Kashmir, the festering sore, unyielding, unresponsive. Never responsive to the specialists, the choo manatarwallas, to their abracadabra. The more the good Samaritans (?) prescribed by way of solutions usually fell short of what may have worked in a different context. And am not talking just in terms of the Kashmiris’ socio-political aspirations. Not just the goodies that might have made the State a happier experience. Many wise men, men of goodwill and do-gooders all alike, have given it a try, yes, even some foreign hands, whose help was once sought at the beginning there and each virtually cried off. Crazily, something the present dispensation in New Delhi, with its well-orchestrated stand on the saffron view of Kashmir, repeated ad nauseum from the rural sanchalak to the Prime Minister, which for the record doesn’t admit of the existence of the problem, and which the Messrs Modi and Amit Shah would have you believe is but a creation of a handful of families in the State. Three, to be precise, as Modiji said the other day. Believe, democracy was ushered in the State 70 years ago, with aberrations like dismissals of Chief Ministers, politicians etc., sticking out as so many sore thumbs. Yes, the New Delhi dispensation will admit of some aberrations, namely, parts of the former Princely State of J&K which “continue to remain” in Pakistani occupation since 1947. And if you don’t trust this formulation there is the other pet theory that the return of these Pakistani held areas is the only issue needing to be resolved. And sure of their muscle and their friendship with the likes of Donald Trump and his adopted child Israel, the Modi dispensation is confident it’s just a matter of time for New Delhi to have its writ run in on the whole of Kashmir. There are little matters like China’s physical engagement in the region including Pakistani Kashmir. The rub lies in the fact if this Modi dream were to be realized he will have to neutralize the 100 percent Muslim population of Gilgit, Baltistan etc. Or, it could be that New Delhi perhaps has come to believe in some of the stuff its radio and TV keep belching forth on the internal strife in Pakistan. I am not talking of the terror outfits that are said to be thriving in that country and are active in encouraging their inflow into Kashmir. No problem, the constitutional guarantees given to the State at the time of its limited accession to India, we are repeatedly reminded by the Modi-Shah combine would soon be gone, which one is forced to presume would take care of little things like settling newer lots of Hindus in these regions, including the Chenab valley region which is said to be ailing for its settlers. Yes, Sir. The dispute in the saffron view is not just return of the “occupied” parts, but neutralization of the overall Muslim majority status of Jammu and Kashmir. That’s where the “three family” formula rule in modern Kashmir, of Modi-Shah authorship, comes in, as does the necessity of demonizing the valley and its people. The tortuous on again-off again election process to the State Assembly, must obviously await the fate of the Modi party in the parliamentary poll. That should determine which way BJP cat jumps or in simpler language to determine the next step for the saffron to move. At the moment, and left to itself, the BJP would give its right arm to cripple the Muslim valley by robbing it of its predominant stature in the former Dogra State. The unfortunate patient must in the meantime continue to suffer and be subjected to humiliations such as when or not he can move from your house to his across the street. The dividing road happens to be a Central highway. I am for the moment keeping my fingers crossed waiting for the valley to cope with what normally should have been a month of religious piety followed by Eid. The Amarnath Yatra later or thereabout should unveil what other surprises the Governor’s administration has in his bagful of unknowns. One thing is for sure you dumbos. Modiji’s government and his party have till-date revealed just their finger tips. They will play their hand next, as soon as the dust of the Lok Sabha polls has yet settled. Kashmiryat, Insaniyat, jamhooriyat, the A.B. Vajpayee clichés, sound funny indeed when uttered by the non-believing Modi; the finger tips may well turn into solid claws as and when the Modi dispensation chooses to bare its fangs to overwhelm whatever it believes comes in its way. You had the BJP chief Amit Shah only the other day announcing that Article 370 of the Constitution is indeed on the way out. So far Modi goes have been in great awe of him after he not brushed aside but has indeed flourished post Vajpayee’s admonition of the then Gujarat Chief Minister when 2000 Muslims were murdered in communal riots and then PM Vajpayee had to admit that his CM had deviated from Raj Dharma. I am in great awe of Mr Modi, the healer, if at all he has that virtue! And less said of his alter ego and party chief Mr Amit Shah, the better. In the context of where I started, I am grateful it has taken Modi and his alter ego less than five years not just to put their finger on the malignancy in Kashmir but also to be able to tell how to get rid of it. If he has the numbers in parliament required to undo the Constitution, he will do it without wasting a second. Very simple If Indira Gandhi could do it why not Narendra Modi. Thereafter it should be a stroll in the park to go ahead with your demographic concerns, the Pakistans, the Maldives and Nepals of the world. He will have enough international backing what with a nationalist resurgence all over and assured also of the support of democrats such as Trump, Netanyahou, Crown Prince Faisal, the UAE Kinglets.The rest of the Islamic world has tied itself into so many tiny knots that it would be silly to expect it to intercede in any manner. In other words, the Kashmiris have nowhere else to look for support except of course to you, me and the holy cow!
The Diagnosis, finally
