Arun Joshi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered a very loud and clear message from Srinagar on Thursday that preparations for Assembly elections are underway and assured J&K will get statehood as well. To the observers of Kashmir’s aspirations , these words sounded like a pleasant message confirming that they would be getting a chance to have a government of their own elected governments . It was a message that reflected on the irony of the past and promise of future not just for Kashmiris but also to the world .
International audience appeared to be on the mind of Modi while he was speaking from banks of Dal Lake , world famous tourist attraction with Zabarwan forests overlooking it , as he kept on referring to the world and how it views India , and connected Kashmir with the international community with his recall of G20 meet in Srinagar in May 2023.
Most important aspect of these announcements was that it was delivered from Srinagar, where PM attended International Yoga Day on Friday . Srinagar is the capital city of Jammu and Kashmir and the place from where the narratives are set for the whole of the territory. This time Prime Minister knew that his message was for people in J&K, nation and the international community. In fact it was more for the international community because of certain obvious reasons.
Narendra Modi who took oath as Prime Minister for a record third time on June 9 and made it a point to visit Srinagar to attend a function titled “ Empowering Youth , transforming J&K,” – was in his spirits when he expressed his gratitude to the people of Kashmir for their record-voting performance in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections . Kashmir had recorded over 51 percent voting percentage in three Lok Sabha seats in the Valley , breaking all the previous records of 40 years , establishing their credentials as believers in democracy .
It was natural for him to speak of the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir- the day and the timing were crucial . It was on June 20 , 2018 , when J&K was brought under central rule , a day after Mehbooba Mufi led PDP-BJP coalition government resigned . The BJP had withdrawn her support to Mehbooba on June 19 in a fax sent to the then Governor N.N. Vohra . The possibility of alternate government which existed as the Assembly was kept in suspended animation was decimated by the then Governor Satya Pal Malik on November 21, 2018 . That was the end of the Assembly elected for six years in 2014.
If June 20, 2018 was the day when democracy was put on hold in J&K, six years later Prime Minister Narendra Modi put it in recovery mode . He delivered this profound message from Srinagar had international connotations. The elections to the Assembly in J&K has become an international issue , as there were many critical voices in the international community questioning why these polls were not being held if peace had returned to the Valley following measures of crushing terrorism and initiating a new era of development had begun there . The argument that the elections would be held after delimitation commission’s recommendations and revision of electoral rolls is done did not convince the people within the region nor outside the country except for those few radicals in the country who pedaled the narrative that elections in Muslim-majority territory would unravel all the good work done there and take it back to the separatism and secession . Prime Minister’s assurance made it clear that the government of India has bypassed all these concerns , trusts people’s desire for the return of the elected government .
His this speech on June 20 , on the eve of the International Yoga day on Friday , in which he highlighted that “ tomorrow on the International Yoga Day, the world would be watching Srinagar. This city will be in international focus.” Modi , a master of words , knew what he was telling the world- Jammu and Kashmir has changed, its demotion as federally administered UT would be done away with and the process will start with the Assembly elections .
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