Dream becoming Reality Rise of Kashmir. A delegation of foreign envoys from the European Union has arrived in Srinagar for a two-day tour to assess the ground reality after renewed communications and recent DDC elections.
This would be the third foreign delegation to visit Srinagar for their assessment of “Naya Kashmir”. Dream becoming Reality Rise of Kashmir.
As seventy-two years later, New Delhi took the monumental decision of scrapping Article 370 to make way for the developmental agenda for the region as the New Delhi battles various external and internal factors of dimension to this conflict – from respective political families milking the state in the name of “Kashmiriyat” but since last 18 months, what’s the political scenario? How are people responding to the changes? Dream becoming Reality Rise of Kashmir.
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In the words of Clausewitz, a great Prussian General, he emphasized that policy is the guiding intelligence in winning any situation – political or social in nature as he stresses the importance of proper coordination between political leadership, armed forces, and the passion of the people which leads to achievable ends to any situation as conflicted as Jammu & Kashmir.
With the process of Resettling Kashmiri Pandits to a staggering drop in stone-pelting situations to coordination among CRPF, Armed Forces, local police and administration to nullifying all attempts to illegal entry of terrorist from PoK side – New Delhi’s representative to UT of Jammu & Kashmir – Lt Governor Manoj Sinha is ramping up on all fronts to decisively bringing J&K at par with other states which in itself is a Herculean task – considering the internal as well as the external factors affecting the situation.
Winds of Change – “Naya Kashmir”?
PDP’s Fayaz Ahmad Mir of People’s Democratic Party (PDP) praised New Delhi’s implementation of ground-level schemes in Jammu and Kashmir by his government – he says “what good has been done, must be told”. What has changed, which led him to say this? What is this term “Naya Kashmir” which one talks about – completely misses that Jammu and Kashmir are both the sons of the same mother; favoritism among sons would only lead to more conflict and division in the strife-torn region.
Surprisingly, “Naya Kashmir” was also the name given by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the founding leader of the National Conference with the dream of “equal rights” regardless of nationality, religion, birth, and freedom of speech. As utopian as it may sound, this dream is still lingering to fulfill the political aspirations of Kashmiri’s in the UT of Jammu & Kashmir.
Battling of Perception – DDC Elections
A lot of things have changed in the past few years; for the first time, elections for the District Development Councils (DDC) successfully concluded with 51% of overall voter turnout, even with the Hurriyat organization’s threatening to blow up polling stations and prosecute those who go to vote. This was a stark change, the voting turnout that never crossed 20% before 2019 in all districts of J&K. The quest for local grassroots democracy was supported by the Security forces as they ensured that no terrorist incidents happen to disrupt the process of election.
In one of the conversations with Maj General Harsha Kakar, who served his time in J&K, he pointed out that low voter turnout in regions of South Kashmir have shown that the region still possesses the anger against New Delhi, but other regions of Kashmir have indicated a burning desire to be part of the democratic process. The peaceful, free and fair election with record voting turnout contradicts the idea of the Gupkar Alliance in Kashmir.
Improving Rule of Law
There was an 87.13% dip in the incidents of stone-pelting as compared to 2019 in Jammu Kashmir to 255 incidents in 2020 after the abrogation of Article 370 as India’s adversaries did focus on information and psychological warfare through the means of fake propaganda, false narratives, doctored images over the decades.
A close source official in New Delhi who didn’t want to be named brought out the reality of the situation as he states that you may see the best policy-making in action for UT of J&K, but the fact remains that implementation of those acts is a humongous task, for instance – there have been certain forward villages that remain unconnected to major cities. Remote forward area villages in the Shopian district have seen electricity for the first seventy years of Independence.
Hence, it is high time to review the Government of India’s surrender policy running since 1999. As a result, the center is now the new challenges cropping up after the Abrogation of Article 370.
Recently, a study conducted by the Centre for Land Warfare found out that the number of recruits is decreasing since the abrogation of Article 370, but one of the major observations which were being made was the age of the terror recruits, it happened to be from the age of 15-30 years at the highest; showing age is just a number, it’s the mindset of the person which is brainwashed over time.
Return of the 4G in Valley
The 4G mobile internet services are back in Jammu Kashmir after being downgraded since August 4, 2019, after the hue and cry by social activists that the Internet is a core human right, but a complete blanket ban on the internet wasn’t ever imposed as 2G-3G internet was always available for citizens on mobile and fiber internet.
This internet shutdown did affect a lot of students considering the Covid-19 Pandemic and online education being the only source of education for the youth. The Supreme Court did recognize the freedom of speech and expression also include the right to the internet within Article 19and restrictions on it following the principles of proportionality under Article 19(2), but it didn’t declare it a fundamental right considering the special case of managing security threats and terrorist infiltration across the border on the grounds of law and order.
Resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits?
The resettlement of Kashmiri Pandits has been one of the trickiest and most political issues in the geopolitical scenario of the region. This community left Kashmir in fear of persecution and has now been encouraged to return to their homeland, as the government plans to provide encouragement packages and financial assistance to those. The Union Home Minister Amit Shah replied to one of the inquires made in the parliament regarding the discussion on the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha on Saturday; the Home Minister said: “We are providing Rs 13,000 per month cash assistance to those 44,000 displaced Kashmiri families who have ‘Rahat’ Cards.”
The Big Picture
One of the most frustrating things about the Kashmir debate is dealing with contrasting narratives spun by people supporting various positions. It isn’t that these narratives are completely wrong. But offering these angles speak with absolute certainty of someone describing a settled history rather than a possibility (which are often very less likely).
Former CM of J&K, Farooq Abdullah, made a fiery speech in the Parliament for the development of the province, yet when given a chance by his Awaam, his intent appeared to transform into actions.
The majority of reports suggest that people of J&K are tired and frustrated with stagnancy; they want to be involved in trade, commerce, and development just like the rest of the country, which is why this seems like the perfect time for a positive change by relying on overall development rather than blame-game politics. The new challenges that the government shall be facing now would be on the front of educational reforms, connectivity to border posts, generation of employment by bringing cottage industry back to its glory, and reviving the democratic process, which is the need of the hour!