President of India, Shrimati Pratibha Devi Singh Patil was on a five days long official visit of Jammu and Kashmir. The purpose was to attend some University related functions one each in Jammu and Srinagar cities. The third function was also related to Jammu University and it was inauguration of its Campus at picturesque Bhadarwah, the home town of the Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad. Besides this, the President paid a visit to the forward areas in Kashmir and interacted with soldiers there. She also paid obeisance in the holy darbar of Mata Vaishno Devi and prayed for the peace of the State.

Kings, rulers and leaders are considered as God’s incarnation believing that they desend on the planet earth to take care of the children of the almighty God. It is also believed that wherever the rulers go they shower their mercy and blessings upon the area and people living there. But with the change of time the meanings of everything including human gods also seem to have changed. Instead of mercy curse is experienced by God’s children whenever and wherever these human gods go. At least this happens in Jammu and Kashmir where people suffer unlimited agonies during VVIP visits that have become a routine matter during this election year and President’s presence in the paradise was no different. The areas which the President had to visit were turned into cantonments and an undeclared curfew clamped there to ensure that nobody moved out of his or her house. Students were made to sit for hours together to listen to the address of the honorable guest against their will and at Bhadarwah even some of the children fell on the ground unconscious due to stress and lack of water.

The purpose behind bringing VVIPs to the disturbed state is to spread the message across the world that Jammu and Kashmir is a violence free state, and this was the third visit of such kind in just three months. First it was the UPA Chairperson, Sonia Gandhi who visited the Valley to throw open to public a Tulip Garden named after her mother-in-Law. Another VVIP to visit the State was the Prime Minister, this time to throw open for traffic the second bridge on river Chenab near Akhnoor in Jammu followed by the visit of the highest national dignitary. On all the three occasions life was thrown out of gears and people subjected to innumerable inconveniences. The visits of Sonia and Manmohan being of one day each, the quantum of inconvenience was bearable. Wonder why the visit of the President was stretched so long? The visit of the honorable guest should have been restricted to a couple of days so that minimum inconvenience to the general masses could be caused. The three University programs did not take more than few hours to finish. As far her visit to forward areas and Vaishno Devi Shrine, this could take another day thereby completing the visit in just two days.

Causing inconvenience to general masses is one negative aspect of the VVIP visits, but there are other aspects also that though look trifling have serious implications. For instance whenever a VVIP arrives in the militancy affected state befitting security measures are taken in the backdrop of the category they are placed in. Accordingly, the cities and towns are turned into fortresses and undeclared curfew clamped. But does it not expose the hollowness of the claim that normalcy has been returning here about which we have been telling people around? The world community is not fool that cannot understand the fact that had normalcy really returned the need to clamp undeclared curfew wouldn’t arise on the visits of VVIPs! To make believe our version about peace in Jammu and Kashmir either the visits of VVIPs should be restricted or there should be no undeclared curfew imposed. Peace and curfew are two contradictory things and only fools can justify putting them together.

INAUGURATION: Presedent Pratibha Patil accompanied by J&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad inaugurating Bhadarwah campus of Jammu University.    PHOTO/ MAJID MALIK/BHADARWAH

As regards President’s visit it was associated with some avoidable controversies. People claim that she had come to the State to enjoy the beauty and climate of the paradise and the official programme was merely an eye wash.  Had this not been the case she wouldn’t have arrived here along with her huge family including nieces and nephews. Men and women of her stature hold motherly and fatherly status and they are supposed to behave in a parental manner. If the ‘gods’ continue thinking that children born in their family alone are their children then they do great disservice to the nation because they damage the traditional belief and faith of their subjects. Showing the President brandishing an assault rifle in her hands has also given away a wrong message. It is generally believed that the President by holding a gun in her hands wanted to convey that her country was determined to take on the militants with iron fist whereas the need of the hour was to give a message of peace and this the Prez could have done by posing for a photograph with children who are considered as harbingers of peace. Presidents and PMs are the constitutional and executive heads of the country and it is their right and duty to pay visit to every part of the country. In this respect the visit of the President was a welcome gesture and if it caused some problems it is the planners and not her person that can be held responsible.

Despite being’ gods’ VVIPs are prisoners of security norms having no liberty to do anything of their own. Their movement is controlled; their interaction is controlled and their diet is controlled. Their speeches are also controlled by others and they are not allowed to utter a single word that is not written in their prepared speeches. The authorities and the planners of the visit of President of India to Jammu and Kashmir have described the visit both as historical and successful. But it is for the VVIP herself to analyze the success and failures of her visit in view of the wrong message that it has conveyed. This would be introspection and introspections always yield positive fruit as in their backdrop the posterity searches its future.

SEE MORE PIC. OF PRESIDENT'S VISIT IN PHOTO GALLERY