Why is Jammu feeling jilted

It is the sixth day on the trot. The entire city of Jammu, and its surrounding region has completely shut down. No shops, no busses, no autos, no offices, no schools, no businesses, NO NOTHING! Thousands are out protesting against their own MLAs and MPs, all of whom belong to the BJP - the party this region voted to power in both the governments, the state as well as the Centre.

The Jammu region had elected them barely months ago and that too with a sweeping mandate. Today, Jammu feels overwhelmed by a sense of betrayal. The last straw that broke the proverbial camel's back is the issue of the AIIMS that was understood to have been first promised to Jammu and then snatched away and given to the Valley. And, as if to add insult to the injury, the deputy CM, professor Nirmal Singh, declared, publically, that "no power on earth could snatch AIIMS from the Kashmir Valley".

It was ironical because the exact opposite was expected of him by the Jammuite. As someone elected from the Jammu region itself, which is severely short-changed on the resources allocated or infrastructure built; as someone also heading the BJP's legislative party, Nirmal Singh was expected to deliver, on the most important of the BJP's promises - of "correcting the regional imbalance". That was their declared intent for joining the coalition led by the PDP.

On the face of it, the snatching away of the AIIMS, by itself, doesn't seem like a sufficient reason for the Jammuites to, thus, put their lives on a pause button. There is an extreme sense of abandonment. The BJP, the party to whom the uncompromising patriots of Jammu gave a virtual carte blanche in the elections, is now, increasingly, seen to have sold them cheap, to the unapologetic Muslim communalists and the separatists, the PDP.

The last time Jammu was stirred up in such a fashion was in 2008. The "band"', then, lasted an unprecedented 56 continuous days. The present one seems headed the same way. Last time too, it was the PDP that caused the outrage. That time, the PDP had prevented the Ghulam Nabi Azad government, of which it was a coalition partner, from offering land to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board for building some bare essential infrastructure, temporarily, to make the lives of the Sri Amarnath Yatra pilgrims a little less vulnerable. They raised hell, publically, threatening to pull down the government. The then governor, lieutenant general SK Sinha, was also humiliated and sacrificed to humour the Muftis, besides reversing the grant of land to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board.

Jammuites have always known their PDP and NC a bit too well. And, being at the receiving end in the past, they are, more or less, prepared for what to expect. It is the BJP that seems to have bewildered them, unexpectedly. From the days of the Praja Parishad - the precursor of the Jana Sangh, which itself, was the precursor of the BJP - this political lineage has consistently championed the cause of a steadfastly patriotic Jammu, protesting its merciless deprivation and discrimination at the hands of a separatist Valley. And Jammu, in turn, stood by the Praja Parishad/Jana Sangh/BJP, always.

So, what happened this time? Well, this time, the "statecraft specialist" sold the "super patriot" a "fresh new" perspective. In this new political line, he dressed up the Valley into a seductress, who is much misunderstood and, in fact, only, if at all, a reluctant separatist. What's more, this seductress is, now, very keen to make a serious overture to the BJP. But it also has a grouse, that the BJP has always been "indifferent to its subtle hints in the past, to the point of being cold". The "patriot" seems to have been so pleased with the scenario that he seems to have spared the angler all that much effort with the hook, line and sinker and, instead, swum right into his collecting basket.

But, we know too well one cannot straightaway say "qabool hai". First, there is that ritual "kalima" to recite and also... ahem... a bit of skin to shed. You know what I mean, don't you? Likewise, the condition for this political matrimony was that the BJP "stops looking at the Valley through the prism of Jammu". How charming, and so simple! Forget "through the prism", the BJP has stopped looking at Jammu, period. The joke that was furiously getting passed around in March, in the aftermath of "yes I do" between the BJP and the PDP was that this coalition was the epitome of love jihad.

"Statecraft" can, sometimes, do with some nifty turn of phrase to make a quick sale. More so, when the political decisions, even of such far-reaching consequences, go through a political short circuit. Never mind the necessity of going through the grind of debate and consultation. There is little of that left, in the party or the government. Not even for the sake of pretence. And, it is in Jammu's lot to be the early one bearing the consequences.