Shuvam Sharma
On 5th August 2019, when the people of J&K woke up in the morning, they found security personnel everywhere, internet was down and they were not allowed to leave their houses. Everyone was wondering what is happening and switched on their TV sets, then the Home Minister stunned everyone by introducing a bill in the Lok Sabha. Home Minister Amit Shah proposed a bill in Lok Sabha for the abrogation of Article 35A and Article 370 which provides special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir. In a historic decision, the Government not only repealed Article 370 but also separated the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories: Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. It had been a long-standing desire of the people of Leh and Ladakh to transform Ladakh into a union territory since the State Government was not prioritizing Ladakh’s development and was biased towards Kashmir, as Kashmir used to have more assembly seats than other regions. Before eliminating Article 370 in the State of J&K, the whole State was under tight security and curfew-like conditions across the entire valley and even in rural Jammu. The Central Government made all necessary preparations to deal with any misfortune. All of the separatist and political figures in Kashmir who had previously warned the Central Government not to touch Article 370 were placed under house arrest and eventually freed. After the approval of President on 9 august 2019 the two union territories came into existence on 31 October 2019, which is celebrated as National Unity Day. With the advent of this, era of Kashmir-based politics ended, India began discussing its claim over Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan was dispirited with this move, and attempted to take it to an international level, but only a few Arab countries supported him. The Narendra Modi-led Government’s foreign policy is so magnificent that it maintains strong relationships with almost every country. Today, everyone is quite and hasn’t said much about Article 370; just a few of the Kashmir based leaders have called for the reinStatement of 370 in J&K.
It was 2022, two years after the repeal of Article 370 that genuine changes in J&K began to be noticed on the ground because the first two years were spent dealing with pandemic covid-19. Even throughout the epidemic, the Central Government maintained excellent control over the situation by immunizing every individual or supplying ration. The Central Government has launched a number of infrastructure development programmes. Private enterprises have not invested heavily in J&K to yet, but the Government is making every effort and leaving no stone left to promote growth.
One of the most significant successes of the Government was hosting of the G20 working group meeting on tourism, which was attended by 59 participants from 27 nations. It was the outcome of normalcy returning to J&K after three decades of unrest caused by the repeal of Article 370. So far, 7.7 lakh entrepreneurs have registered in Union territory. Jammu and Kashmir has risen to fifth place in the rankings for farmer income as a result of the Government’s efforts over the previous four years. A total of 168 memorandums of understanding (MOUs) worth Rs. 13,600 crores have been inked, with 25 new national highway projects approved for development at a cost of Rs. 11,721 crores. The approval of seven additional medical colleges has increased the number of medical seats from 500 to 955. The world’s tallest railway bridge was completed in J&K, and the Vande Bharat train now runs between Jammu and Delhi. The work on Katra-Delhi six lane express way is on full force. This Rs 400 billion Expressway once completed will lower the distance between Delhi and Katra (Jammu) from 727 km to 588 km, cutting the travel time between the two cities from 12 hours to just six hours. On the Srinagar-Leh portion of NH-1A, construction of the 14-km-long Zojila tunnel, between Baltal and Minamarg, is under underway at a cost of Rs 6800 crore. Once finished, it will be both Asia’s and India’s longest bi-directional road tunnel. It will offer all-weather connectivity between Srinagar, Kargil, and Leh and also reduce the current three-and-a-half-hour journey through the Zojila Pass to only fifteen minutes. Work on the 58-kilometer-long, four-lane Jammu ring road project is also progressing quickly, with two sections currently open to traffic. This ring road would relieve traffic congestion in the city by connecting Raya Morh on the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway in Samba district with Jagti on the Jammu Udhampur National Highway.
