Monday, August 18, 2008

Why does Kashmir cry foul


For years Kashmir has been relying on massive grants from successive central goverments. Even after 61 years of being a part of India, the state has failed to create a self-sustaining economy. Think about what will happen if the central government stopped showering money to the state and treated it at par with other states; it will not take us more than five years to turn into another Bihar!
There is a widespread mistrust in the valley towards India but that can be explained and also resolved!
1. Article 370 that ensured the state always remained aloof from rest of the country, socially and culturally. Because outsiders have been refused entry into the state by not being allowed to buy property and set up industries, there was never any cultural exchange of the valley with rest of India. Back in the valley, the extremist elements took advantage of the isolation in the valley and made sure that by the time a Kashmiri muslim learns how to speak, he has enough venom in his mind towards India.
2. The politicians, be it the Hurriyat or the mainstream poltical parties (including several national political parties), all have exploited the post-1947 situation to their benefit. Successive governments let extremism propagate under their nose but little did they bother to control it as long as their vote bank was secure. Many of the mainstream parties, including the Congress, NC & PDP have for years indulged in double-speak. It's high-time the people in Kashmir understood this. At the end of the
day, who suffers? It's the common man on the street, not the leaders who live in high-security and move in bullet-proof cars! 
3. Presence of army in Kashmir is indeed hurting the people and I admit they may be wrong at times, but such things are bound to happen in Kashmir, where the anti-India sentiment is extremely strong. If the situation in Kashmir improves and all the anti-national and extemist activities stop, army will be out of Kashmir. No questions on that! Even the Indian government does not like spending billions of dollars every year on maintaining the security situation in Kashmir! In fact this money can be spent for the betterment of the state and bringing it back to what it used to be-The heaven on earth!
But little will our "pro-azadi" supporters understand this!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

agree on all counts.we need to demand scrapping of the article 370 from the Jammu and Laddakh region.
Someone today here while appreciating the agitation commented it is the first time they have realized such a presence of HIndus in the region. Forget the Dogra identity...the mainstream is so ignorant....we have raise our voices