Guru Nanak Nagar Abides By Guru Nanak

This time Jammu region from the state of J&K was in news all over India for very wrong reasons. It all started few days back in a Shiv temple of Roopnagar area of Jammu as a Muslim youth desecrated temple with certain acts which are always unacceptable to humanity. As soon as this news spread people came on roads in Roopnagar and Janipur areas. The chants of BHAM-BHAM BOLE were in the air once again. Many political parties and their cadres too came on roads. Local people started causing damage to public property but gladly no life was lost. The result of it was that Jammu was set on social fire as hatred suddenly grew against Muslim community. Shiver went to people of Jammu as they thought that it may now take the shape of agitation which happened in Jammu in 2008. It took several hours to settle the heat over this issue as administration as well as civil society came eye to eye over this matter. Curfew was imposed and internet services were blocked as social media propagated the idea of negativity in very rapid speed during this time. Some social and political bodies condemned this happening and appealed to the government to punish the culprit who was arrested.

This was not all that was to happen in Jammu. Suddenly, news came in the next few hours that the Roopnagar act has been repeated in Jammu. But this time it was a Sikh guy in Guru Nanak Nagar area who desecrated a Shiv temple. This second act raised many eyebrows and questions were raised as to how an act with many things common in between has happened in Jammu at such a short duration. I myself was a witness to post desecration activities which happened in Nanak Nagar. I witnessed many inspiring brotherhood & harmony scenes which may remain in my memory in life to come. There was hue and cry all over and markets got closed in a few minutes. With every passing minute a number of people grew on the road outside the local Shiv temple. However, all local residents from both communities gathered and stood in unity. The Sikh society immediately condemned the act and wanted that a man who has brought stigma to the community should not be spared. It was a scene to witness as none from the Sikh community defended the act with any excuse. Instead they told Hindu community brethren that they won’t leave the Shiv temple until they get the Sikh guy punished. It was because of the harmonious efforts of both communities that the culprit was booked under Public Safety Act (PSA) within 4 hours.

The residents of Guru Nanak Nagar proved the teachings of Guru Nanak as they maintained communal harmony, peace and brotherhood. Many outsiders came there to aggravate prevailing things as they all even belonged to various social and political groups but the local people from Hindu community told them to leave as they can handle this matter on their own. Such was the stand of the local Shiv temple committee that they even didn’t let outsiders enter the Shiv temple initially, as they knew their real intentions. Police and administration got a sigh of relief as they noticed that the people are united and are doing what wasn’t expected at all. The internal unity and strength of both communities and at such a sensitive situation in turn gave strength to the official machinery which was on its toes. This resulted in ending this tense wave within a few hours and roads in the area once again turned peaceful. The next morning it was as normal as any other day but yes, the temple since then is seeing many new guests who are coming to visit the temple which witnessed the testing times. 

We won’t be wrong if we believe that it was the first time in the history of Jammu that religiously hurt people controlled their emotions. Moreover what prevailed over their emotions were their brains as they made a difference between fair play and foul play. It should be quoted as an example in the whole state and we should understand that we need not flow with the emotions instantly. The starting note of both situations in Roopnagar and Guru Nanak Nagar was quite similar but the ending note was totally opposite. In Guru Nanak Nagar, issue settled down without much application of official machinery tools. Guru Nanak Nagar has become talk of town, as people from all walks of life are praising this area for this show of internal unity which our whole country lacks. As we all know that no religion preaches such acts, it's only a few who set things on fire and make all others burn in that fire. Let’s hope that we all see some better days ahead and won’t ever make our Jammu a place where any eye has something against another eye.

2016 Opportunity & 2019 Target

Once again the Indian democracy witnessed ‘political holi’ when colours like saffron, green, red etc. were in the air. These all colours reflected the love of voters and supporters with one or another political party of India. Interestingly, this ‘political holi’ started as soon as the results of 2016 assembly election were declared a few days back. These post-success celebrations were a must for all parties, who emerged victorious, as they all fought against the tough political winds. These victorious parties included Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Trinamool Congress, AIADMK and Left-Front who all did well in one each state where these assembly elections were held. Whereas Congress, celebrated in a very low manner as it won only in Puducherry and in all remaining states there wasn’t much to celebrate politically. Results of 2014 general elections in India brought out a political situation in which things appeared to go all in favour of BJP in the near future in the country. But as we know that, ‘in politics we cannot write obituaries’; many other parties too have done well since the last two years.

