Who Will Challenge BJP?

The caption of this opinion piece is not in context with the recent victory of BJP in Gujarat, Congress reclaiming Himachal Pradesh and expansion of AAP in Delhi & Gujarat. This all was projected by the exit polls. The caption is related to the larger question of political void which is prevailing after stripping of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. In absence of an elected government for the last 3 years many political changes have erupted in both regions of J&K. As a result, these recent victories across the country seem less interesting than the political situations here. To start talking about this political churning process is the fact that most powerful pro-Pakistan voices in Kashmir have gone silent after 2019. For PDP, the fight is only to claim its political territory back, but nothing seems to serve the cause. The Apni Party is trying hard to find all possible ways to get on ground political recognition, but many complications like the J&K People's Conference stand in their way in Kashmir.

Besides, many political leaders and workers are changing loyalties in Jammu and Kashmir. Some politicians succumb to the temptation and get attracted by the rewards to save their political careers. But changing sides is nothing new in J&K. However, this was not witnessed on such a large-scale as seen after 2019. Fast-changing politics of Jammu region too has become a reality.  After Ghulam Nabi Azad forming his own party and Devender Singh Rana joining the BJP, the Congress and National Conference is in its one of the weakest political periods in Jammu. While this all happened, BJP has grown in the Jammu region so much so that it has made its chief ministerial ambitions public in J&K. Opposition leaders haven’t been able to build unity against the BJP to stop them from making Jammu region its bastion. Opposition is busy in photo ops and couldn’t become BJP’s challenger in the Jammu region. But talking about opposition unity is one thing and achieving it is another thing.

Because all opposition leaders have their own chief ministerial ambitions. It’s even more unlikely that they will lend support to each other. A divided opposition is perhaps one of the significant reasons behind the growth of BJP in Jammu and Kashmir. Right now, the question is: who will challenge BJP? As delimitation is done and new voters are added there is not much time left for opposition before the BJP starts political drive in J&K based on PM Modi’s charisma.  As the general mood is in the BJP’s favour, the BJP would want to take its advantage. In such a situation, politics of polarization won’t work in Jammu by any potential anti-Modi front at this stage for obvious reasons. There could possibly be a pre-poll opposition front or post-poll front to stop BJP but it’s easier said than done. However, this all would be evident only once elections in Jammu and Kashmir   are announced.

This takes us back to think how complex the politics in J&K has become. Leaders are already spelling out their visions for new Jammu and Kashmir. We must not forget that both voters and non- supporters have a very thin line between them. Many people have nothing to do with any political party but after the election, the results impact all of us. And it’s not all politicians’ fault because there are many problems and flaws in the Indian political system. The truth is that J&K cannot be left for politicians and political parties. For sure, whichever government comes to power in Jammu and Kashmir every citizen should get equal rights, security and respect as it’s an ‘alliance of people’.

J&K Needs A Statesman

Since 2019 politically aware youth in Jammu and Kashmir are waiting for an elected government which brings change for them. The target of youth is to have better quality of life in their motherland through best governance practices. But their dream to have such a system is hanging in uncertainty. Post Article 370 situation of J&K would be judged in best terms when a political system is established here which improves the living standard, provides employment opportunities and corruption free governance to all the people. In the past 3 years, politicians have kept themselves involved in issues which have not in any way helped the youth. This all has made the youth of J&K angry, and this anger is visible on their minds and on faces.

During the past two decades, stress is boiling deep down the psyche of youth who fundamentally wanted better living conditions to end discrimination, neglect and challenging circumstances. The vote seekers turned into rulers as elections got over and youth and their aspirations were lost after the poll season.  The youth felt cheated in J&K as democracy remained just a means to gain political power. The unemployed youth kept protesting and their genuine demands were ignored. The anger of the youth was clearly against the governance model led by the political leadership. The youth in urban and rural areas had many common issues which were struck in the bureaucratic delivery system.

In the last few decades, the country has grown and seen many reforms. This always caught the fancy of J&K youth. And the engineers-doctors and other young people having professional degrees left Jammu and Kashmir to nurture their lives for greener pastures due to lack of job opportunities here. Further, the culture of guns killed and uprooted many. The radical ideology brought violence due to which unemployment went several times high. The growth of higher education here didn’t yield any results as there was a disconnect between the education and employment opportunities. The result was that the political and bureaucratic class became a self-serving class and youth suffered. This deep rot brought only miseries for young people at the hands of political and official class. Under such circumstances, corruption and back door appointments were promoted in the government departments. These all years the political class won elections to run a system in an environment which ignored people on a larger level.

