JK News Today Special
Jammu, November 13:
There is a fundamental change in the Kashmir policy of Delhi . It is no longer appeasement and pleasing the terrorists and their supporters, normally the protection and patronage with which they were blessed by the political groups . Now there is a clarity : No compromise with the national security and zero-tolerance to terrorism of all forms and manifestations. This is no longer a cliché but something very real .
A number of factors have been taken into account before adopting this approach , which delivers a foundational message , that the life in Kashmir has to be made normal, and all the protection would be provided to the forces that want peace in Kashmir and rest of the union territory. No terrorist group or groups would be allowed to hijack the agenda of peace and development through violence .
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has determined his priorities : peace , peace , and peace . Peace is imperative for all the development . Peace in Kashmir assumes high significance because the place and people were made prisoners of violence and lack of development all these years , because that suited the political groups thriving on the emotional slogans, and who wanted the people not to wake up to the need of the development as wool was thrown on their eyes with the illusions , which the parties knew were illusions but still peddled the same, as they drew political benefits out of it. This politics of opportunism made them to compromise with the secessionist forces , which created a constituency of vested interests in secessionism.
The Narendra Modi government, which is now perceived as a government inclined to use hard options in Kashmir, in fact, is trying to do the course correction , as saving Kashmir for the people of Kashmir and the rest of nation is non-negotiable . The Centre had tried to go in for soft options but all these were taken as weaknesses and the secessionists and political parties rooted in the Valley did not change their ways.
The Modi Government had offered huge help to Kashmir in 2014 floods and before that it gave impetus to the developmental activities . The Prime Minister had also visited Pakistan and sought to lay foundation of new relationship with neighbouring country in which the bridges of friendship were to be built and common enemy of poverty and deprivation were to be fought through cooperation with each other . Prior to his Pakistan visit in December 2015, the BJP had entered into an alliance with the Kashmir-centric PDP to work out a broader agenda of progress, development and governance for Jammu and Kashmir .
When the matters came to head, the Centre changed the gears and adopted a tough policy toward all those seeking to disrupt peace and cause destabilization . Now the results are visible as all the scope and space for the operation of subversive activities have been squeezed.
The people of Kashmir who have high stakes in peace and normal life are supporting the measures that have been undertaken to correct the course.
