogue. Malik’s action has lowered the prestige of the gubernatorial office in a fragile and sensitive state of the Indian Union. He is an experienced politician and should have exhausted all the normal constitutional and democratic norms set out by the apex court.&nbsp;

Since the BJP-PDP government was dissolved in June, the Jammu and Kashmir assembly was kept in suspended animation and Governor’s Rule imposed in the state. Malik was not bound by the convention of recommending the dissolution of the assembly on advice of the chief minister and state cabinet, because neither existed. The dissolution deprived the elected legislators the opportunity to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir again.

Important political and constitutional issues lie at the heart of Governor’s action. Legally and constitutionally, Malik can say he was well within his rights to dissolve the assembly. Legitimately, power was exercised, but it was done in the pursuit of illegitimate goals. The timing of the dissolution makes it clear that Malik moved under orders — willingly or otherwise — to forestall the formation of a government that would prove inimical to the BJP’s calculations. By dissolving the J&amp;K assembly, he has ignored admittedly dodgy precedents set elsewhere.

Take Bihar. In 2015, an alliance of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United) and Congress had swept the state elections and formed a coalition government. In July 2017, barely two years later, in a move clearly orchestrated by outgoing and incoming chief minister Nitish Kumar, he disbanded the “grand alliance” by resigning as chief minister and was sworn in hours later in the same position, but with the BJP as his new ally. No gubernatorial compunctions seemed to have been experienced in showing the green light to this manoeuvre — a blatant betrayal of the 2015 mandate. In Goa, the Congress won 17 of the 40 assembly seats and the BJP, 13. The BJP got nine legislators on its side — three each from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Goa Forward Party and three independents. Armed with a list of 22, it was invited to form a government, which it duly did. No one expressed any reservations whatsoever.&nbsp;

Now take Jammu and Kashmir. When the PDP and BJP decided to form a coalition government, no questions were raised by the governor about this decidedly surreal alliance. If you really stretch yourself, you can find some common ground between the PDP and National Conference — they are both Kashmiri parties, both are committed to some notion of Kashmiri exceptionalism and autonomy and share the same kind of social constituencies. Also, the PDP and Congress have been allies in the past.

But by what stretch of imagination did the then Governor of Jammu and Kashmir decide that the PDP and BJP, who are ideologically and programmatically on absolutely opposite ends of the spectrum, could form a “stable” government? The imagination boggles. It is reported that the central government views this coalition as detrimental to the political situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Of course, it does. But not because the “arrangement” would be riven by “contradictions”.

What will transpire now is not yet clear. Someone or the other could move court against the dismissal of the assembly, which makes logical sense. The Congress, National Conference, PDP and other political parties may be content to wait things out for another six months, by which time state elections will have to be held. 
&nbsp;

(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-give-everyone-a-chance-in-jk-2688311">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the Jammu & Kashmir assembly on Wednesday night. Prior to the dissolution, he is said to have consulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and a few of PM’s advisers.

Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the Jammu & Kashmir assembly on Wednesday night. Prior to the dissolution, he is said to have consulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah and a few of PM’s advisers. Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti, according to media reports, is reported to have written to the Governor that she could not reach Raj Bhawan, but she tweeted in public domain, claiming that she had the support and backing of 56 MLAs. Soon after, Sajjad Lone, with only two MLAs in the assembly, showed his interest by saying that he had the support of BJP and over 18 other independent MLAs. The legal position under Section 53 of the J&K Constitution is that the action of the Governor does not need to be ratified by Parliament. It is only after the expiry of six months that President Rule can be imposed that needs Parliament’s ratification. The Governor has said that the reasons for his decision to dissolve the assembly that had a tenure till 2020, were reports of extensive horse trading and possible exchange of money in order to secure the support of legislators, thus jeopardising the fragile security scenario in the state. The Governor further said there is the impossibility of forming a stable government by coming together of political parties with opposing ideologies. The BJP, a partner of PDP until a few months ago, supported the Governor’s decision, saying that “J&K needs a firm administration to deal with terrorism and not a combination of terror-friendly parties”. Further, BJP leaders commented, that “the best option in such a scenario is to go in for a fresh election at the earliest. This assembly cannot produce a stable government.” Governor Malik has allowed his own reputation to be imperilled along with the impact he was reportedly making with Kashmiris by promoting his healing-touch policy, making efforts to reach out for peace and dialogue. Malik’s action has lowered the prestige of the gubernatorial office in a fragile and sensitive state of the Indian Union. He is an experienced politician and should have exhausted all the normal constitutional and democratic norms set out by the apex court. Since the BJP-PDP government was dissolved in June, the Jammu and Kashmir assembly was kept in suspended animation and Governor’s Rule imposed in the state. Malik was not bound by the convention of recommending the dissolution of the assembly on advice of the chief minister and state cabinet, because neither existed. The dissolution deprived the elected legislators the opportunity to form a government in Jammu and Kashmir again. Important political and constitutional issues lie at the heart of Governor’s action. Legally and constitutionally, Malik can say he was well within his rights to dissolve the assembly. Legitimately, power was exercised, but it was done in the pursuit of illegitimate goals. The timing of the dissolution makes it clear that Malik moved under orders — willingly or otherwise — to forestall the formation of a government that would prove inimical to the BJP’s calculations. By dissolving the J&K assembly, he has ignored admittedly dodgy precedents set elsewhere. Take Bihar. In 2015, an alliance of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United) and Congress had swept the state elections and formed a coalition government. In July 2017, barely two years later, in a move clearly orchestrated by outgoing and incoming chief minister Nitish Kumar, he disbanded the “grand alliance” by resigning as chief minister and was sworn in hours later in the same position, but with the BJP as his new ally. No gubernatorial compunctions seemed to have been experienced in showing the green light to this manoeuvre — a blatant betrayal of the 2015 mandate. In Goa, the Congress won 17 of the 40 assembly seats and the BJP, 13. The BJP got nine legislators on its side — three each from the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party and Goa Forward Party and three independents. Armed with a list of 22, it was invited to form a government, which it duly did. No one expressed any reservations whatsoever. Now take Jammu and Kashmir. When the PDP and BJP decided to form a coalition government, no questions were raised by the governor about this decidedly surreal alliance. If you really stretch yourself, you can find some common ground between the PDP and National Conference — they are both Kashmiri parties, both are committed to some notion of Kashmiri exceptionalism and autonomy and share the same kind of social constituencies. Also, the PDP and Congress have been allies in the past. But by what stretch of imagination did the then Governor of Jammu and Kashmir decide that the PDP and BJP, who are ideologically and programmatically on absolutely opposite ends of the spectrum, could form a “stable” government? The imagination boggles. It is reported that the central government views this coalition as detrimental to the political situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Of course, it does. But not because the “arrangement” would be riven by “contradictions”. What will transpire now is not yet clear. Someone or the other could move court against the dismissal of the assembly, which makes logical sense. The Congress, National Conference, PDP and other political parties may be content to wait things out for another six months, by which time state elections will have to be held. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

Everyone should be given a chance in J&K

What started as a bang and great hope has ended in a great tragedy in Kashmir. The attempt to bridge Jammu with Kashmir has ended in a disaster. Today Kashmir is back to square one. The civilian life stands disrupted.&nbsp;

The modicum of normalcy which existed prior to 2014 lies completely shattered. Though every development in Kashmir cannot be heaped on BJP but the party is surely to be blamed for the response it came up with months after months.&nbsp;

Kashmir became an experiment shop for the nationalist narrative. Unnecessary debates dominated the tenure of the PDP-BJP development.&nbsp;

Whether it was the state flag, Article 370, Article 35(A) - unnecessary controversies dominated the tenure of the regime. The worst disservice was that Army was brought into Kashmir issue as a political agent. Indian Army’s view became another pillar in the conversation which was already suffering from political McCarthyism.

Unfortunate thing is that Army’s view was never an issue but their position on certain issues was continuously milked to attack and discredit the Opposition. It played out well for the audience in the heartland but ended up alienating average Kashmiri and adding strain on the alliance which ultimately cracked because of the inherent contradictions. Both of them were unnatural partners who were ideologically opposed and represented opposed social constituencies.

Despite unending failure at every level, BJP still thought of something unimaginable. It thought of pushing Sajad Lone as the CM face and tried to encourage defections. It pushed the narrative of 'Third Party' in a play where none existed. The push prompted political reorganisation by National Conference (NC), PDP and Congress. Whether it was fear, hard political compulsion or matter of survival, it spooked the BJP. The worst fear of BJP came into existence like wildfire. The real issue was what if 'Grand Alliance' becomes a reality in J&amp;K? Will it have an impact on elections?&nbsp;

These are conjunctures, but the fact remains that the BJP’s incessant push to remain in power through backdoor created an alignment which neither of them was interested in.

