JK News Today Special Commentary
Jammu
For BJP Jammu and Kashmir is a battleground where it is engaged in winning hearts and minds of the people , which is a far larger goal than scoring electoral battles . This is becoming quite evident the way BJP has cast itself in a wait and watch mode in the Valley, where it has not fielded its candidates so far.
This is a misconception that BJP is leaving space open for its opponents . Its repeated call to the voters in the Valley to vote anyone except the three dynastic parties – Congress, National Conference and PDP- is meant essentially to facilitate other political parties committed to full belief in Indian sovereignty and loyalty to the nation to grow . They may not be a substitute to BJP as a political party but their nationalistic ideology needs strong support base.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his election rally in Jammu on Tuesday made certain things very clear that the nation cannot afford J&K of the past when tags of disturbances and terrorism had become an integral part of it . Those tags have been teared in the past five years – that is after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 . These five years have brought to Jammu and Kashmir a new hope and promise – peace can lead not only to the physical development but also the human development . Peace is an essential ingredient for any development .
The trajectory of time and space since August 2019 can be traced to these factors . First, it was to educate the people how to control their anger over the scrapping of the constitutional provision that gave them an illusion that they were entitled to special status and few privileges which were not available to the residents of the other parts of the country . The attempts to tell them that Article 370 was insidious as it gave them a false sense of protection The fact of the matter is that it kept them in isolated where all their thinking cold not cross beyond the narrow geographical and political confines defined by Article 370 .In December 2014, former Finance Minister Arun Jaitely had asked the people of Kashmir, when they were struggling to come out of the nightmare of devastating floods , Has Article 370 rescued from the natural disaster ? The answer was no. It was the Indian army and agencies that launched rescue and relief operations and was offering grants for the rehabilitation . It was not because of Article 370
Home Minister on Tuesday- April 15, 2024 recalled all the good that abrogation of Article 370 had done to the people of Kashmir . They have developed a confidence in themselves . They can live their life on their terms , not dictated by shadows of past of guns, bombs and stones . This is a work in progress . It needs continuity and sustainability. Who can offer a guarantee of this better than Prime Minister Narendra Modi , the protagonist of all these changes . These changes have their own impact , but there is something more to be achieved than the stage it has reached till date
If it doesn’t field candidates in the Valley , it is opening space for the people of Kashmir to understand that it is not keen on winning electoral battles but hearts . Nothing more could have been said and that too with such immense clarity than the way Amit Shah did . “ BJP is not here to impose its things on the Valley, but wants to win hearts.” This is a profound statement aimed at mainstreaming the youth of Kashmir.