2016 assembly results in Assam have given BJP a very big reason to celebrate, as BJP has got the first biggest political mandate in the north east. The results in Assam show that people were tired of Congress rule for the last 15 years. For BJP it was a very crucial election as they have learnt a lot after losing in Delhi and Bihar elections. Importance of Assam for the BJP can be judged clearly as after the results, the BJP declared that they have laid the foundation for 2019 general elections of India. However, this statement was digested by none of the opposition parties in India as they believed that winning only one state cannot lead to good results in 2019. Supporting it is the reality that out of Assam, BJP has only won 5 seats out of more than 600 seats at four places where elections were held. On the contrary, for BJP supporters the result was not about numbers but ‘politics of development’ under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Adding colour to this ‘political holi’ is the victory of Mamta Banerjee led Trinamool Congress which has won elections in West Bengal for the second time in a row. A lot was said and believed to happen this time in West Bengal but Mamta Banerjee proved all wrong with the thumping majority her party got. Efforts were made by the Left-Front & Congress party by forming a pre-election alliance to stop the march of Mamta Banerjee but they failed in this decisive election. BJP too was left far behind in the numbers tally in West Bengal in spite of whirlwind tours in the state by all senior leaders of BJP.

The winds of celebration are blowing in the Southern part of India also as AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha defeated M Karunanidhi led DMK-Congress alliance. These assembly elections brought out many record making results. AIADMK too made a record by winning for the second time in a row. This trend was never witnessed in the state of Tamil Nadu after 1980’s. Many theories are coming out as a reason for the victory of AIADMK. For some, it was the impact of the manifesto of AIADMK which contained a long list of freebies. While for others, the alliance partners DMK-Congress made certain strategic mistakes which caused them vote loss. Moreover, in Tamil Nadu also, BJP couldn’t bring in festivity for them even after hectic efforts. The state of Kerala, witnessed once again the surge of Left-Front which faced rout in West Bengal, at the hands of Trinamool Congress just 5 years back. Even 2014 general elections results didn’t bring anything to rejoice for the Left-Front. So nothing much and nothing too soon was expected for Left-Front in their ongoing worst times. But it is said that because of ‘anti-labour policies’ and ‘no-economy revival’ by Narendra Modi led central govt has given Left-Front a chance to reorganize its cadre. Hence, they got a chance to form a government in Kerala.

In total we can see that after these elections two regional parties have risen tremendously. Consequently, these assembly results have produced two new situations in Indian political setup. Firstly, it created opportunity for all parties in the year 2016 and secondly, it gave all parties a target for 2019. Now after the scrutiny of the prevailing political structure a new picture appears in the country.  These results are an opportunity giving event of 2016 for all victorious parties, as they now feel more strengthened in the prevailing Indian political arrangement. This strength has made these all parties to go in brain-storming mode and all of them now have targets for 2019. The target is to win seats in the general elections of 2019 in India and for it all parties have set their eyes. In the present political situation, Trinamool Congress & AIADMK can turn out to be king-makers of 2019 elections. Furthermore, assembly elections in states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab are due in 2017. If things don’t go as planned for BJP and Congress in these states then more contenders can join this list of king-makers of 2019. In addition to it, voices are already making rounds for forming a third front or grand alliance for 2019 elections in the country against NDA. Parties like Congress, JD (U), RJD, Trinamool Congress, AIADMK, BJD and any non-NDA party who wins Uttar Pradesh and Punjab can be part of this alliance. If this political scene sets in motion then a new political picture will be made in the country. BJP because of this combination may have to re-channelize their plans and energy. This rising opposition within the country can even bring out a new face in 2019 because in politics no failure is permanent.