History has its own way of rectifying its mistakes. After 72 long years, it found an ally in PM Modi to undo blunders that Nehru had committed in respect of J&K. By seeking UN’s intervention against Pakistan’s aggression Nehru recognised the state as a disputed territory. Then, he gifted Article 370 and 35A to Sheikh Abdullah that gave to the state unprecedented autonomy, a constitution and flag of its own, and powers to frame its laws and decide who will be its citizens.
Since then, successive central governments have begged and bribed Kashmiris to win their allegiance to the Union of India but of no avail. New Delhi has even been meeting 90 percent of the state’s annual budget expenditure, while government-funded NGOs and intelligence agencies have spent crores but what they received in return was unrelenting bloodshed and vigorous calls for independence or merger with Pakistan.
During the past seven decades, more than 150,000 civilians, security forces personnel and terrorists of Kashmiri and foreign origins were killed and properties worth `7.4 lakh crore destroyed. Several Kashmiri Pundits (1,835) were massacred and 450,000 of them fled the valley, terrorised by Islamic zealots. Parallelly, large-scale conversion of Buddhists in Ladakh and Kargil regions took place, bringing their population down from 81 percent in 1981 to 44.6 percent in 2019. The circumstances appeared so grim that people began wondering, ‘why not let J&K go wherever it wants to.’ Thankfully, the national gloom was lifted by the parliament on August 5, when it defanged Article 370 and 35A, and brought J&K at par with other states of India.
The nation has overwhelmingly rejoiced over this historic event. But Congress opposes it because it has Nehru’s flawed legacy to protect. TMC, RJD, CPI(M), NCP, DMK etc are unable to make a distinction between national integration and religion-driven political gains. National Conference and PDP leaders are worried as they stare at an imminent demise of their years of ‘loot’. Separatists, the poster boys of the ISI, have lost their voice and relevance.
Pakistan’s situation is worse. Its years of investment in keeping J&K boiling has suddenly lost its steam. Prime Minister Imran Khan has gone crazy. In one breath, he talks of peace and in another, he threatens jihad and an imminent conventional and nuclear war which his Army is in no position to fight. The indifference of the UN, UNHRC, Islamic and western countries to the Indian action and the Indian defence minister’s repeated threat to occupy POK have rattled him really hard. But his Army will still be a nuisance.
We must give NDA at least seven years as against 70 years of mayhem for peace and economic prosperity to dawn on J&K. New Delhi should simply ignore the elitist cry-babies and human rights activists and instead, get busy in completing the bifurcation process, electing a new assembly on the basis of revised delimitation of constituencies and reaching central assistance directly to individual Kashmiris. The luxury of allowing unfettered communication, unrestricted movement, absolute freedom of speech and normal political activities can wait till secessionist propaganda is effectively contained and Kashmiris begin accepting the new reality. It is a very small price that people have to pay to keep the nation unified and secure. amarbhushan@hotmail.com