Editorial: Dreams turn sour

The State-turned-UT finds itself at a crossroads, awaiting the restoration of Statehood and resumption of Assembly elections

Five years after the abrogation of Article 370, ending special status to Jammu & Kashmir and bifurcating the State into two union Territories, the promised developmental push still remains elusive. On the other hand, a sharp surge in terrorist attacks in the hitherto relatively peaceful Jammu region has exposed the hollowness of the NDA government’s claims over improvement in the security situation. Though the Centre has repeatedly stated that J&K’s union Territory status is a temporary measure, it has stopped short of specifying a time frame for undoing the downgrading. The oft-repeated claim of the government is that the reorganisation was aimed at fully integrating J&K and Ladakh into the national mainstream and ensuring that the people of these UTs were not deprived of constitutional rights and benefits of Central laws that were being enjoyed by residents of other parts of the country. However, the situation on the ground does not reflect such optimism. The Supreme Court had, in December last year, directed the Election Commission to hold J&K Assembly polls by September 30, 2024. The union Territory has been without any elected government since June, 2018, when the BJP withdrew support to the Mehbooba Mufti-led government. The Centre should not fritter away the golden opportunity that the Assembly polls provide to herald a chapter of lasting peace in the region. The true empowerment of people comes from strengthening democratic processes and giving them a sense of participation. The gains from ending the special status cannot fully materialise unless Kashmiris are made stakeholders in their own development.

The BJP leadership has often showcased the abrogation as the panacea for all ills plaguing J&K, but things have not turned out that way. The State-turned-UT finds itself at a crossroads today, awaiting the restoration of Statehood as well as the resumption of Assembly elections. With the September deadline fast approaching, a major challenge for the authorities is to provide a peaceful environment for the electoral exercise amid a spate of terror attacks that have targeted soldiers as well as civilians in recent months. What has added to the anxiety and uncertainty is the reluctance of the government to specify a time frame for restoring statehood, even as the move to grant more powers to the Lieutenant Governor has riled anti-BJP parties. The Centre is making efforts to put J&K on the path of all-round development but cross-border terrorism and the failure to take the regional political leadership along continue to obstruct the course of long-term peace and normalcy. The spurt in terror attacks in the Jammu region in recent months is a matter of grave concern as it exposes the gaps in the security infrastructure. The back-to-back incidents reveal a clear pattern that Pakistani handlers are keen to reignite militancy in the Jammu region where it was believed to have been wiped out two decades ago.

---