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Dragging things in Valley will delay conciliation

IT has been three weeks since Kashmir’s special status and privileges were done away with.

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Arun Joshi


IT has been three weeks since Kashmir’s special status and privileges were done away with. The anticipated anger of Kashmiris over the “historical” steps was sought to be curbed with restrictions and clampdown on communications in which even landlines went dead for over a fortnight.

How do these measures stand up to examination now? “Not at all badly,” goes official version. The core area of having saved the civilian lives all through the tough times is counted as an accomplishment.

After Delhi imposed more direct rule on August 5 with the scrapping of Article 370 and 35A – the state was already under President’s rule – the problems of Kashmir became the problems of Delhi on a larger scale. The government had declared famously that its mission was to effect greater integration of the state with the rest of the country. By now, however, it must have begun to realise that it would have to reform itself in order to integrate Kashmir in the Indian union in absolute terms. It would have to think of the conciliation sooner or later.

Prolonging of the curbs is justified primarily because of the “P” factor. Pakistan is up to a big mischief and could unleash the demons of unrest and violence with the use of social media. It is true. Pakistan is trying every trick in the text book to internationalise Kashmir and also to incite violence within the Valley. This time, it is living in the illusion that it can repeat its mischief of the past. Its wings have been clipped as the Modi government has effectively disposed of its claims on Kashmir with the dismissal that it deserved.

Pakistan’s outcry over Kashmir coincided with the abolition of the special status granting provisions from the Indian Constitution, that it itself had stated were meaningless in its scheme of things. But now it is crying foul, and is waiting for its time to strike. It is a realistic assessment. The cold response by the international community to its pleas has further pushed it to margins.

Most of the countries have said that it is a “bilateral issue” between India and Pakistan, thus playing safe, while others have endorsed it as an internal matter of India. J&K was always an integral part of India, and now the “temporary” provision in the Constitution has been given the burial that it should have been given long ago.

This argument runs deep and strong in the psyche of the Indian nation. It might have come as a surprise, but equally striking is the fact that it was passed by a two-thirds majority of both houses of the Indian Parliament.

None of these, however, make Delhi look much like a benign influence in Kashmir Valley where while restrictions on movement have been eased to a great extent, the clampdown on information stays on.

Some believe that it is going to be a long-drawn affair, increasing the sense of unease among the people who find the curbs unbearable. This may make mutual estrangement between Delhi and Srinagar inevitable. That can cause more problems and become more complex. The rupture of the constitutional provisions vis-à-vis J&K and its bifurcation into two union territories tends to become a festering problem. It can impact the situation within the state too.

At this stage, the initiatives must come from the government. The people would be pacified if they trust that the government moves beyond the restoration of a few thousand landline phones, easing of restrictions and opening of schools. There is a need to win the battle of trust.

The one-sided narrative broadcast obligingly by a section of media is doing a lot of harm – the nation is oblivious to simmering in Kashmir – and Kashmiris tend to trust the western media more, despite knowing that foreign media works with its own agenda in situations like these. It can work to the advantage of Pakistan unless the August 5 plans are explained in detail to evoke faith in the new vision of Kashmir that the Modi government has envisioned for place and people, particularly, the youth.

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