An Essay in Defiance

VISITS BY UNION MINISTERS TEND to be anodyne affairs; a ritual whereby the chief protagonist and other members of the cast perfunctorily perform the roles assigned to them by tradition and protocol, and with the people, the ‘subjects’, reduced to props. The dramatis personae follow a script which has, largely speaking, been so predictable that very often the performance risks looking like a farce. No wonder, Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s plans to visit Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) generated little excitement. But while the scepticism might have been justified, it turned out to be wrong.

From his decision to stick to his plans for a three-day trip to Kashmir Valley—his first since spearheading the Narendra Modi Government’s move to scrap special status for J&K by abrogating Article 370 and dispensing with Article 35A—to express his gratitude to the security forces in pockets notoriously prone to jihadist violence, Shah’s engagements turned out to be not just a statement of defiance. The home minister actually sought to convey a message of goodwill to those who wished to break free of the stranglehold of terror groups controlled by Pakistan and the political hegemony of the Abdullah and Sayeed clans which had arrogated to themselves the role of the spokespersons of the people. Shah also amplified Prime Minister Modi’s message of reassurance and development to the emerging constituencies of youth, people who have started savouring the fruits of development and seemed receptive to the Centre’s pitch, as well as the Sufis who share the alarm about the risks jihadist radicalisation poses to the syncretic and moderate practices of Kashmiri Muslims.

For someone who has been painted as anti-Muslim for his audacious move to scrap J&K’s special status, reaching out to multiple constituencies in Kashmir was not going to be easy. But it looked remarkably tough against the backdrop of violence that Pakistan’s proxies choreographed in the run-up to the visit. News of the home minister’s visit had been greeted by terrorists with targeted killings of a member of the Kashmiri Pandit community and poor migrant labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (UP), in a calculated move to engineer a panic-driven exodus. A group of terrorists suspected to have been pushed in by Pakistani troops, who had killed nine Indian soldiers, was still holed up in the dense forests. Shah, the powerful associate of a prime minister known for his Hindutva views, obviously presented a tempting target for the jihadist lone wolves and sleeper cells. The day Shah landed in the Valley, the director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Arvind Kumar, state police chief Dilbag Singh and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) head Kuldeep Singh had a torrid day guarding against a “lone wolf”. They would not rest for the next 60 hours. For, in the evening Shah announced that he was not going to change his plans to visit the security forces in Pulwama, and that too by road. This was the same road where terrorists belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammed (Jaish) had struck in 2019, claiming the lives of 40 CRPF personnel in a suicide attack at Lethpora, some 20 km from Srinagar. It was the deadliest attack on security forces since the insurgency began and saw India retaliating with airstrikes on Jaish training camps at Balakot deep inside Pakistan.

Given the dangers involved, senior security officials tried to persuade Shah to take a chopper and tried to talk him out of his plans to travel by road. But the home minister was determined to send out the signal that the Union Government was fully in charge and totally undaunted. Shah told them that he would spend the night at Pulwama with the jawans. He ignored their advice and did spend the night at Pulwama, sharing meals with the jawans in a bid to boost their morale.

Besides signalling his determination to terrorists and their backers, Shah also conveyed the Modi Government’s readiness to engage with those willing to negotiate a fresh contract with India where they would submit to the Constitution and abide by its territorial integrity. He asserted that elections would only be held after the delimitation exercise. He also brushed aside the unsolicited counsel of the Abdullahs and the Sayeeds to talk to Pakistan, to rule out the possibility of any engagement with Islamabad.

The home minster must have been encouraged by the evidence—last month’s spike in attacks and the relentless effort by Pakistan’s proxies notwithstanding—that acts of terrorism had come down noticeably since August 2019. Calls for the restoration of Article 370 have been muted and confined to the usual quarters. Contrary to expectations of many analysts, the post-August 2019 period has witnessed a period of unprecedented calm, defying projections that a situation similar to what had happened after the death of Burhan Wani in 2016 would be unleashed. Under Shah’s able baton, despite the fact that he did not visit the Valley for two years after August 2019, the District Development Council (DDC) elections were held successfully, with even people in South Kashmir participating enthusiastically.

