Democracy
After taking over as the Union Home ministry, the Prime minister’s close confidant and BJP Chief Amit Shah made a debut two days visit to Kashmir. Shah concluded his visit on 27 June after he was thoroughly briefed about the various political, economic and social issues of Kashmir.
Going by the tradition for any Union Home Minister and successive regimes in New Delhi Kashmir is at the centre stage. But Shah’s case is different. Shah is, after Prime Minister Modi, the most powerful person in BJP and in the present cabinet. He seems only accountable to the Prime minister and both are apparently working in synergy. On the second day while winding up his visit to Kashmir, a chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir made a detailed report to media about the issues and decisions taken during Shah’s visit.
Jammu and Kashmir is under president’s rule since July 2018. During this rule there have been been lots of works taken up by the New Delhi followed by many political and security initiatives to ensure peace in the border state. Given to the geography of Kashmir and India’s hostile relations with Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir has always stayed disturbed piece of land.
Meanwhile, aiming to settle down once for all New Delhi has set up Kashmir as a new priority in its own way and entirely changed its policy towards Pakistan. While it shut the doors for any negotiation with the neighbouring country, it also tries to resolve the problem of Kashmir through good governance and acting against mighty. While the political dispute of Kashmir is the trigger for its instability, it is an undeniable fact that New Delhi’s misadventure in Kashmir since 1950’s have certainly deteriorated the situation and created a massive gap between New Delhi and Kashmir. It has further accelerated the instability after successive regimes in New Delhi supported a particular section of society and allowed them to make fortunes at the cost of public exchequer
. This has irritated commoner and he lost the faith in the democratic institutions. A commoner in Kashmir was deprived of all the privileges and basic rights what a democracy has guaranteed him. This deprivation has extremely distressed him and pushed to the wall that resulted into massive anti establishment sentiment. Rather it also further aggravated the political situation in Kashmir. And Shah wants to revive the same institutions in Kashmir. His speech in the Parliament after visiting Kashmir and the statement of chief secretary suggests that New Delhi is sincere to restore the faith of commoners in the democracy. Unlike his predecessors, Shah spoke a different language. Any Home minister in the past during his visit would more focus on militancy and Pakistan while Shah preferred good governance and revival of socio economic sectors. He talked of weeding out corruption and assured action against mighty and rich involved in nepotism and corruption.
He infact directed Anti Corruption Bureau not to spare anyone irrespective of his stature and power in case of corruption charges. He directed the administration to revive the local economic sectors including Handicraft, Agriculture and others. The shift in priorities by New Delhi suggest a change in mindset in New Delhi which believes Kashmir suffers because of political misadventures by Congress and its patronage to section of people in state. BJP intends to move beyond and it wants to reach out to the marginal section of society with dividends of peace and socio economic gains.
