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Choosing Governor for J&K
WANTED A Governor for J&K. Qualifications: Essential: He should be a man of learning. Desirable: Several years of teaching experience at the college level. Preferable: Other things being equal, preference will be given to a candidate with demonstrated capacity for lateral thinking.
Rationale
The Governors of J&K have, so far, been drawn from the political stream, the bureaucratic stream or the military stream. All of them have been men of mettle and of proven ability. However, due to a variety of circumstances, they have not, perhaps, been able to reach out to any significant segment of the people of Kashmir and establish kinship with it. They should have been getting the feedback at the grassroots level from reports submitted by the bureaucracy. But bureaucratic reports all over the world are prone to be filtered versions of ground realities. High level discussions with the bureaucracy, the politicians and other interest groups still lack feedback in the raw, from the people. The scholastic stream proposed here can make good this omission and will have for its natural constituency the youth of Kashmir, which is perhaps the most important segment of the population.
The man of learning starts with several advantages. First, he is welcome everywhere. As Kamban says, a king is respected in his country, while the man of learning is respected all over the world — particularly in Kashmir, where the presiding deity is Sharada, the Goddess of Learning.
Secondly, the man of learning will come to his job and will be perceived to come to his job with no baggage. His mind is not a palimpsest with new impressions on the old. He will write on a clean slate with no preconceived notions. He will bring no template of solutions with him.
Thirdly, the man of learning takes nothing for granted. He will start from the fundamentals and with no Euclidean axioms. He will ask simple basic questions that sometimes lead to conclusions like the emperor not wearing any clothes. With the militants and the military having been on the learning curve for several years, the answers they give might well be very different from what they were earlier.
Fourthly, the man of learning has no sense of hierarchy. Protocol sits lightly on him. His access to the people will consequently be more.
His special constituency will be the youth of Kashmir. The youth of Kashmir, born after Independence, do not bear the scars of Partition and should be no different from youth elsewhere, raring to go and find a place in the sun for themselves. With his decades of teaching experience at the college level, he will be attuned to their dreams, ambitions, aspirations, the road blocks and the direction, guidance and help they need.
It would be all the more advantageous if the man of learning is from the technical stream. He will be interested in ITIs, polytechnics and professional colleges for gainful employment of the youth. He may perhaps think of sending the flower of Kashmir youth to institutions of excellence in the rest of the country to enhance the level of professional proficiency in the State and also integrate them emotionally with the rest of the country. His capacity for lateral thinking will conjure avenues of employment for the youth, which were not previously thought of.
As a technical person, he would be more interested in hands-on, working solutions than in perfect ones. He would be aware of the management dictum that the best solution is often the enemy of the good.
Multiplier effect
If the youth receive advice, guidance, help and support from him, it would not be lost on their parents, siblings and neighbours. It would have a welcome multiplier effect which would impress the people, though the other side of the border may react differently.
The man of learning would, in all this, supplement the efforts of the elected government and not become yet another power centre. Because his interest lies in education and not politics. When he quits, he goes back to the groves of the academy.
It would be an offbeat posting like Jawaharlal Nehru choosing Dr. Radhakrishnan for Moscow. A gamble surely, but with a fair chance of success.
K.A. CHANDRASEKARAN
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