It was difficult to miss Shah’s confidence when he declared that he wanted to reach out directly to the youth and dispel the prevailing disaffection. The decision to do away with the bulletproof shield while addressing them was powerfully symbolic.

Pointing to the ₹ 12,000 crore received in investments already, Shah said that before 2022, ₹ 51,000 crore would be received under the new industrial policy. At last, the funds would reach the grassroots, creating jobs for nearly 45,000 young people and a multiplier effect

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Shah also packed a lot of substance into what he conveyed. Extrapolating from the success of the DDC elections in 2020, he targeted the youth by pointing out that the panchayat elections had opened up new vistas of development and afforded a key opportunity for people to have a big say in local development. He drove home to ordinary Kashmiris two key messages: first, that the funds meant for local self-development under the Panchayati Raj Act would no longer get waylaid and line the pockets of political dynasties. Instead, these would be utilised by the actual beneficiaries and be patently evident in the villages. Second, the Modi Government’s decisions on J&K were not meant to debilitate but empower manifold development from the grassroots upwards.

Pointing to the ₹ 12,000 crore received in investments already, Shah emphasised that before 2022, ₹ 51,000 crore would be received under the new industrial policy to utilise for the development of the region. As compared to the times when three entitled families took the decisions on how the money would be spent, now the funds would go to the grassroots, even creating jobs for nearly 45,000 youths and a multiplier effect. Given the new policy aimed at five lakh jobs in the region that would effectively ensure so many young people in the Union territory were working for its development—something that had been absent under earlier governments—terrorism would not gain currency. In Jammu earlier, while laying the foundation stone for a new Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to be built at a cost of ₹ 210 crore, Shah had also drawn attention to the three new medical colleges added to the existing four and medical seats increased from only 500 to 2,000. The Union territory had clinched a ₹ 55,000 crore package, of which ₹ 35,000 crore had already been put to use and 21 new development schemes announced. Tourism, a key sector, had both been re-imagined and rebooted, with new circuits covering Jammu.

SHAH STRESSED the fact that between 2004 and 2014, 2,081 lives were lost to terrorism, 208 each year. But from 2014 to 2021, only 239 lives had been lost, bringing the tally to only 30 per year. An unprecedented 62,000 tourists from abroad had visited the region this year and ₹ 700 crore was allotted for the completion of Jammu airport to ensure tourism got a big fillip. Helipads were planned in every district in the region. In addition, Metro railway in both Jammu and the Valley would now lead to local residents not having to travel to Delhi to experience the same. Tehsil and zila panchayats had been put in place everywhere in the region too. “We want to create a situation where not a single person’s life is lost and we put an end to terrorism,” the home minister said, adding that both the right to buy land and the long denied right to avail of reservations in jobs and education would now be available to refugees, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The rapid development processes being unleashed in the Union territory was proof of “how much Modiji loves Jammu-Kashmir,” Shah asserted.

But in Srinagar Shah also emphasised that justice to Jammu would not come at the cost of the Valley’s fair share in development, which could intensify in tandem with rapid development. Nor did he shy away from touchy questions, such as quashing militancy in the Valley, the delimitation exercise, paving the way for a fair election and restoring internet to encourage both employment and smooth governance. Ending terrorism and facilitating growth in tandem would ensure that the Valley experienced the fruits of development on the ground not just alongside Jammu but that both regions would keep pace in growth with the rest of the country, Shah underscored. Acknowledging that political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had steered clear of putting everything into development in the region due to the deep unrest, Shah asserted that would no longer be the case. Already, both Srinagar and Jammu have 100 per cent coverage, including in remote areas, for the first dose of Covid-19 vaccines and the process of administering the second dose is underway.

National campaigns like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan—muted until the Modi administration took over—are being implemented from the village level upwards in earnest. Ayushman Bharat or the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) is being implemented to address the health concerns of the poor countrywide. In Kashmir, this would come into force for every citizen, Shah said, adding that health expenditure of up to ₹ 5 lakh for every Kashmiri would be borne by the PMJAY and Social Endeavour for Health and Telemedicine (SEHAT). Also, in keeping with Narendra Modi’s resolve that every single village should be electrified nationwide, the work of electrifying villages in the Valley has gathered momentum in the last four years, outstripping the work done in earlier decades. “For this alone,
₹ 35,000 crore had been allocated to hydroelectric projects in four years to ensure rapid electrification in villages,” Shah said.

