J K News Today Commentary
There will be many debates as to what was achieved in Kashmir after the repeal of Article 370 and further bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into the two union territories on August 5. While the special status of the erstwhile state was proclaimed dead on August 5 itself, the UTs of J&K, and Ladakh came into being on October 31.
This will have its own calculations and consequences on the political landscape of Jammu and Kashmir , but something that come out quite prominently is that while taking these earth-shaking steps that measured up to the expectations of certain sections of the people that had been complaining of discrimination and intimidation during the Kashmir-centric arties’ rule , the Indian nation was uniquely successful in curbing the potentially explosive violence that was threatened by the killers of peace, before and after the announcement of the big decisions.
This was no mean achievement, given the scale of the threats that existed on the horizon. Pakistan had prepared a blueprint for executing Tiananmen in Kashmir. The Tiananmen Square in Beijing in China is one of the bloodiest chapters in 20thcentury history, when Chinese troops crushed an agitation by pro-democracy demonstrators in the Communist regime in early June of 1989.
In Kashmir, these were not going to be the pro-democracy demonstrators, but the kind of people who had made stone throwing as their second nature. They had amply demonstrated their lethal skills since 2008. Any repeat of that would have been complete disaster.
As the word was going around that the special status of the state may be done away with, the political leaders in Kashmir had warned of disaster in the Valley. Pakistan had further fuelled the sentiments by warning bloodbath. Islamabad – Rawalpindi had all the intentions to set afire the Valley and singe the residents in Kashmir by spreading falsehood that Delhi’s intentions were insincere.
Attempts were made to stir trouble in the Valley. The scheme of things was, Kashmiris were incited and instigated to come out on streets and use their usual tool of stones, which were to be pelted on security forces provoking clashes and confrontation. The outcome in the mind of the troublemakers was to cause bloodbath. Pakistan was too willing to help the nefarious-design makers to cause the huge trouble.
The genesis of the problem that would have erupted needs to be understood in proper perspective. There was an inalienable relation between the thinking of the masses in Kashmir and the special status of J&K. Kashmiri Muslims saw their unique identity in their special status that they enjoyed under Article 370- a unique world where they had the distinct identity. They were happy with the barriers sanctified by the temporary constitutional provision of Article 370. They felt pride in the fact that no outsider could buy land in J&K, and others had no access to jobs in the state. J&K had a world of its own. Of course, it is true when on August 5, they were told that al this is gone, they felt a deep sense of loss. They were eager to clash, but the measures taken by the government of India saved Kashmir from a horrible situation. It definitely could have been a disaster, but the wisdom of Delhi paid off. There were restrictions, but finally it proved as a savior of hundreds, if not thousands of lives.
