Ramifications of an executive’s decision can be gauged only after passage of a few years. By making Article 370 inoperational, the Narendra Modi Government in 2019 managed to integrate the Valley with the rest of the country.
The decision was welcomed by nationalists, who long to see Kashmir like any other State, and exasperated those whose hearts bleed only for adherents of Islam, even if they are in a majority like in the Valley.
This all-important decision of the Government has now slowly but surely paved the way for the integration of the Valley with the rest of the country. This can be gauged while observing scores of Indian devotees, who are queuing up for entry at the centuries-old Kheer Bhawani Temple, which lies in Tulmul village in Ganderbal, where they are partaking traditional kheer after offering puja at the tranquil surroundings of the mandir where an enchanting idol of Goddess Kheer Bhawani gives ‘ashirvad’ (blessings) to devotees who pay obeisance there. Intrestingly, the pristine spring water seems magical as it changes colour. It arouses curiousity among devotees from Delhi and Mumbai, who are on a spiritual quest to the land of their forefathers.
In Srinagar, the scene is the same even though it is besieged by tourists. Visitors, sporting dark glasses and cameras, from Chennai, Kochi and Kolkata can be seen standing in serpentine queues to explore picturesque Chashme Shahi Gardens, while people from Mahrashtra and Uttarakhand can be seen walking confidently at the boulevard next to iconic Dal Lake. On the road, they are partaking in traditional Maharashtrian snack Vada Pav, North India’s paani puri, golgappa and chaat. The sellers, mainly belonging to UP and Bihar, are doing brisk business like the locals, who are running fancy looking Shikaras and serving Kahwa even when the sun is blazing hot.
Hailing Govt’s Decision
The locals are more than happy that their business is reaping dividends even when the weather in June is irritable due to humidity. Normally, domestic travellers refrain from travelling this month.
Well-entrenched Muslim carpet and kahwa sellers or restaurant owners of Wazwan, apart from car and scooter drivers, who act as guides during travel, are either openly endorsing Central Government’s decision to make Article 370 ineffective or giving a positive response to the move by saying “fruits of the decision to abrogate Article 370 would take more time.”
Fortunately, for average Kashmiris and tourists, stone pelters are now a thing of the past as there has not been a solitary incident since the “past three months”. Earlier, stone pelters got away scot-free because Kashmir enjoyed special status and Valley leaders – Abdullahs and Muftis – encouraged misguided anti-social elements. However, after making Art 370 inoperative, stone pelters are tried under Indian law.
While speaking to ‘Organiser Weekly’, Ramesh Tyagi, a CRPF personnel from Bulandshahr, revealed: “Stone pelters are no longer throwing stones at the police or at us as they do not want to land up in prisons of Kanpur, Prayagraj and other cities of Uttar Pradesh. Under the new law, they would be charged with severe punishment. So the law is identical to the one in place in other parts of the country.”
While speaking, one observes that Tyagi’s brooding face has a bullet-like mark but he dismisses it as part of the job. He has been stationed in vulnerable places even when insurgency was at its peak in Kashmir for nearly three years.
“All the changes in law are due to the Central Government’s decision to make Article 370 inoperative,” says Tyagi.
To test CRPF personnel’s version, one explored multiple shopping arcades, markets and malls of Srinagar, Jammu and small trinket sellers of Ganderbal and Budgam. Barring one seller who gave a brusque answer like “doing away with Article 370 has neither helped nor made things difficult for us”, the testimony of the overwhelming majority convinced me that shopkeepers are gratified with the Centre’s bold decision that has annoyed India’s enemy Pakistan as well as Xi Jingping.
People of the Valley seem to be a content lot as commercial activities have soared up, particularly after the successful completion of G-20 Tourism Working Group meeting from May 22 to 24.
Pak Putting a Spanner in Peace
Even though peace and tranquility have returned to the terrorist-infested region, CRPF personnel have not lowered their guard. The jawans armed to the teeth are standing alert on strategic places on the streets of Lal Chowk, Mandir Bagh and on the National Highway linking Srinagar with Jammu. Fortunately, one got first-hand-experience watching them perform their daily drill as my hotel was inhabited by CRPF personnel. Like always, they start their day early, undertake routine exercises and remain as committed. Indeed, our men in uniform are keeping their eyes peeled, patrolling across Srinagar and even in adjoining regions of Kashmir. However, Kashmir is not completely free from the menace of jihadis. Recently, five jihadis loaded with ammunition tried to sneak from Pakistan into Kashmir. Thankfully, they were eliminated by our security force. “Pakistan is trying to keep alive militancy but the anti-infiltration grid along the Line of Control is doing its job,” said Jammu and Kashmir DGP Dilbag Singh.
