JK News Today Commentary
Never before such home truths were spoke n in the Indian Parliament as spanning over the past four days – to be precise between June 28 and July 1 – when Union Home Minister Amit Shah referred to the burning of schools, shutdowns and the closure of the educational institutions in Kashmir , and the duplicity and dubiousness of the separatist elements whose children studied abroad.
Not that the fact was not known earlier , but it was never spoken of in the Parliament . In this observation there were other messages too: it was a reply to all those who had been blaming the Modi government for not doing enough for the people of Kashmir and making them to slip on the economic parameters with tourist traffic sliding down and the revival of militancy.
Coming one by one , who made the people of Kashmir to suffer ? The continuous “hartals” or shutdowns and the disruption in the normal life deprived the common men of their daily wages , school kids of their schools , and the vested interest developed among the separatists and few sections to rely on the economic disruption , so that they could exploit the youth to stone throwing .
The stories that emerged from 2010 and 2016 are too recent to be forgotten and what happened thereafter is also known to all, but no one wanted a give voice to the depressed people and their aspirations. Amit Shah did . What else could have the Modi government done after having announced Rs. 80,000 crore package for the state, in which the relief and rehabilitation of the people hit by floods was included . Do we remember that Modi had told the state government in September 2014 – the time when the most devastating floods in a century hit Kashmir- that the treasury is open for the flood victims provided the government spends it and gives proper accounts for it. Point two: the Centre was always there to help out the people of Kashmir, be they business community, hoteliers, taxi wallhas or so , but when the floods were politicized and the Assembly elections were credited to the magnanimity of Pakistan , militants and separatists, the Centre too had a reason to scrutinize the whole process.
Politically, the opposition of the day is in habit of running with hare and hunting with hounds – no one blames terrorists and terrorism the mess they have created in J&K, but they are always ready to play a victim card . This is strange .
Amit Shah made clear that this will not be tolerated . Those who indulge in terrorism and those who cheer anti-India slogans would be dealt with the same hard policy as the terrorists. He left nothing unsaid on the matter. Those playing the victim card should also have the guts to speak about the terrorism and the woes that it has inflicted on the commoners in the state.
