“Masterstroke” nowhere! BJPs unsound decision disempowered Poonch-Rajouri people politically; Nationalists are perplexed ahead of polling
SALIL RAINA
(POONCH TODAY NEWS)
POONCH: When the nationalist people of Poonch and Rajouri, including the minorities, in February 2022 objected to the decision of the government that Poonch and Rajouri should not be a part of the newly created Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency, a strong narrative was seen hitting social media from the BJP leaders that it was the masterstroke of the BJP.
The main target of the said narrative was to silence the voices of those who objected to the decision to add Poonch districts and parts of Rajouri district to Anantnag, Kulgam, and some areas of Shopian, thereby creating a new Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary seat. For months, BJP leaders were seen as proving the decision right, but now it has been proven that the decision was wrong and the concerns raised by nationalist-minded people in Poonch and Rajouri were right. The people of Poonch and Rajouri are considered strong nationalists to an extent and have played a big role in strengthening the borders with Pakistan for years, in addition to helping the security forces completely wipe out the militancy. But rather than rewarding the nationalist people, the BJP government brought the Poonch and Rajouri areas to South Kashmir, which has a debatable history as the said area has remained a hotbed of terrorism and now almost dead separatist ideology. The culture, thought process, and demography of both the regions divided by Pir ki Gali are different, and it’s still difficult to analyze the minds of those people in the corridors of power who decided to create a new parliamentary constituency by joining together the entire Poonch district and parts of Rajouri district with South Kashmir areas. It seems that the decision was taken without applying their minds by the decision makers. It was just like a meeting of the south and north poles politically. It is seen that some times, the BJP has misused the word “masterstroke,” and by using this, a few unsound decisions have been taken in J&K that are sufficient to decrease the morale of nationalist forces, but brashly, the BJP leaders justified all those decisions as the right ones. As a result of some unreasonable decisions of the BJP, including the latest one of staying away from the election directly, the people of Poonch and Rajouri districts are feeling politically disempowered now, especially the minorities who have always stood with the BJP in maximum numbers. Some minority community leaders of Poonch and Rajouri were even seen saying, “The BJP has made us political orphans. It seems that we are scapegoats for the BJP.” Although the newly created Anantnag-Rajouri constituency was formed, as said by BJP leaders, to politically empower the people of Poonch and Rajouri, by completely ignoring the area and not fielding its candidate, the BJP has forced the nationalists to live at the mercy of God, and those leaders of other political parties who have always been seen insulting the tricolor are now looking for ways and means to ensure their entry into the parliament from this area, and if that happens, it may boost the traditional south Kashmir-like outlook also in the Rajouri-Poonch range. Although the BJP leaders are seen justifying their decisions by using the word “masterstroke, but internally, they have realized that they have made a big mistake. As a result, their “masterstroke” stands nowhere. The elected representative from this seat will never do justice to the people of the entire seat because Mughal Road always remains closed for the maximum time in a year. Moreover, satisfying people from two different ideologies and concerns is impossible for any elected MP from this seat. It raised a big question mark on the intelligence of those political leaders, and Babus, who had no ground experience or knowledge of the districts falling under the Anantnag-Rajouri seat, ultimately created this seat by giving a big blow to the nationalist people of Rajouri and Poonch districts. On this seat, only two people from Poonch-Rajouri are in fray, while twenty-three people are from the other side of Pir ki Gali, and this amounts to open discrimination. Due to some unsound decisions of the BJP, the people of Poonch and Rajouri are feeling completely politically disempowered, and this may not result in a high percentage of polls on the polling day in the districts, which are always known for a maximum poll percentage. For the first time in the last seven decades, voter enthusiasm in the Poonch-Rajouri region is not high, and the nationalist people are feeling highly neglected and politically orphaned now. They are perplexed, and their reaction on the ground shows that the ‘Masterstroke’ of the BJP is nowhere in the Poonch-Rajouri region, well before the start of its political journey in the newly created Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary seat. Moreover, from the internal security point of view, the possibility of the arrival of a pre-2019 south Kashmir outlook in the nationalist Poonch-Rajouri districts cannot be ruled out going by the many unfortunate incidents of the past that shook the internal security in the peaceful region time and again. The people of Poonch and Rajouri wanted the BJP to field its candidate from this seat, but by staying out of the context directly, the BJP has given the people the people a reason to remain confused. However, after the poll day rescheduling to May 25, there are strong indications that BJP leaders may come with full force to play a decisive role for the Apni party candidate to ensure the strengthening of the NDA in the UT of J&K. But as far as the creation of this new Anantnag-Rajouri seat, the top brass of the BJP has to think multiple times about the future by studying all the aspects, keeping in view the interests of the nationalist people of Poonch and Rajouri.