JK News Today
Jammu . Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s assertion that the violence in Kashmir due to the terrorism and left wing extremism has been brought down by 80 percent during the Modi government rings a tone of reality . It is truer for Jammu and Kashmir where the terror-driven violence was a norm , and not a day used to pass when the bombs and guns would not kill people . There were times when an average of the people getting killed in violence averaged one dozen or so.
The killing of a dozen people or so, sometimes even more , doesn’t sum up the situation that prevailed in J&K in 1990s and even early 200s , when massacres , shootouts and fidayeen attacks were common . These killings were damaging the image of the country and posed a serious challenge to the very concept and context of the national security.
With regard to Kashmir, this violence was not just murderous or reflective of the deteriorating law and order situation , it had vast political and strategic-deficit messages for the rest of the nation with international ramifications. The world had started viewing Delhi unable to control the secessionism driven violence which translated into the narrative that Kashmir is a dispute that India needed to settle through talks with the people of Kashmir, Pakistan or through the third party intervention . This narration was worded in such a manner that Delhi had fewer answers to the questions raised internationally .
Internally , many question marks appeared all at once on the work of the security forces in Kashmir , especially when terrorists mounted fidayeen attacks at the army cantonments and paramilitary forces’ camps . Though it sounds quite unpleasant , but there was a talk , if the security forces could not protect themselves in their own home – cantonments , camps and establishments – how could they offer guarantee of safety and security to the common people from the terrorists ? These questions had two pointers -one, it pointed that the security forces were vulnerable to the terror attacks in their cantonments/ camps , second, it was used to bolster the forces of secessionism and terrorism in the Valley. It became an underbelly of the security scenario in Kashmir .
This has changed . Today the security forces are having decisive control over the situation . The violence level has dipped and confidence of the people has gone up by several notches – They are living their normal life without any fear . They are back to the business as usual , which they had forgotten for more than three decades of high violence, stone throwing . All their miseries , arising out of stone throwing, guns and grenades and general strike calls , have been replaced with pleasure and purpose, with schools functioning normally , tourists vising every nook and corner of the Union Territory .
Home Minister is right in his observation that the Kashmir Valley saw about 1.8 crore tourists in one year- that is 2022 .
which he called a “big thing”.
There had been investments worth Rs 12,000 crore in Kashmir in 70 years but under the Modi government, it has got Rs 12,000 crore in just three years, he said.
“Each home in Kashmir has been provided with tap water and electricity, which is a huge change,” he said.
The Modi government has accomplished this goal with Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s 24×7 hard work , in which he partnered with stakeholders and above all the people . The year 2022 is just a glimpse of what the government hopes to achieve in future.
