Srinagar/Jammu, Dec 30 (IANS): Year 2024 has been both significant and epochal in Jammu and Kashmir as it witnessed Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections for the first time after 10 years.
Both these elections were peaceful and largely people participative. People chose their representatives for the country’s Lok Sabha and the union territory’s Legislative Assembly in a peaceful, free and fearless atmosphere.
Undoubtedly, the credit for the peaceful and fair conduct of these polls must go to the Election Commission of India, but on the ground, it goes to the efficient, strong and firm governance by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha.
Sinha has been firm without being loud or rude. He did not harbour any misgivings or doubt that an elected government must take office in J&K. In fact, he devoted his entire attention to the security situation to control the ground so that people come out on their own and participate in the democratic exercise without fear of the terrorists.
The peaceful conduct and large percentages of voters, even larger than those in peacetimes before terrorism began in Kashmir, must go to the credit of Manoj Sinha.
It needs a special mention that in his clarity of thought and approach, Manoj Sinha did not speak in terms of just the number of terrorists killed. He spoke of dismantling the terror ecosystem comprised of terrorists, their over-ground workers (OGWs) and sympathisers.
He is the first Lt. Governor of J&K who ever spoke of dismantling the whole terror ecosystem instead of just focusing on the number of terrorists killed every year.
His political background, IITian education and administrative acumen deserve a special mention when we speak of the changed and the fast-changing ground realities in Kashmir.
The Lt Governor is no elected office and that is why official press releases about the achievements of the person in charge are not seen in good taste with the constitutional position of the office.
In more than one way, Manoj Sinha’s leadership at the administrative level and his contribution to security improvement will remain like that of an unsung hero.
The relentless commitment to duty and the sacrifices made by the local police, army and the CAPFs are second to none in ensuring that Kashmir hosted the largest ever number of tourists in 2024.
There was not a single terrorist attack on either the tourists or on the over five lakh pilgrims who undertook the annual Amarnath Yatra in the Kashmir Himalayas this year.
Policemen, soldiers and the troopers of the CRPF spent sleepless nights to ensure that the people lived in peace in J&K.
Despite its hands being full of domestic problems, Pakistan did not budge an inch from its nefarious sponsorship of terrorism in J&K in 2024. It used money, drugs, weapons dropped by drones and religious exploitation to keep the pot of terrorism boiling in J&K.
The peaceful, people-participative elections witnessed by diplomats from the international community, frustrated the handlers of terrorism sitting in Pakistan. It was for this reason that the terrorists in J&K were ordered to show their presence by attacking the army, police, CAPFs and civilians. This was primarily done to give the dying terrorism its last push.
The worst such attack was on October 20, when two heavily armed terrorists, a Pakistani mercenary and a local, entered the workers' camp of an infrastructure company in the Gagangir area of Ganderbal and fired indiscriminately. Seven people, six civilian workers and a local doctor were killed in this attack.
The infrastructure company was building a tunnel so that the tourist resort of Sonamarg remained open throughout the year thereby helping employment and tourism-related livelihood in the region.
The local recruitment of terrorists in the Pakistan-sponsored terror groups remained very low as only four locals joined these groups in 2024.
In different encounters and operations, the security has been able to kill around 75 terrorists in different regions of the state, including the Jammu region and the Kashmir valley, along with the firefights that took place during infiltration attempts by terrorists on the Line of Control (LoC), said officials.
Notably, Pakistan has traditionally been seen as one of the biggest hubs for exporting terrorists to almost all parts of the World with its main focus on India.
Pakistan tried to give a strong push to terrorism in Jammu in 2024, but the activities of the Pakistani terrorists in the areas of the region, including districts in Rajouri, Poonch, Doda, Kishtwar, Kathua and Reasi, have been curbed with additional deployment of troops and filling up of the vacuum created after the withdrawal of Rashtriya Rifles from there for the China border deployments.
Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi and Northern Army Commander Lt General M.V. Suchendra Kumar have been laying focus on eliminating the terrorists from the area looked after by the White Knight Corps of the force.
After the Omar Abdullah-led National Conference (NC) government took office, tension of sorts emerged between the Raj Bhavan and the chief minister. This is so because the elected government has not come to grips with the present position of J&K.
It is no longer a full-fledged state that Omar Abdullah, his father, grandfather or anybody ever ruled as the chief minister in the past.
J&K is a union territory and the sooner the elected government understands the constitutional position, the better for the people and the elected government itself.
Lt Governor in the UT has inherent powers over IAS/IPS, Police, Security, law & order, anti-corruption, prosecution and prisons with powers to nominate the advocate general and government counsels representing the UT.
Everything else, including health and medical education, public works, electric department, education, irrigation and flood control, forests and environment, social welfare, rural development, revenue, finance, tourism, agriculture and horticulture, development authorities, etc., are all under the direct control of the elected government in J&K.
Once the chief minister and his council of ministers understand the thin line that separates their powers from the powers of the Lt. Governor, J&K can become a truly peaceful and prosperous place in 2025.
Statehood will be restored at the right time and that calls for some patience from all.
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