Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, returning to power for thesecond term with a massive mandate has proven it beyond doubt that the “NewIndia” has voted for a leader who is strong and straightforward. The PM Modihas taken the oath for the second term with his new team.
The BJP president Amit Shah, who is believed to be the mainarchitect behind the PM Modi’s victory, has got the Home portfolio that meanshe would be second in command in NDA 2.0.
The new Union Home Minister, Amit Shah during his electioncampaign had made it clear that if the BJP is voted back to power, the partywould ensure that the Article 370, which provides special privileges to thepeople of Jammu and Kashmir, would be scrapped. In fact Shah’s campaignrevolved around Article 370 and the Article 35-A.
Since the day BJP pulled out from the Peoples’ DemocraticParty led government in Jammu and Kashmir in June 2018, there was a completeshift in the Kashmir policy of Government of India. In fact most of the Kashmirbased parties were sidelined by the New Delhi and the Kashmiri politicians weremade to believe that they are not needed anymore.
Now the new government has taken the shape and we have a newUnion Home Minister at place. He is considered to be a very tough man, whobelieves in hard talk. Kashmiri politicians would have to quickly devise astrategy about how to handle the new dispensation in New Delhi.
Recently, the bureaucrat turned politician and IAS topperShah Faesal had suggested that All party delegation from Kashmir should callupon the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and it should apprise him about the needto safeguard the Articles 370 and 35-A. None of the parties in the Valleyresponded to his suggestion and just kept quiet. Faesal had said that it’s hightime for politicians to put their act together and collectively represent thepeople of Kashmir. Faesal had raised an important point. In a way he had madeit clear that if the politicians in Kashmir want to survive they cannot ignoreNew Delhi.
Most political leaders have realised that the times havechanged and now they cannot sail in two boats. They cannot preach separatism inKashmir and talk about nationalism in New Delhi. They know it very well thatthe time has come for them to choose between the separatism and the nationalism.They have to muster the courage and tell their people that “real world” isdifferent from the illusionary world. For New Delhi Kashmir is a settled issue.People sitting in the national capital don’t want to even talk to people whowant to reverse the clock to 1947. That option has been closed long back.Kashmiri leaders have to tell their people what can be achieved and what cannotbe. The priority for Kashmiri leaders should be to safeguard the special statusof the state. The suggestion put forward by Shah Faesal needs to be ponderedupon and not brushed aside.
The past three decades of turmoil have pushed Kashmir andKashmiris to an edge. Kashmiri leaders need to focus on their people and lookfor ways and means to bring them out of the mess they are in. They can joinhands and work towards empowering youth as they are our future and they cannotbe ignored. Even New Delhi knows it verywell that youth of Kashmir need to be provided opportunities to secure theirfuture. The younger generation has to be assured that leaders care for them andthey are worried about their future.
It’s high time for all the mainstream politicians to comeforward and lead from the front. Kashmir has to be made a part of “New India”if they fail to do so, we will continue to lag behind and we cannot affordthat. Just beating round the bush and stating that political dimensions ofKashmir have to be addressed is not going to help their cause as the narrativein India has changed. The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has got a decisivemandate and it’s crystal clear that the entire country has endorsed Modi’sKashmir’s policy and has given him a free hand to deal with the neighboringcountry in his own way.
(The writer is a former Journalist , Fellow Washington Peace& Strategic Studies & member of JK Youth Alliance)