After having seen all this, J&K now needs a statesman who could end all this as nothing much moved after 2019 for youth. The recent job recruitment scandals reflect that still corruption free governance is a dream for people living in Jammu and Kashmir. The political scene is still filled with such people who lack intellect to translate the above written youth aspirations. The question remains is - can someone navigate J&K’s youth to new heights? The J&K youth is waiting for someone in the political class who translates the aspirations of people beyond their personal ambitions. J&K needs a statesman whose thoughts, intellect and vision has a higher purpose and center of which is only the public cause. The only hope to get J&K youth out of the ‘aspirational crisis’ would be the next assembly elections in J&K. If these elections don't translate into change, then hope continues! 

Fact Checking To Fight Fake News

The growth of internet usage in India has made it simple for crores of Indians to get data with help of phones and computers. Unfortunately, the higher internet penetration and increasing social media consumption has brought with it the menace of ‘fake news’ in India. The high usage of the internet has made it very simple to spread ‘fake news’, which now is affecting our society in all manners. Nowadays ‘fake news’ is contributing to future social problems with the spread of misinformation. So, for this everyone should fight against the spread of ‘fake news’ by doing critical thinking and then refusing to share such news. Thus, in present times it has become severe to know the truth and check sources of information. 

Recently, many social issues in India were propelled by ‘fake news’ during the Covid vaccination and farmers’ protest. And in this manner, in the future also we can settle on some wrong choices and support inappropriate material. These wrong choices can prompt unseen social problems when such ‘fake news’ is shared on social media platforms and impact the social fabric. Although the key is to begin by doing critical thinking but then taking some extra steps with simple ‘fact-checking’ on daily basis will bring the desired results. Simple ‘fact-checking’ is significant as falsehood can influence our perspectives to a large extent.

Because ‘fake news’ always attempts to appeal to our emotions so our views regardless of our age, gender, location, or political beliefs can get affected due to misleading information. More importantly, we all, encounter ‘fake news’ on daily basis through social media and the result is that ‘fake news’ is flourishing in India and has become the reason for the lack of trust in media. To battle ‘fake news’ by promoting public awareness has become vital. Many instances show that people shared ‘fake news’ as they found it interesting and relevant to what’s going on in society. They didn’t know it was ‘fake news’ and they shared it without malicious intent. Many innocent acts of spreading ‘fake news’ caused serious consequences. For stopping this, we must work to fight ‘fake news’ that hurt individuals and society.

Young people who are not familiar with technology and older people are more likely to share ‘fake news’. Although young people living in cosmopolitan cities of India can at times judge such ‘fake news’, the situation is different for those living in far-flung areas. It is important to encourage all citizens to think critically about content that is reaching us through social media which is a perfect breeding ground for ‘fake news’ and helps it to spread like wildfire.  We can learn simple basics things to counter ‘fake news’ and evaluate sources of information with the right information and some small fact-checking knowledge for daily basis usage.

To begin with, the first question to answer in the search for the truth is- Is the sensational news believable? Always don’t trust immediately what you read. Treat every sensational news with suspicion because there’s a good chance that it’s ‘fake news’. When it comes to the credibility of information sources always evaluate a link/website by checking the ‘Contact’ information provided on such link/website. There should be information provided about the owner/media house with contact details like number and email id's. Moreover, always look at the domain’s URL as .com, .org, or .net, domains can be purchased by anyone, and they may be at times source of ‘fake news’. 

The objective of the website becomes clear by looking at its “About” section, so always check this section. Besides, check when this content was published and whether the website is being updated at a regular interval with other news. Lastly, perhaps the best way to fight ‘fake news’ is to make sure by double-checking a piece of sensitive news by verifying it from reputable and independent news sources because important news spread quickly between different news outlets. If there are other news outlets reporting a similar story, then it’s probably not ‘fake news’. But if it's only on the website you’re reading then chances are high that it’s ‘fake news’. 

