Abrogation of 370 – Liberation of Jammu-Kashmir

With the direct attention that the Valley is now receiving from New Delhi means erring officials will have to correct their behaviour

Nayeem Ganai

Srinagar: On August 5, 2020 – marked the first anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370, which withdrew the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcated it in two Union Territories – Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, with legislature like Delhi and Puducherry and Union Territory of Ladakh, without legislature. In the last one year, Kashmir has seen many positive changes, which have sought to make life better for the ordinary Kashmiris.

Article 370 was drafted under Part XXI of the Indian Constitution which deals with temporary, transitional, and special provisions. Under this article, Kashmir received special status, taking into consideration the special circumstances of its accession to the Indian Union. Under this article, the residents of the state of Jammu and Kashmir lived under a separate set of laws including those related to citizenship, ownership of properties, and fundamental rights.

The directive principles of state policy and fundamental duties did not apply to Jammu and Kashmir. This provision was supposed to be only transient, but it was always treated as a permanent feature of Kashmir’s polity. But August 5 last year changed all of that – making Jammu and Kashmir for the first time a real part of India. The creation of the two Union Territories also brought the region, under the direct supervision of New Delhi. More importantly, it opened doors for the application of many central laws in Kashmir, which previously had not been applied here due to the special status.

Many purposeful laws such as the Right to information and right to education were overnight applicable to Kashmir. Moreover, minorities in the region were eligible to enjoy 16 present reservation. Also, women from Jammu and Kashmir could still retain their rights and citizenship even if they married someone from outside the state.

The article’s removal also opened doors for growth and development in the Valley – something which it lacked for decades. Private investors can now invest and boost the economy of the region. Kashmir has many unexplored tourist destinations, which could now be tapped by the businesses. This will greatly boost the hospitality industry here and provide jobs to many locals.

Public healthcare had been a bane of Kashmir with the locals being deprived of quality healthcare facilities. However, in the last year, there seems to be a perceptible change on the ground in the improvement of these facilities. One just has to see the remarkable performance of the local administration in the last few months which has successfully contained the spread of the virus and avoided a disaster. This also opens up opportunities for setting up large hospitals in the Valley which will mean ordinary locals will not have to spend money to go outside Jammu and Kashmir for medical treatment. A quality health care system will also create jobs. Combined with its unpolluted environs, it can potentially make the region a medical tourism hub.

Corruption and nepotism were other big challenges for the Valley. And this has been the most difficult to root out. It will take some time, but with improving local administration and governance practices, ordinary Kashmiris can now look forward to a time when it will be soon history. The direct attention that the Valley is now receiving from New Delhi means erring officials will have to correct their behaviour.

Land and real estate have also seen a boom in the last year. Property rates which had been lying stagnant for years in the Valley have shot up since August 5. This has benefited the landowners. Construction activities have also increased in the Valley in the last one year, again providing increased employment opportunities.

Kashmir’s alluring natural beauty had been a hallmark of many old Bollywood films. However, with the onset of an armed insurgency, it had disappeared from the silver screen. Hopefully, now Bollywood showcases the beauty again, which will attract more and more tourists to the Valley to explore the sights and destinations which had not been seen earlier.

The biggest positive of the last year has been the absence of violence and street protests, which used to be a daily affair for Kashmir. Locals who wanted to live a normal, peaceful life, often used to be the casualty of militant violence. Hopefully, this is one change that will become a permanent feature of Jammu and Kashmir.

The special status had benefitted the elites and the politicians, with ordinary Kashmiris being left high and dry. Healthcare, jobs, investments, economic development – ideally what should have been the part of Kashmir’s discourse, had become completely focused on azaadi and militancy. The territorial overhaul of August 5, not just aims to integrate the region into India, but also fundamentally change Kashmir’s discourse for the better. Militants have shown that they disapprove of this change because it makes them irrelevant. Their attacks last year on apple orchard owners and labourers showed that they do not want normalcy in the Valley. But ordinary Kashmiris have shown the way. The decline in stone-pelting incidents and large- scale disapproval of any hartal and shutdowns demonstrates their vigour for leading a normal and peaceful life.- By Nayeem Ganai

About the Author: Nayeem Ganai, is a Baramulla-based political analyst