Indeed, it was gratifying to know that there is no room for complacency and our security personnel are not giving an opportunity to Islamists to disrupt peace. Their presence is vital to secure our territory and keep terrorists and anti-establishment elements at bay.
Fighting Apprehension
Before embarking on a weeklong visit to Kashmir, one had reservations as my ‘bua’ (father’s sister) had lost her husband due to a jihadi attack on the Jammu railway station more than a decade ago. Then the cowardly killings of Makhan Lal Bindroo, who was shot in 2021, and recently Bihari migrant workers were liquidated by jihadis. This indicates that Hindus were being targeted as Islamists are still keen to discourage people from the rest of the country to visit Kashmir.
Taking a trip down the memory lane, Vijay Dhar, who was forced to abandon his wooden house in Srinagar to a cramped accommodation in Delhi, said, “In the 1980s, Kashmiri militants, brainwashed by their handlers sitting in Pakistan, changed the demographic profile of Kashmir when they intimidated Pandits forcing them to flee the Valley. Even in the last two years, some attempts have been made by pro-Pak militants to keep the Valley on the boil. But our brave soldiers have given them a befitting reply.”
Apart from Dhar’s testimony, Indian films, too, gave their interpretation of the exodus in 1989-1990. Watching real life stories of Hindus being threatened and bumped off on the big screen was a reminder that behind the picturesque surroundings of Himalayas and pristine Dal Lake lies a bunch of hardcore Islamic militants from Pakistan who can shoot anyone who doesn’t subscribe to their ideology.
Vivek Agnihotri’s epoch-making film ‘The Kashmir Files’ made our countrymen realise that we need to preserve our ancient civilisation, whose roots were germinated in this pious land of Bhagwan Shiva and Goddess Sarda or Saraswati. Sharda Peeth, our ancient learning centre located in Neelum Valley of PoK, was an intellectual centre like the Nalanda University of Bihar. It is widely acknowledged that Sanskrit was the lingua franca of every Kashmiri. However, Muslim rulers with their frequent fatwas and conversion strategies made Kashmir an Islamic State. They did not want Kashmir to continue as a premier centre of Sanskrit scholarship.
Being a Hindu Brahmin, whose ancestors migrated from the Valley to the foothills of Uttarakhand during the autocratic reign of Mughal emperor Auragzeb, I had to be extra careful about safety as I boarded a Zing bus from Delhi’s RK Ashram to Kashmir for a weeklong visit. The fact that my family, too, was accompanying me made me extra cautious. There were no trepidations but questions arose as to why I was undertaking this visit. Was it to satiate my curiosity to see the land where my forefathers were raised but had to discontinue their stay due to coercion and forcible conversion of Brahmins into Muslims or to ascertain whether the bonhomie between the locals and tourists was genuine or artificial. It was a mix of both these aspects.
Post-G20 meet, this was now the apt time to take the plunge and not allow my fears to come in the way of exploring the enchanting Valley even though it has gained notoriety due to infiltration of militants by Pakistan’s Army.
What I noticed during my entire weeklong trip – involving more than 20 hours travel on the road from Delhi to Jammu and from Jammu to Srinagar in a taxi – was the fact that Kashmiris, by and large, are warm, courteous and exchange niceties. However, when they are asked matter-of-factly as to why Kashmiri Hindus decided to leave the land of their forefathers, they weave stories or versions which are bordering on lies and prevarications. They can come up with ridiculous and silly arguments to suggest that they did not have any hand in the exodus.
A Muslim taxi driver, who took me to Kheer Bhawani, blamed former Governor Jagmohan for driving away Pundits. But I met dozens of Hindus of Kashmir who thanked Jagmohan for ensuring that they were not slaughtered in the late 1980s.
Gurdeep Singh, a politically enlightened Sikh businessman in Jammu, too, lavishly praised PM’s pragmatic approach to ensure that Kashmir fully integrates with India like other States.
Summing up, Singh, a devout Sikh who opened his shop after paying obeisance at the local Gurudwara in Jammu, says, “PM Modiji has ensured that Kashmir prospers and is a safe place for tourists as well as investors. Jammu, too, has seen remarkable development and so has Srinagar. In fact, Kashmir has become real estate after scrapping Article 370.”