Speaking candidly on a plethora of issues in the Valley, Shah also jettisoned the conducted tours reserved for politicians who had indulged in all the right appeasement noises. In a Union territory where a significant percentage of the population is below the age of 35, Shah was focused in addressing their concerns. He referred pointedly to the restoration of internet services and said that the shutdown that had led to a global uproar needed to end. Quite apart from all other reasons, including employment and governance, internet was imperative to save lives, he maintained.

In Srinagar, Shah emphasised that justice to Jammu would not come at the cost of the Valley’s fair share in development. Nor did he shy away from questions on militancy or delimitation

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Shah was equally stern in sending out a message to the youth to not be lured by terrorism. Terrorists would be given absolutely no quarter and their overground supporters from among political parties would be checkmated. Their bluff would be called by the Government, Shah clearly signalled. He asked: “What has 70 years of jamhooriyat given? 87 MLAs, 6 MPs and three ruling families. But Modiji has given 30,000 elected representatives in such a short time. Modiji has taken democracy to the grassroots level.” The reference was primarily to the outfits headed by former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and the Abdullahs. At the same time, Shah indicated that the Centre was keen on winning over those disillusioned by the deception practised by these parties for decades. The planned delimitation exercise, to go on according to schedule, would cut down the influence and ambitions of these dynastic parties even further and a fair election would follow.

“A new beginning has been made in Kashmir, ending panic, fear, terrorism, corruption and nepotism. And a new era of peace and development, prosperity and coexistence has begun,” he maintained. Urging the youth to join the process, Shah said that the three-tier panchayat process, free cooking gas to households and stipends to students had all paved the way to a better and corruption-free life. Admissions to scholarly and professional courses were now smooth and corruption-free and reached homes directly without any recommendations. “Gas, toilets and electricity have been provided to all houses and the task of providing employment to all households has also begun. The Khadi Village Industries Board has connected about five lakh women with bee boxes and electric wheels,” he said. “The greatest work done by PM Modi is to establish democracy at the grassroots level in Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.

The home minister did not just take the bull by the horns and address locals on a better, terrorism-free and development-driven life. He made it a point to visit the homes of migrant labourers targeted by terrorists in the Valley in the recent past, mainly from the Hindi heartland states of UP and Bihar, who included members of the Paswan, Rishida and Manjhi communities. That a golgappa vendor would even think to relocate to the Valley to earn his living would have been unthinkable a few years ago, a telling indication of the increasing confidence of non-locals that the environment is changing. Shah’s itinerary included a visit to the home of Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Parvez Ahmad Dar who was killed by terrorists. Shah handed over to his widow a commitment for a government job while paying his respects to the martyred policeman. These were events that signalled to the Valley that the Centre stood by all those who reposed confidence in the state apparatus and its battle to quash terrorism completely.

Nor has Shah’s multipronged strategy to bring Kashmir into the mainstream been restricted to recent on-ground interactions. In 2020, he had met representatives of the Ajmer Sharif Dargah, the revered Sufi shrine in Rajasthan. The head of the delegation and chairman of the All India Sufi Sajjadanashin Council, Syed Naseeruddin Chishty, told the press following that meeting that they had discussed the revival of Sufi culture in the Valley which had ground to a halt with the rise of terrorism in 1989. Kashmir is home to the famous Hazratbal Dargah in Srinagar and Shah had, at the time, discussed the promotion and revival of Sufi cultural events and worldview.

On his first visit to Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, the Union home minister inaugurated online a direct flight from Srinagar to Sharjah. He also referred to continuing work on a six-lane expressway from Delhi to Katra via Amritsar. These are among the most telling symbols of rapid development and prosperity that the Modi Government has prioritised in the Union territory, successfully neutralising the predominant narrative and imagery of terrorism that the Valley, in particular, has been synonymous with for decades now.

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PR Ramesh