Kashmir remains tense, but elected MLAs not in sight

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, July 29

As the Kashmir unrest is taking a toll on the people and life has come to a halt, elected representatives of the Kashmir valley are nowhere to be seen.

They are either confined to their official accommodation in Srinagar and have no contact with the people or are in the winter capital.

One such elected representative from central Kashmir representing the NC has been in the winter capital for the past few days.

He claimed that his son was not well and he had to fly from Srinagar to Jammu to take his son to Amritsar for medical check-up.

“My son had some eye problem and I took him to Amritsar for check-up. My area is somehow peaceful compared to others. I will go back tomorrow,” the NC MLA told The Tribune on the condition of anonymity.

The NC is in the opposition and the onus of bringing the Valley back on track is on the PDP. Elected representatives belonging to either party have to contribute to bring peace to the region.

At this point of time, people in the Valley and the government need the help of elected representatives to calm tempers and help in bringing the situation back to normal, but representatives are nowhere in sight. A few days back, a PDP MLA from Pulwama had to face the public ire when he was caught in protests and received injuries.

Though the government had claimed that he met with a road accident, people had said that he got injured in stone-throwing protests.

So far, only the Chief Minister and a few ministers had been trying to calm tempers, but people, especially the youth, were not listening to them.