Editorial: Elusive promise

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Modi must offer concrete timeline for restoring statehood of J&K and holding Assembly elections

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s latest outreach to the people of Jammu & Kashmir, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, strikes the right chord but the NDA government must walk the talk on the promises made to the troubled region. While addressing an election rally in Udhampur, Modi promised to restore the statehood of Jammu & Kashmir and also hold Assembly elections. This was the first time that the Prime Minister directly referred to the restoration of statehood since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019. However, he did not offer any concrete timeline for implementing the twin promises. Instead, he extolled the positive impact of scrapping Article 370, ending special status to J&K, and targeted the opposition I.N.D.I.A bloc’s leaders for their “Mughal mindset”. His statement comes at a time when Jammu voters have started growing resentful of the downgrading of J&K into a union Territory and the failure to hold Assembly polls. The Prime Minister has claimed that the region has undergone a major transformation in the last ten years and the upcoming Lok Sabha polls will take place without the fear of terrorism, strikes, stone-pelting and cross-border firing. It is ironic that the Centre, on the one hand, claims that terrorism, separatism and stone-throwing are no more election issues in J&K but on the other, there has been an inordinate delay in holding Assembly polls. Nearly five years after the bold decision to end the special status, the promised developmental push remains elusive.

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. True empowerment of people comes by strengthening the 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 Centre has been pushing a narrative that J&K has been enjoying full freedom and peace and touching new heights of development post-abrogation. It is also argued that the number of terror-related incidents has come down significantly in recent years. The annual death toll — both of civilians and security personnel — has also been waning. No major terror strike has taken place in Kashmir after the Pulwama attack of February 2019. The government has been prioritising development and employment in a bid to wean the youth away from the path of extremism. While it cannot be denied that the region is on the road to progress with a vast majority of people yearning for development and peace, the government is yet to fulfil its key promises of holding free and fair elections and restoration of statehood. The inordinate delay in this is sending out the message that all is not well on the ground.

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