JK News Today Commentary

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has redefined the Centre’s approach toward Jammu and Kashmir . He means what he says  and that is what he has done with regard to the state that was considered a basket case among the states in the country. He had promised to lift it from the dark shadows that used to be the overshadowing factor as and when the talk of J&K figured at the national level.

It is but natural that, he, and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who have rewritten the history of the state with the scrapping of the Article 370 and 35A in one go and freed the people of the state, that would soon be appearing on the map  as the two union territories of J&K, and Ladakh, from all the barriers that had caused huge damage to the very psyche of the people who were cocooned to think in a particular way.

Amit Shah did the whole thing meticulously , and that approach is visible now  when he is following through the agenda of development and prosperity that he had promised to the people of Jammu and Kashmir at the time of scrapping the “ temporary” provision of Article 370 and its attendant Article 35 A from the constitution on August 5.

Normally,  after the decision of such momentous nature is taken , the political leaders revel in their accomplishments . Amit Shah just did the opposite, he  watched the nation celebrate all the barriers go between the country and Jammu and Kashmir, and took upon himself the next task of addressing the issues that confronted the common people.

He  constantly monitored the situation in J&K once the decisions were announced. There was  a duty for the Home Minister to do to see that how these historical decisions are received in a section of the people that had its reservations about the doing away with the special status granting provisions of the constitution . There could have been mayhem as this is the class that had exploited the people to axe their own grind all these decades . They were to suffer the loss , and the loss was huge as the power was going to get devolved to the people at the grassroots level. Panchayat elections early this year were the manifestation of this process , preceded by the civic bodies polls late last year.

Amit Shah was not the Home Minister when these polls were held, but he was the driving force behind this exercise. As BJP president, he had asked the party cadre to gear up for these polls , and also to ensure that there was substantial participation .

Now, he has given a momentum to the whole idea behind the revival of the grassroots democracy as Home Minister . First thing first , when he visited J&K in June soon after taking over  as the Home Minister in the Modi Government , to assess the situation on the ground. He had full confidence in the forces and the system in the state that they would be able to handle the situation in the aftermath of the historic decisions that he was going to take in August .

Let it be analysed as to what happened in the run up to August 5, additional forces were requisitioned and deployed in the state, Amarnath pilgrims and the tourists were asked to leave the Valley for their own safety  as the terror threat was looming large . Had this not been done , and the decision would have been taken, what would have the forces that had warned of the fiery consequences  done. They would have unleashed the whole terror on the “ vulnerable” visitors, whether tourists or pilgrims.  That  part was achieved.

Next thing was the deployment of the forces to keep the mischief makers in check. That  was critically important , for there were many who were working for Pakistan that always wants to stir troubles in Kashmir . And, then there were the self-indoctrinated lot , committed to the destruction and disruption of life in all possible manners in Kashmir . The internet was hut, phone lines were snapped for the common good. “ What is more important , internet or human life.” Amit Shah said and made it clear that only the human lives matter . He saved all the human lives.

Now he has started outreach to the people . He has spoken to his party people, invited panchayat members and spoken his heart out to them, more as a fellow Indian than anything . This is what makes Amit Shah  a real do-gooder in Kashmir.