Debate: Is Kashmir the Sinking Valley?

On Saturday, a social media discussion focussed on the current political turmoil in Kashmir.

New Delhi, April 15: An article titled--Sinking Valley--by noted columnist and president of the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, in the Indian Express has stirred a debate on social media about the ongoing violence and chaos in Kashmir.

On Saturday, the hashtag -- Sinking Valley -- was trending on Twitter. In his column, Mehta criticises the Centre's policy for taking a hawkish stand on Kashmir by sending more security forces instead of trying to understand the ground realities in the Valley.

"It is an unmistakable sign of the corrosion of Indian democracy that an odd combination of illusions and nauseating bravado is being spun in Delhi around the grim political situation in Kashmir. Every element of Indian policy in Kashmir lies in tatters. And yet, instead of asking forthright questions, our denial goes deeper," Mehta writes.

Depicting the realities of the Valley, the writer says "'there seems to be a death wish all around'.

"Kashmir now seems to be going from a deep and violent conflict to a state where there seems to be a death wish all around: Security forces with no means to restore order other than by inflicting death, Indian nationalism now more interested in showing machismo than solving real problems, increasingly radicalised militancy with almost a touch of apocalyptic disregard for life, foreign powers fishing in troubled waters, scores of young men and children even, who are making a statement that courting death seems a better option than what they regard as suffocating oppression. They are all feeding off each other," he says.

Mehta ended his article by stating, "But we are looking at a situation where our strategy of containment by force has failed, our political instruments are hollow, and there is a deepening death wish in the state. Kashmir is looking at an abyss. Who lost the plot this time around?"

In reaction to Mehta's sharp observation, Twiterrati debated over the fate of Kashmir. Here we bring you a few tweets...

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