By Binoo Joshi
Two clear scenarios have emerged with Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s two-day visit of Kashmir that concluded on Thursday : he will brook no excuses in maintenance of the security in the volatile Valley, the repercussions of which hit hard the nation as well , and there should be no compromise in delivering good governance .
That Amit Shah took security and the development-cum governance review in his initial meetings in Kashmir shows that he is going to be a tough master on all these issues as those concern the people at large in all parts of the state , particularly the Valley . The violence perpetrated by Pakistan and its proxies in J&K in which they have carried out deadly and dastardly attacks against the security forces and the civilians are un-condonable , there fore, there can be no let up in the anti-terrorism operations in the state . The success rate of the anti-militancy operations conducted by security forces , the army, CRPF and police , is high , but much more needs to be done. This is what becomes clear from Amit Shah’s exhortation to the security forces to leave no room for terrorists to unfold violence at any stage.
The 46-day-long Shri Amarnath Yatra commencing on July 1 has been set up as a test case. “ There should be no violence of any nature during the yatra,” Amit Shah combined this direction with another that “ no complacency on anyone’s part would be tolerated.” The mantra for this was 24×7 alertness and vigil.”
These instructions which came during his review of security for the the Amarnath Yatra along with Governor Satya Pal Malik and Northern Command chief Lt. Gen Ranbir Singh and Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam on Wednesday were pointed , and he made it clear to the participants that he expected zero violence during the yatra and beyond . The idea , as understood by his interaction with the concerned authorities in J&K , and the security forces officers, is that drive should be toward a fully secure environment in the state . Yatra is just a case in point.
Alongside what he said about the development and governance in the state, is a commentary on the lack of these two crucial factors in the state . The points he made during the review meeting leave no one in doubt that he had the fiurst hand knowledge of the situation , its roots , in Jammu and Kashmir .
While Pakistan was responsible for much of the violence in Kashmir and for which India doesn’t have to tell the world, because the whole world knows about it, but there are certain shortcomings within the state because of the opportunism of the parties that have ruled the state for most of the time and ruined it economically and socially besides showing momentous apathy to governance .
Amit Shah has listed eight points for the governance and development, and each point is worthy to be followed up for the overall development of the state- touching and benefiting all the regions – Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir – in equal measure. He has listed the priorities. It is for the state to do the rest.
