Familiar rhetoric

IN KEEPING WITH recent tradition, this year's Independence Day address by the Prime Minister devoted considerable attention to the Kashmir problem, which arguably was the major focus. Taking place against the awkward backdrop of the failed Agra summit and under the menacing shadow cast by jehadi massacres in Doda and Jammu, Mr. Vajpayee's speech, for the most part, was a mixture of familiar rhetoric and a reiteration of stated positions. In declaring that cross-border terrorism will be crushed, warning that Pakistan could forget about wresting Jammu and Kashmir through violence and promising that the dialogue with Islamabad will continue, Mr. Vajpayee was essentially marking out the already well-known cornerstones of his Government's policy - a framework which in its totality provides little or no diplomatic and political space for even the preliminary moves required towards a lasting solution. Not surprisingly then, the Prime Minister's address contained no fresh initiative, no hint or allusion to a new paradigm for peace; the tenor of his speech seemed directed largely at bolstering the spirit of the public and the administration in the wake of the massacre of innocent civilians by jehadi groups in Jammu and Kashmir.

Ironically, on the same day that Mr. Vajpayee engaged in a restatement of old positions, the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, disclosed that the Centre was willing to discuss the State's demand for autonomy. If this is true, it marks a welcome change in the stance of the Union Government, which had summarily rejected the autonomy resolution passed by the Jammu and Kashmir State Assembly last year. A greater degree of autonomy, which is both a historical and constitutional obligation on the part of India, has remained an unexplored measure to address many of the ills which plague Jammu and Kashmir, particularly the growing alienation of the people. It remains to be seen though whether the Centre's reported willingness to discuss greater devolution of powers is backed by the commitment and the strength to actually do so. An important cause for public cynicism and mistrust among the people in the Valley is the manner in which Assembly elections have been held in the recent past, attended as they have been by charges of repression and large-scale rigging. In this context, Mr. Vajpayee's promise that fair and free elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir is extremely significant. Mr. Vajpayee's assurance will be on test when the State goes to the polls next year and it remains to be seen whether this is yet another empty promise or the reflection of a genuine resolve to ensure that the true will of the people is translated through the ballot.

Mr. Vajpayee also used the Independence Day address to announce a clutch of developmental initiatives aimed at rural areas and unorganised business and directed, among others, at SCs/STs, backward classes, weaker sections and women. Perhaps, the most significant proposal of this ``pro-poor, pro-village, pro- employment'' package of measures is the ambitious employment generation scheme, under which Rs. 5,000 crores worth of foodgrain will be provided to State Governments under a food-for- work programme. Given the astronomical levels of buffer stock accumulated, any such initiative in this direction is a positive step. What is important, however, in any scheme of this kind is to ensure that the programme is really used to generate employment and create permanent and productive assets. On a more general note, the ramparts of the Red Fort have been used time and again for the announcement of grand developmental schemes which often either fail to fructify or are effected in an ineffectual and non-productive manner. The gap between promise and performance has been deplorably large.

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