Although we should learn IT-based fact-checking skills but critical thinking on fact-checking can help immediately in every situation. These are all simple methods to understand the accuracy of a news story on daily basis. There is no need for IT techniques every time in fighting the menace of fake news and such little literacy will help a lot. Under Article 51A (h) even the Indian Constitution provides that, “It shall be the duty of every citizen to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform”. Let's follow this all and stop consuming and sharing 'fake news' which will have a far-reaching impact on the social fabric due to a problem fueled by digital illiteracy.

Congress To Face Internal Storm

The year 2014 was very disastrous for the Congress party. Since then, the fortune of Congress has seen a dramatic downfall and a mass exodus of leaders. And every defeat after 2014 the Congress called for an analysis of its decline, which further eroded the Congress from the Indian political system. It was all because such analysis in the name of "Chintan Shivir’s” was just a 'cosmetic' step and nothing changed on the ground. This continually heightened the frustration of senior leaders of this party who had a high stake in the Indian political system. The junior/budding leaders were never worried as they felt it was time to work less, save energy and grow more just because of the leadership exodus. This helped many to build a new coterie around Gandhi family and the fight between new v/s old leaders got deeper. So, both ways the Congress party kept losing, internally and externally.

The past eight years haven't brought anything good for Congress. In May, the grand old Congress called for a three-day long 'Chintan Shivir' in Udaipur. This program was organized to analyze defeat in the assembly elections. But during this ‘Chintan Shivir’, Former Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar announced his resignation from the party. Before quitting, he said, "no one is bothered about revamping the party from this existential crisis".  Jakhar later joined BJP. And after this 'Chintan Shivir' Hardik Patel too joined BJP. Surprisingly, Rahul Gandhi appeared very confident in Udaipur and made remarks that regional parties can't defeat the BJP. This sent shivers down the spine of many senior leaders. Firstly, because in the eight years regional parties have performed better against BJP. Secondly, it was an open challenge to regional parties many of whom were alliance partners. 

With all this, the question remains – can struggling Congress defeat BJP in absence of senior leadership? The infighting among Gandhi’s and the Congress leaders has brought the party to the edge. In the prevailing conditions, sunny days are very far for the Congress party. Also, it will face an internal storm very shortly after the exit of Ghulam Nabi Azad. The tremors caused by G 23 Congress leaders will be felt across India. Ahead of assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, things have already slipped away from the hands of the party. Senior leader Anand Sharma resigned from the chairmanship of the party's steering committee along with two Congress MLAs in Himachal Pradesh. That is not all, former Gujarat minister Naresh Raval and former Rajya Sabha member Raju Parmar too left Congress. And except for Anand Sharma, all of them have joined BJP. 

In J&K, Congress lost political ground after the exit of Azad loyalists. Many leaders have resigned, and some more are ready to jump the ship. The seeds of internal unrest here in the local unit were sown in the spring of 2022 when in the much-hyped ‘Chintan Shivir’ no leader from Jammu was invited. Only then president of J&K Ghulam Ahmed Mir and Tariq Hamid Karra attended the three-day event. Ghulam Nabi Azad participated in the event as part of the party’s central leadership. Recently, Vikar Rasool Wani was appointed the new chief of the J&K Congress. But the revolt started against him on the first day. Four senior leaders resigned from their posts following the local Congress revamp. Congress also appointed Raman Bhalla, as the new working president, to gain some brownie points from the Jammu region. But Bhalla himself has lost considerable public following within his Gandhi Nagar seat. 

Congress won’t gain anything with this rejig done after 7 years of wait in J&K. Congress is fading in the entire Jammu region with rising of BJP and already in Kashmir regional parties have a stronghold. The faction-ridden Congress will face a tough time when assembly elections are declared in J&K. With the entry of the Aam Admi Party into the Jammu region, things are set to become more difficult for Congress. After the exit of Azad, it will be an uphill task now for Vikar & Bhalla to save the party in J&K’s political scene. The move of Ghulam Nabi Azad is very strategic as the countdown to elect a new Congress chief has also begun. Azad will cause damage to Congress still we cannot dismiss Congress immediately as a national alternative to BJP. Finally, the ball is in the court of the Gandhi family. It is time to do a reality check to revive the party in the entire country. Though summer is ending, and BJP waited for more than 50 years to gain power so Congress can start from zero and they can be back in a decade because democracy is precious and fragile.

