THE RESENTMENT and anger in Jammu is no longer restricted to the issue of Amarnath land. It has become a question of identity for the people of Jammu region. Over 350,000 people had offered themselves for arrest during the past three days of Jail Bharo Aandolan. Children, women, teenagers and adults, all are on streets to show their anger against the government. Every family has a member who is a part of the agitation. The issue has now given birth to mass movement. Everyone associated with Jammu region is showing solidarity with the Samiti. People living outside the state are agitating in their own ways. The past month has shown the new face of Jammu region - the unity of the people of region irrespective of sex or religion. It can no longer be termed communal. There were more number of Sikhs and Gujjar Muslims on the streets in Jammu than ever during the three days of Jail Bharo Aandolan.

In the last three days, we have seen lakhs of people court arresting, women were seen climbing walls to enter the police stations, children were accompanying their parents to court arrest. The police stations were turned into ’satsang bhawans’ where slogans were chanted. Every part of Jammu region is up in flames. It’s burning! This has never happened in this part of the country but now it might turn out to be the biggest and longest agitation or mass movement this nation has ever witnessed.

Is the government aware of the intensity of the movement? Where is the decision making body? Where is the Prime Minister? Why has everyone become a silent spectator? More than 50 days of agitation and the government is unable to come up with a solution still. Who is to be blamed for the present crisis? Every party blames the other party for the situation and the blame game continues even today. No body is worried about the future of the people who have been agitating for the past two months. Their businesses are closed, schools and colleges are closed, essential commodities are not available, medicines are not available, the city has come to a halt. Nobody cares!

If the government hasn’t analysed the situation as yet, they must know that the agitation is now a movement and it might soon become a revolution for the region. There is a need to diffuse the crisis as earliest as possible to avoid the worse case scenario. The state is at the brink of division. Immediate steps need to be taken, only dialogue might not work.

One is made to think about the constructive work NN Vohra has done over the past one month. Has he handled the situation perfectly? Well, the obvious answer would be no.

The first step to diffuse the ongoing crisis can be to dismiss the governor. This would ease the tempers in Jammu region if not in Kashmir. Why isn’t the government doing that? Is it so difficult? Is there no one in India better than Vohra and acceptable to both the regions, who can handle the situation?

There are many questions that the government needs to answer. The hands off approach or back channel approach is not going to yield any concrete results. There is a need for the Prime Minister to intervene personally into the matter. The Home minister is turning out to be a mute spectator. An all party delegation led by him hasn’t done anything in spite of the fact that they were given many solutions by many eminent people from all sections of the society. I wonder why are they wasting time. Are they waiting for the things to settle down on their own? I think the government has to act faster or face a very tough situation ahead.

The issue of Amarnath land was only a trigger. The issue ignited passions in Jammu region and everybody is out today not only against the transfer order but against the discriminatory policies of the state government and the Central government over the years. The anger of many decades is out today on the streets of Jammu. There is an immediate need to heal the wounds of the people of this region. We can’t see more women marching on the roads, facing tear-gas shells. We can’t see more children out on streets to court arrest. We cant’ see more people getting injured everyday. There has to be a solution to this problem. The only request to government is to implement the solution as soon as possible.