The unanimous parliamentary resolution on Jammu & Kashmir, to try and restore trust through a process of dialogue, especially with the young, is fine as far as it goes, but it doesn’t go very far. Without understanding the real reason why things went so bad so soon we won’t get anywhere.
The unrest was apparently triggered by the killing of terrorist Burhan Wani last month, but the real reason has little to do with his killing or the use of pellet guns subsequently against teenage protestors, which has blinded some of them. It is something no one wants to admit: the origins of this bout of alienation stem from the shock delivered by the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Jammu & Kashmir as a partner in power in 2014. It suits the national opposition parties, which too have not reconciled themselves to the rise of the BJP, to pretend that somehow they had better answers to the Kashmir problem which the BJP doesn’t. This is what enables them to play holier-than-thou on the deteriorating situation in the valley.
Some recent history is worth recalling in brief. In May 2014, the BJP won three of J&K’s six Lok Sabha seats and became the largest party in terms of popular vote share; this was what gave the party its dream of Mission 44, of achieving a majority of its own in the state assembly elections due towards the end of 2014. But this dream was defeated by the Kashmir-based Muslim parties with the acquiescence of separatists, who wanted to keep the “Hindu” BJP out of the valley. Unlike previous elections, the separatists made no effort to thwart peaceful elections. But they could not prevent the BJP from becoming the strongest force in Jammu and the second-strongest force in the state. The BJP simply could not be excluded from sharing power.
(Sourced from agencies, Feature image courtesy:economictimes.indiatimes.com)