Law University: A Future Need Of Society

In 2018, during the BJP’s coalition government in J&K, ‘The J&K National Law University Bill’ was passed by the Jammu and Kashmir legislative assembly. But this bill didn’t receive then Governor NN Vohra’s nod immediately.  And Vohra retired from the position of Governor in August 2018 leaving behind the proposal of setting up this important University. It was not 2018 when this step to improve legal education which fosters the rule of law was taken up. This proposal got roots after the ‘All India Law Ministers Conference’ in the mid-nineties. It was agreed in that conference to set up in each state of India a ‘law university’.  This proposal of the mid-nineties took shape in October 2019 when this bill was given approval by Governor Satya Pal Malik before coming into effect of the J&K Reorganization Act, 2019. Luckily (after the bifurcation of the erstwhile J&K state) with some amendments to J&K National Law University Act, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs formally adopted the Act. 

But since then, the National Law University in Jammu and Kashmir is still in papers only. And it appears that the procedural formalities take an undue long time even after the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. This delay has diluted the primary objective behind the setting up of the National Law University in J&K. Presently, in J&K only three government universities and seven private law colleges are offering law courses. Due to it every year thousands of students, desirous of joining the field of law, fail to get seats in government institutions. Surprisingly, the Central University of Jammu has also contributed to this suffering of students in past many years in absence of law faculty. People belonging to the law fraternity were overjoyed with the announcement made in 2018. But now they all feel dejected due to dilly-dallying approach in the last four years on this university which is a future need of society. 

Already twenty-one states in India have established National Law Universities and J&K is yet to have its own National Law University. Furthermore, this delay has failed the aim to bring the states without National Law Universities on par with other states that had national law universities. The government now has a serious role to play. Legal education needs to be improved on an urgent basis because the government and private law colleges' teaching style is outdated. Students at most colleges here have never heard of an ‘internship’. Whereas a student who studies at National Law University has many advantages if we start making the comparison. J&K is going through a period of social and economic changes after the abrogation of Article 370. But not working on a university education will stop the advancement of the prosperity of J&K’s society. It’s an ambitious undertaking and J&K is in dire need of a National Law University as such an initiative will go a long way toward the dissemination of legal knowledge and impart comprehensive legal education for the benefit of future generations. 

Cyber Bullying: A Trap

The present generation of youth around us is growing up in a technology driven society. And its impact is visible on their lives too. This generation is continuously utilizing this technological boom. In fact they love to be around and into it. A generation older to this generation has started using this tech boom but with a lot less knowledge. But they don’t prefer to be 'plugged in' or 'associated' with technology the whole day. The young people have an entirely opposite choice and compulsion for staying connected in this technological driven world. Such a style where technology is so much into young people’s lives, this is undeniably something that has totally altered the way our society works and communicates these days. From few ‘text’ to ‘heavy data sharing’ is a new norm.  Also in a way, most young people have enslaved themselves with the internet, social media and technology.

There is no leisure time in life which has killed creativity and caused stress and brought substantially more dangerous internet harassment, also referred to as “cyber bullying” in young people's lives. This “cyber bullying”   is approaching young people consistently and this trend of digital harassment is wreaking havoc all over the world. The children, teens, and working women in particular are the big targets of this “cyber bullying”. Such situation arises in shape of bullying, harassment, threat or maliciously embarrassing other person with behaviors such as sending unsolicited and/or threatening e-mail, viruses, spreading rumors, making defamatory comments about the victim online, through fake id’s impersonating the victim, harassing the victim during a live chat, abusing on social media sites, sending the pornography or other material that is knowingly offensive.

Cyber bullying existed before the growth of this social media era. Earlier too trolling happened. But then it was done in the chat rooms. Sharing of inappropriate photos and secrets of other people online too happened along with spreading rumors digitally. However, these days as more people connect via social media incidents of cyber bullying have increased. Various statistics show social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter etc are a hotspot for cyber bullying.  Creation of a fake profile in someone else's name happens on such platforms and then come instances where vulgar or obscene photos of a victim are posted through such fake profiles.