On January 10, 2019, the Government approved the development of two AIIMS in J&K. While AIIMS Kashmir is being established in the Pulwama region in South Kashmir, AIIMS Jammu is being built in Vijaypur’s Samba district. The authorized cost for AIIMS Jammu is Rs. 1661 crore, while the approved cost for AIIMS Kashmir is Rs. 1828 crore. AIIMS Jammu started its first offline MBBS session last year, and its building will be completed shortly, while AIIMS Kashmir will be completed in 2025. The same is the case for IIT Jammu and IIM, both of which are now operating from temporary campuses and will shortly be relocating to their permanent sites. Recently the first phase of the Rs 62.17 crore Jambu Zoo project in Nagrota, Jammu, has been finished and LG Manoj Sinha officially opened to the public in May 2023. The Jambu Zoo will house 27 notable varieties of animals on 229.5 hectares, making it the largest in north India. The Government’s efforts to promote eco-tourism in the area around Jammu City would also benefit from this enormous swath of vegetation. On June 8, LG Manoj Sinha also performed the inauguration of the Tirupati Balaji temple on the outskirts of Jammu city, which had been built by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) on 62 acres of land for a sum of Rs 35 crore. It will boost pilgrimage tourism in the area because it is the only Lord Venkateswara temple in north India. TTD had originally planned to construct a temple but was unable to do so due to legal complications. However, following the repeal of Article 370, they made a request to the J&K Government, and the Government granted them land, allowing them to build the temple. Rs 30 crore rupees will spent on building the temple, in addition to five crore rupees for auxiliary amenities such a dispensary, a Ved Pathshalla, and a Kalyan Mandapam.
After the enactment of Article 370, the Government was able to regain control of the separatist narrative in J&K, particularly over organized stone pelting and hartal/bandh. There were 1767 incidents of stone pelting in 2018; however there has been no occurrence of stone pelting so far this year. During the last four years, security forces have neutralized over 700 terrorists, including 38 this year alone, while civilian and security force casualties have decreased year after year, and security forces have also been able to keep a close watch on cross-border infiltration and terror funding. The terror eco-system has been destroyed as an outcome of determined anti-terror policies, as evidenced by the huge decrease in terrorist recruiting from 199 in the year 2018 to 12 this year till the day. The NIA and SIA are investigating all potential sources of terrorism, including funding through bogus NGO’s, fake businesses, and hawala. Agencies seized the houses and bank accounts of Pakistan-based terrorists in the Valley, and several people were arrested for their involvement in terrorism or terror funding. As all conventional sources of finance for terrorists dried up, terrorists shifted to narcotics, resulting in an upsurge in the drug trade in J&K. Jammu and Kashmir Police are making every effort to combat drug trafficking. Prime Minister Modi in his 103rd ‘Mann ke Baat’ address lauded efforts being made by the Jammu and Kashmir Government for tackling the menace of drugs. After four years, the administration succeeded in convincing the people that J&K is safe as a result, thousands of devotees are taking part in the amaranth yatra this year. This year’s Yatra is breaking records, with travelers from all over the world visiting the holy cave.
But still some of the issues are still there as most of political leaders in J&K are demanding Statehood back and hold assembly elections in J&K, which have been pending for the past four years. Whereas Panchayat elections were conducted in the end of 2018 and State election commission has already hinted that local body elections are going to held in October – November this year. Target killings have grown in the valley in recent years, with Government data revealing that last year about 29 target assaults were carried out against civilians, primarily non-local labour and non-muslim personnel, leading to the displacement of Kashmiri Pandit employees to Jammu. To deal with this crisis, security forces launched a multi-level offensive action against militants in the valley. Drug trafficking has expanded dramatically in J&K in recent years, and heroin usage has surged in both rural and urban regions. The police are taking action, but additional efforts are needed to get it under control. The issue of West-Pakistani refugees is still unaddressed. In J&K, unemployment is still a significant issue and must be addressed.
Ultimately, removing 370 from J&K was a bold move that has begun to deliver beneficial consequences in the previous four years; it is expected that the Government would work on the remaining concerns and resolve them shortly.
(The author is a Research Scholar at Department of National Security Studies, Central University of Jammu.)
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