Why Modi needs to do a 'Kashmir ki Baat'

Rarely has the situation in the Kashmir been continuously so volatile since terrorism became a fixture in the state from the 90's.

With growing agitations in Kashmir and daily incidents of violence being reported both inside India's territory and at the Indo-Pak border, the centre seems to be losing the plot in Kashmir.

Now, with the average Kashmiri becoming ever more entangled in the web which is being cast by the Pakistan-backed terrorists, the separatist groups like the Hurriyat Conference, the Kashmiri government and the Indian security forces, the time for Prime Minster Narendra Modi to step in has come.

And this needs to be done not only through the role of the armed forces but him taking a step to directly have a connect with the people of the valley.

Even his staunchest critics would agree that among all the political leaders in the country at the moment, he is the best at being able to judge the pulse of the voters and connect with them. His willingness to regularly travel around the country to speak at public rallies, or his method to reach out to different segments of society through 'Mann ki Baat,' give ample evidence of this.

And it is such an ability that puts him in an ideal position to take steps which can bring confidence to the people of the valley that at least he, even if they believe the Indian government does not as of now, respects their wishes and wants a peaceful solution to the current crisis the state is embroiled in.

The need for this is even more urgent as the gulf of trust between the Kashmiri people and the central government is increasing, leading to daily reports of violence.

Though this was not his original plan, but his initial attempts to achieve normalcy have stagnated, the time for the prime minister to connect directly with the people has come as the people of Kashmir are being bracketed in a category of 'with us' or 'against us' and can lead to the state being torn apart.

What was the initial plan?

After the BJP came to power at the centre with a thumping victory and the results of the assembly of Jammu and Kashmir came through, which paved the way for Peoples Democratic Party's, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, to form the government in coalition with the BJP. The conditions were finally set to start a process to achieve comprehensive, long-standing peaceful conditions to come back to the state.

As such a combination finally had both the sides which had till then taken opposite sides on the issue of Kashmir come together. With the mandate that the BJP had won at the centre giving it the freedom to choose any approach as it would be considered to have the backing of the people, and the PDP,

which had the support of the people of the valley and would be trusted by them, along with being able to use its close ties with the separatists groups to bring them to the table.

This was to get all the parties that have a role to play in bringing peace, to come to the table and talk with a belief that the electoral results had finally brought conducive conditions to find a solution.

What led to its breakdown?

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed's death in early 2016, shortly following a rise in tensions between India and Pakistan after the Pathankot air force base attacks, played the first spoiler in Modi's plan. In order to save the process his daughter Mehbooba Mufti, even though she did not have the same support on either side of the table as her father, and not as adept as him at handling difficult conditions, was supported to become the chief minister and continue the coalition tie-up in the state.

But such attempts to continue dialogue suffered a major blow when Burhan Wani, a commander of the terrorist group Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed by the security forces. This led to a major blowout in the valley as massive protests erupted.

Leading to a condition where all the sides involved in the negotiation, especially the leaders of the Hurriyat like Syed Ali Shah Geelani, fearing losing support among the locals, were left with no option but to take sides against the centre. This led to further isolation of the valley and its people from the rest of the country, in particular, the Modi government, and bringing the process of dialogue that had been started by it to a complete halt.

Modi needs to reach out

Ever since the protests erupted after the Wani incident, Pakistan and other forces who do not want the situation to normalise, have stepped up attacks not only along the border but also within the Indian territory through their planted operatives to increase tensions in the state.

These operatives are either foreign or from India. And the chances of more Indian operatives joining them increases whenever tensions reach a boil and suspicions against the state and the central governments rise among the people of the state. With actions against them by security forces again lead to growing anger ande tensions among the people. In the end, landing the government in a cache-22 situation.

It is to avoid such situations and further distancing of the people of Kashmir from that of the rest of the country and restore a sense of belief in them for the Indian government among them that Modi needs to reach out to the Kashmiri people through a highly visible and grand gesture. This may first help to normalise the conditions on the ground and to finally have a chance to resume the dialogue process while continuing to take a tough stand against Pakistan on the border.

And such an effort from the prime minister needs to come before statements like those of Mehbooba Mufti that 'Only Modi can save Kashmir,' create trust rather than more resentment among the people of the valley, especially the youth.

OneIndia News