Raman Suri
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has finally put at rest all the speculations rather rumours mongering with regard to changes in the geographical or political status of Jammu and Kashmir in his June 24, 2021 meeting held with mainstream political leaders of the Union Territory (UT) by tweeting about elections, development and allied priorities in coming years to bring an order in the erstwhile state. The UT, that had come into existence by an Act of the Parliament in August 2019 wherein Article 370 was abrogated, was abuzz with gossips about UT’s further division, holding of elections and restoration of Article 370 under pressure from Kashmir’s People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD), an illusion which they were still nurturing.
However, the Prime Minister in his three-hour long meeting, in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Minister in PMO Dr Jitendra Singh, Lieutenant Governor J&K Manoj Sinha and leaders of all political parties from Jammu and Kashmir including four former Chief Ministers, four former Deputy Chief Ministers and Chiefs of four political parties in full attendance, categorically repeated his resolve to set in motion development in J&K, strengthening democracy at grassroot level and involving youth in making Jammu and Kashmir self-reliant to taste the vibrancy of democracy, essence of which lies in empowering people through three-tier system of governance.
After the meeting, the visiting political leaders spelled out their priorities with many sticking to their grounds of restoration of statehood, granting special status to J&K with Article 370 and even not contesting polls till J&K returns to its pre-August 2019 status, a demand which the leaders also know is a futile exercise and holds no grounds in the given context of ongoing political developments. Jammu and Kashmir was always an integral part of India and whatever doubts the chosen few leaders were nurturing in their minds because of Article 370, were cleared once that controversial article was repealed by both houses of Parliament and a final seal was put by President Ram Nath Kovind in 2019 itself.
Ever since then, Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing a new era but instead of treading the new path of development, peace and prosperity, several J&K leaders are still trying to browbeat their forever gone slogans or laws that were discriminatory in nature and were never in sync with the Central laws. The J&K Reorganisation Act 2019 had extended about 113 central laws to Jammu and Kashmir by repealing about 165 laws, bringing the newly carved Union Territory (UT) at par with any other state or UT in India. Now, J&K is part of One Country, One Constitution, One Flag and One Head, leaving no scope of going back to any previous status.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi after meeting the leaders from Jammu and Kashmir, categorically spelled out his priorities through his three tweets, One being, “Today’s meeting with political leaders from Jammu and Kashmir is an important step in the on-going efforts towards a developed and progressive J&K, where all-round growth is furthered”. Those who had gone into the meeting with predetermined resolutions or pre-decided moves must read between the lines and understand that nothing less than development and progress was in the PM’s mind and their rhetoric holds no ground.
The way Jammu and Kashmir is seeing infrastructural development in terms of roads, bridges, rail lines and tunnels, is getting ample funds, is witnessing steep decline in militancy-related incidents and is winning trust of people, the leaders from J&K should have assessed that days of instigating youth, spilling them on roads for violence, slowing down pace of development, pro-Pakistan sloganeering or taking Central leadership for granted only to mislead youth in the name of independence or any other status for Jammu and Kashmir, are now over.
The Second Tweet of our Prime Minister said, “Our priority is to strengthen grassroots democracy in J&K. Delimitation has to happen at a quick pace so that polls can happen and J&K gets an elected Government that gives strength to J&K’s development trajectory”. This was enough to understand that there was no room for reverting to any status that the Kashmir leaders were sticking to. The Prime Minister was very clear in telling that strengthening of three-tier system of governance and delimitation followed by elections were on the cards. There was no scope for any so-called independence, pre-1953 status, pre-2019 status or any kind of greater or state autonomy which these leaders had been selling to their voters since independence and during every election, merely to stay in power.
However, the erstwhile state leaders who never cared to strengthen democracy at grassroot levels stayed silent on Prime Minister’s resolve to empower people at grassroot levels and didn’t even tell the people back home that as promised by our PM, the UT will now see Block and District Development Councils, Panchayats and local bodies besides Municipal Corporations, Councils and Town Area Committees take their own decisions and make people partner in decision-making institutions, which are directly getting funds from Centre without being dependent upon any other entity or leadership.
The Third tweet, “Our democracy’s biggest strength is the ability to sit across a table and exchange views. I told the leaders of J&K that it is the people, especially the youth who have to provide political leadership to J&K, and ensure their aspirations are duly fulfilled”, is far transparent in telling that while doors for dialogue are open, youth in Jammu and Kashmir are free to get engaged in political processes and give people a new leadership which is capable of taking their own decisions and also fulfil their aspirations of making UT a model of ever-rolling development that has consistency in opening up new vistas for next generation.
Contrarily, leaders from Jammu and Kashmir continued to rant their slogans of restoring Article 370, making Jammu and Kashmir a state and even threatening that they won’t contest elections. These very leaders have witnessed how enthusiastically young people participated in BDC, DDC, Panchayat and local self-governing bodies’ polls. Though militants targeted many to discourage them yet the resolve of young to get out of the clutches of old rather spent guards made them emerge stronger like a phoenix.
The People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) which is visibly a divided house, is today looking for some foothold to go for polls, which is why they are all almost ready to contest elections whenever held, participate in delimitation process, swear by the Indian Constitution, unfurl the Tricolour and accept new Central laws besides stay mum on One Nation, One Tax like legislations which have brought Jammu and Kashmir out of the dark into a new era of peace and prosperity wherein even villages and small towns are seeing massive development at the hands of their elected representatives.
Despite having political and even ideological differences, political parties in Kashmir are trying to stay in an electoral alliance to the restore special status along with Article 35A of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir with Farooq Abdullah as their president. However on 5th August 2019, after the Parliament of India revoked Article 370 of the Constitution and reorganised the erstwhile state into two new union territories, Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, the scope of such demands was completely ruled out which even the commoners have understood but these leaders are keeping the pot boiling to stay relevant.
Those who were placed under house arrest, so that they don’t instigate youth to pelt stones, also witnessed how much committed young boys and girls were to not get swayed away by false promises of such leaders and are today participating in elections and development processes to ensure their personal, the UT’s and ofcourse country’s progress. The Gupkar leaders who always opposed each other can never be on the same page and their first declaration defending special status of J&K that once existed or describing delimitation as unconstitutional is a passé or a dead horse.
In their second declaration also they were sticking to the same demand and saw Congress distancing itself from statements of both Mehboba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah, when they disrespected the Indian Tricolour or sought foreign interference into India’s internal matters respectively. On 19th January 2021, the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Conference had also announced that it was pulling out of the alliance, citing differences with the member parties. The alliance, which had dared to use the flag of the former State of Jammu and Kashmir as their symbol, made the world see their acceptance of Indian Tricolour as One Flag for all 28 States and 9 Union Territories in their recent meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In the wake of these developments, leaders from Kashmir must stop misleading their own people and must learn from them that days of exploitations are over and days of decentralisation of powers are in, which is quite evident from the Tale of Three Tweets of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which are self-explanatory and aimed at bringing an order in the system of governance in J&K and uplifting the socio-economic lives of commoners at par with any other state/UT in the country.
(The author is BJP Executive Member J&K UT)
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