One of the reasons is the increased access of Indians to the internet with teenagers being the most vulnerable victims of cyber bullying. Male and female both are affected due to this menace but negligible people report the issue in India because they are afraid of being judged in this conservative society we live in. Under Section 354D, 499, 500, 503 and 66 E of the IPC such bullies can be easily booked if the complaint is lodged with the nearest police officials at any time one becomes a victim of such cyber crime. Cyber bullying has become a trap as technology has made addicts out of numerous Indians even in small towns.

In the past some years, Jammu-Kashmir too has seen rise in such cases. But most matters go unreported. To sensitize people to report such matters is a big challenge. For this nothing is done by local administration which can bring change in the mindset of people. Just think, have you ever seen any campaigns, awareness drives etc in Jammu on this topic by the administration? Such confidence building measures should be taken so that those who file a complaint on such issues are not stigmatized at the social level which causes the victim extreme mental anguish later. With nothing done on ground by the government, people feel helpless, hurtful and emotionally scarred after getting bullied online.

Even men are getting bullied online and they also want to stay anonymous while filing such complaints. So firstly, if people decide not to come forward and report such matters then cyber units of the Jammu-Kashmir police should work to identify such individuals who operate on social media with fake accounts and bring them to task. Additionally, the help can come from the scheme called "Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)" set up by the MHA. This scheme is formulated to deal with all types of cybercrimes in the country in a coordinated and comprehensive manner and it should be implemented in a stronger manner in J&K. Moreover, awareness programs to educate the students to use safe and secure online platforms should be done. This in turn will enable the public to report such incidents if special focus is laid on cases against women and children. It is extremely simple to make up for lost time by starting against this menace at the earliest.

DGPC Elections: Young Voters To Impact Result

Ever since the J&K government announced the schedule for holding of District Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (DGPC) elections, the Sikh community in the entire J&K is in cheerful mood. Various Sikh organizations have been demanding conduct of these elections in the J&K as they were due for almost 2 years.  In these 2 years some people from Sikh community were nominated to run Gurudwara affairs. This nomination process also caused delay in conduct of these elections which in turn impacted the management of the Gurudwaras. Earlier personal political affiliations of DGPC members led to internal discord within DGPC many times and it created discontentment for the voters. Initially, like in any election, efforts by the Sikh candidates are focused on luring the Sikh voters for DGPC elections. But with the advent of the era of social media and sharing of information, the fake electoral promises can ruin the prospects of many candidates in upcoming elections. 

This time, the role the Sikh youth is going to play in DGPC elections can be judged with new and positive strategic changes on the community level. Previously it has been seen that talks & efforts of elected candidates changed after completion of this election process. However, this time the youth is prepared to humbly ask candidates - to what extent such poll promises will be realized by them? The Sikh youth appear to have made up its mind to not accept half-truth or complete lies from the candidates in election season. This fresh approach is a favorable indication and the best possible step for the future of Sikh community and for management of the affairs of Gurudwaras. Adding more to it is that some youth organizations have announced their candidates in this election and are supporting Gursikh, educated, hardworking, young and dynamic candidates. 

The visible result is that in various constituencies new faces have stepped-in this electoral fight. There is also massive undercurrent for change in the voters in all the constituencies. Those who have ears to hear can listen to that. Many voters seem to have decided to put aside vested interests and fulfill responsibility in the best possible manner by electing the people of high moral character to represent the Sikh community in J&K. Sikh youth vote in this election will become the ‘game changer’ in every constituency. Youth turn out will impact election results to run the affairs of Sikh community. Young men and women voters want to elect only those who can later become role models and put efforts to unite the community. The intervention of political powers and indirect invasion in the Sikh affairs should be stopped with humility and total sincerity by the Sikh voters. 

It’s time to think about and chart a course to establish truth and righteousness by ending the circumstances which fail to help the Sikh community every time after the DGPC elections. The J&K Sikh community doesn’t want to suffer more by electing those who fail to implement ‘rehat maryada’ (Sikh code of religious conduct). Sitting on the ‘chair’ founded to manage Sikh places of worship just for social prestige is the biggest sin. Besides, just getting media attention on controversial issues and building political platforms shouldn’t be the target of DGPC members. In future by getting elected as a member of DGPC, every individual should focus on propagation of Sikhism, to build schools, colleges and hospitals for catering to Sikh community needs. Only priority should be to follow the path of Gurus by helping the weak and treat them with dignity and respect.