The Home Minister assured the Rajya Sabha, 3 months before, that “normalcy” had been restored in Jammu and Kashmir. Yet, 3 main leaders of the Jammu and Kashmir- Omar Abdullah, Farookh Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have been slapped with the Public Safety Act and are under detention for more than 200 days.
Farookh Abdullah, under the Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government, defended India’s position on Kashmir to the world, as Minister of State for External Affairs. As Minister of State for External Affairs in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government. But now, according to the Public Safety Act dossier prepared by the J&K administration, he stands accused of coddling militants and mobilising the people of Kashmir to defy Pakistan-backed militants and vote in elections. Just like Mr. Abdullah, Mufti has also been deemed “anti-national”. She ran J&K as Chief Minister with her party in alliance with the BJP for three years.
Broadening the zone of normalcy
It used to be the Indian government’s primary goal to show the world that the people of J&K participated in elections. The government tries its best to obtain diplomatic certification for turnouts in elections as a measure of the genuineness of the exercise. An election in J&K is not going to take place any time soon, but proving that such an election is genuine, when it is held, will still be the main aim of this government. The steady escorting of foreign delegates into the new Union Territory is an indication of this. The plank of “normalcy” in J&K extends with every lot of foreign envoys that enter the territory. The question then is, when will an election take place if the situation is “normal”?
In Kashmir, colleges and schools were open for months after the dilution of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, but nobody attended them. Is that also now normal? Many of the established businesses,which were contributing in employment generation and boosting the economy, have been closed down due to the internet shutdown in the valley as they were dependent on internet connection.
Every now and then, U.S. President Donald Trump makes a comment that he is ready to mediate between India and Pakistan, even though New Delhi insists that Kashmir is an internal matter. Earlier, the U.S. used to make such comments in the times when India and America were not having good relations, but it has become a routine for President Trump to offer for mediation, even in times when PM modi gets a grand welcome in the ‘Howdy Modi’ event in Houston and India is all set to organize ‘Kem Cho Trump’ in Gujarat. Is this too the new normal?
The misconception formed
The government conducts focused, narrowly guided tours in batches for foreign diplomats to assess and make a broad certification of the normalcy that prevails in J&K to their home countries. The diplomatic tourists hear and see exactly what New Delhi wants them to hear and see. These diplomats go to Srinagar and no doubt send rosy, impressionistic cables to their countries.
On the other hand, Indian politicians are not allowed to go to Kashmir and determine how normal the situation is. They probably have to request the foreign missions to put out regular updates, in the form of newsletters or health bulletins, to get a better sense of the situation.
Challenges ahead and the way forward
The main challenge for the government now is to hold elections in the newly created union territory and for that, the delimitation hurdle first needs to be crossed. This will be done on the basis of the 2011 Census.
The active participation of people in the elections is also a challenge for the government and the election commission as even the panchayat polls, which the Prime Minister declared a resounding success, left half the seats empty because of the absence of candidates and boycott calls. For that, there should not be a sense of anger, hurt and betrayal in the valley. The slapping of PSA on PDP and NC leader has also ignited this sense of fear and betrayal.
Leaders like Omar Abdullah, Farookh Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti should be freed from the draconian PSA and should be taken into confidence. They could be a great asset in quick stabilization in the valley. Placing senior leaders under detention exclude them from the opportunity of maintaining the normalcy pitch.
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