There is no doubt that PDP and NC are not the best of partners, but they have more ideological similarity than what is shared between BJP and PDP. On top of it, Congress has been in alliance with both NC and PDP. So, the reason given by the Governor of horse trading and ideological divide does not hold water. It shows that BJP became nervous that if this alliance comes to power then it will add weight to the idea behind 'Grand Alliance' again.&nbsp;

It is, for this reason, the BJP decided to opt for the more convenient option which is President’s rule. It happened despite the fact that both NC and Congress in long run did not want to tie up with PDP which has burnt its political ground in South Kashmir.&nbsp;

Kashmir shows the limit of push a political party and state can exert on society. Unbridled power and hard politics divorced from political ethics can produce results like these. Indira Gandhi’s total hegemony brought everyone together. Today, BJP stands in the same total position without realising that uncontained political ambition can be self-limiting.&nbsp;

Accommodative politics sometimes leads to better longevity. There are many lessons and less known issues. For example, as to why Home Minister Rajnath Singh and General Secretary in charge of J&amp;K Ram Madhav could not convince Modi-Shah duo to let Assembly survive for a few more days would be another story, but Kashmir, in the end, has come out as the real victim of national politics.

This is the tragedy with which the nation will have to deal with in the longer run. A Kashmir which is more fragile, more alienated and less safe and all cannot be blamed on the enemy across the border. Some responsibility also lies with BJP.

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL) 
&nbsp;

What started as a bang and great hope has ended in a great tragedy in Kashmir. The attempt to bridge Jammu with Kashmir has ended in a disaster. Today Kashmir is back to square one.

What started as a bang and great hope has ended in a great tragedy in Kashmir. The attempt to bridge Jammu with Kashmir has ended in a disaster. Today Kashmir is back to square one. The civilian life stands disrupted. The modicum of normalcy which existed prior to 2014 lies completely shattered. Though every development in Kashmir cannot be heaped on BJP but the party is surely to be blamed for the response it came up with months after months. Kashmir became an experiment shop for the nationalist narrative. Unnecessary debates dominated the tenure of the PDP-BJP development. Whether it was the state flag, Article 370, Article 35(A) - unnecessary controversies dominated the tenure of the regime. The worst disservice was that Army was brought into Kashmir issue as a political agent. Indian Army’s view became another pillar in the conversation which was already suffering from political McCarthyism. Unfortunate thing is that Army’s view was never an issue but their position on certain issues was continuously milked to attack and discredit the Opposition. It played out well for the audience in the heartland but ended up alienating average Kashmiri and adding strain on the alliance which ultimately cracked because of the inherent contradictions. Both of them were unnatural partners who were ideologically opposed and represented opposed social constituencies. Despite unending failure at every level, BJP still thought of something unimaginable. It thought of pushing Sajad Lone as the CM face and tried to encourage defections. It pushed the narrative of 'Third Party' in a play where none existed. The push prompted political reorganisation by National Conference (NC), PDP and Congress. Whether it was fear, hard political compulsion or matter of survival, it spooked the BJP. The worst fear of BJP came into existence like wildfire. The real issue was what if 'Grand Alliance' becomes a reality in J&K? Will it have an impact on elections? These are conjunctures, but the fact remains that the BJP’s incessant push to remain in power through backdoor created an alignment which neither of them was interested in. There is no doubt that PDP and NC are not the best of partners, but they have more ideological similarity than what is shared between BJP and PDP. On top of it, Congress has been in alliance with both NC and PDP. So, the reason given by the Governor of horse trading and ideological divide does not hold water. It shows that BJP became nervous that if this alliance comes to power then it will add weight to the idea behind 'Grand Alliance' again. It is, for this reason, the BJP decided to opt for the more convenient option which is President’s rule. It happened despite the fact that both NC and Congress in long run did not want to tie up with PDP which has burnt its political ground in South Kashmir. Kashmir shows the limit of push a political party and state can exert on society. Unbridled power and hard politics divorced from political ethics can produce results like these. Indira Gandhi’s total hegemony brought everyone together. Today, BJP stands in the same total position without realising that uncontained political ambition can be self-limiting. Accommodative politics sometimes leads to better longevity. There are many lessons and less known issues. For example, as to why Home Minister Rajnath Singh and General Secretary in charge of J&K Ram Madhav could not convince Modi-Shah duo to let Assembly survive for a few more days would be another story, but Kashmir, in the end, has come out as the real victim of national politics. This is the tragedy with which the nation will have to deal with in the longer run. A Kashmir which is more fragile, more alienated and less safe and all cannot be blamed on the enemy across the border. Some responsibility also lies with BJP. (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

End of honeymoon: Political McCarthyism bites BJP in Kashmir

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Everyone should be given a chance in J&K

End of honeymoon: Political McCarthyism bites BJP in Kashmir