Time to chart a new course in the Valley : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Modi 2.0 Opportunities & challenges: Kashmir

Time to chart a new course in the Valley

Kashmir watched the poll results on Thursday with mixed feelings as TV anchors confirmed that Narendra Modi is poised to be the Prime Minister for a second consecutive term.

Time to chart a new course in the Valley

The country’s taxpayer is burdened with the large presence of security forces in the state



Arun Joshi in Jammu 

Kashmir watched the poll results on Thursday with mixed feelings as TV anchors confirmed that Narendra Modi is poised to be the Prime Minister for a second consecutive term. They looked at the results in two ways — either to gauge what he did or did not do in the past five years, or to hope that he would do something positive in the next term. The May 23 results made it clear that Kashmiris will have to look towards Modi to set things right in the state. The Prime Minister has a unique opportunity, provided by the overwhelming mandate, to chart a new course in the state. There is no better place than Kashmir for him to show that he has the will and the capacity do so, as this is the only Muslim-majority state in the country where he can reverse his western media-mirrored image of “Divider-in-Chief”.

His predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee had tried with his rhyming phrases of insaniyat, jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat (humanity, democracy and Kashmir-specific cultural ethos of mutual co-existence) to find a pathway to the Kashmir issue. But he fell short of time and his goal. However, Modi has time to do all what Vajpayee could not. 

Practicality demands something more than defeating militancy comprehensively, though that is what is keeping Kashmir in turmoil and international attention focused on the valley. India almost went to war with Pakistan after the Pulwama terror attack in which at least 40 CRPF men were killed. That explains why it is important for Modi to remove the major threat of armed militancy — whether sponsored by Pakistan through infiltration or taking birth in the state because of the growing alienation — in order to avert any such eventualities in future. Against the ominous backdrop of nearly one lakh persons killed and the highest presence of the Army in Kashmir, Modi, with an overwhelming mandate of Hindu nationalists, can convince the countrymen about the necessity to resolve the Kashmir issue. As a trusted watchman, he enjoys the reputation of being a man who can do nothing wrong. That is from where he can draw the roadmap to Kashmir.

This is necessary to instil a hope of peace in Kashmir. Why is peace a necessity? He alone can explain that India can’t see the blood of her soldiers on Kashmir for long; already hundreds of body bags have gone home. The things have not come to an end yet. 

The country’s taxpayer is burdened with the presence of the security forces in that troubled state. Charming orator as Modi is, he can turn the page in the history of Kashmir and the biggest attraction for him and the country is that if the Kashmir issue is resolved, Modi qualifies for the Nobel Prize, and India can easily occupy a permanent seat the UN Security Council.

There is a persistent call for the dialogue at two levels. The road to peace in Kashmir passes through Pakistan. The fact is that Jammu and Kashmir is a contested territory and both India and Pakistan have to find a solution for their own interests. The alternative is the international intervention that Pakistan is keen to have, while India resists and rebuffs the same. The dialogue table with Islamabad and Srinagar requires what Modi calls his “raw wisdom” combined with the voice and advice of the people who have seen and worked in Kashmir and earned the love and affection of the people there.

Modi knows it all. Amid the tensions and war-like situation between India and Pakistan post-Pulwama and Balakot air strikes, he did not forget the diplomatic niceties. Modi greeted his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan on Pakistan Day on March 23. Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj did carry a box of sweets to share with her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi at Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Bishkek. And when Imran greeted Modi on his splendid victory earlier this week, the Prime Minister responded with warmth. He replied “I warmly express my gratitude for your good wishes. I have always given primacy to peace and development in our region.” Such words mean much more in diplomatic terms about the bonhomie than can be fostered. Kashmir is an issue between the two countries and such diplomatic outreach holds the promise of a solution.

The theme to abolish Article 370 that grants special status to the state, and Article 35A that provides special rights and privileges to the permanent residents of the state is on the BJP’s agenda. But, in real terms that is something that will jolt the federal structure. This rhetoric needs to be muted and Modi alone can put it on a silent mode — signalling to Kashmir that he means to act fairly to maintain unity in diversity of this country. The road is there, all he needs to do is to walk on it.

Top News

Jailed gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari dies of cardiac arrest

Jailed gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari dies of cardiac arrest

Ansari was hospitalised after he complained of abdominal pai...

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

Delhi High Court dismisses PIL to remove Arvind Kejriwal from CM post after arrest

The bench refuses to comment on merits of the issue, saying ...

Arvind Kejriwal to be produced before Delhi court today as 6-day ED custody ends

Excise policy case: Delhi court extends ED custody of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till April 1

In his submissions, Kejriwal said, ‘I am named by 4 witnesse...

‘Unwarranted, unacceptable’: India on US remarks on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest

‘Unwarranted, unacceptable’: India on US remarks on Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest

MEA spokesperson says India is proud of its independent and ...

Gujarat court sentences former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to 20 years in jail in 1996 drug case

Gujarat court sentences former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt to 20 years in jail in 1996 drug case

Bhatt, who was sacked from the force in 2015, is already beh...


Cities

View All