The sight of political leaders of all national and regional political parties of both Jammu region and Kashmir valley standing for a group photograph with the Prime minister of India, Home Minister of India, and Lt Governor of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, was something that has given hope to the people of J&K that finally they can look forward to restored statehood and a stable political future.
Jammu and Kashmir has remained in a state of violence, instability, political chaos and economic decline for over three decades. During this time the rest of the world has moved far ahead economically and on other parameters of development. Since early 1990s, Kashmir valley in particular has seen so much instability and disruption that the people of Kashmir genuinely want an end to this insecurity and political uncertainty.
What happened on 5th August 2019 was the greatest blow that could have been dealt to the erstwhile state of J&K. It therefore came as a big relief to the people of Kashmir valley to see that New Delhi has finally after two years reached out to the political leadership of J&K with offer of talks to chart out the future course of action.
Too much media speculation has been focused on trying to decipher the so-called “change of heart” of the center towards what it earlier described infamously as “anti-national” shenanigans of “Gupkar Gang”, an agglomeration of mainly Kashmir-centric political parties. Many analysts have said that the main reason for New Delhi’s Kashmir outreach could be due to external factors. The electoral loss of the Trump administration, Chinese aggression in Eastern Ladakh, and the planned departure of NATO forces from Afghanistan (close to Kashmir valley), could have collectively compelled New Delhi to pick up threads for completing its political initiatives on Kashmir, which began with the abrogation of Article 370.
There are also speculations that even Pakistan has finally reconciled to the futility of its misadventure in Kashmir and that there are secret backdoor talks going on between India and Pakistan to ensure that the electoral political process and governance by elected representatives returns in Jammu and Kashmir. These speculations are strengthened by the fact that the western front that borders Jammu and Kashmir has been relatively peaceful for the past two years and there has been drastic reduction in militancy and internal violence in Kashmir valley, all pointing to the current period being the best time to restart political negotiations.
The DDC elections conducted in Jammu and Kashmir have clearly shown that the old political system continues to hold sway among the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Especially, Kashmir-centric parties like National Conference and PDP cannot be ignored. Therefore, it was a pleasant sight to see Mehbooba Mufti and the father-son duo of Farooq and Omar Abdullah, along with stalwart leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, being invited for talks with the Prime Minister and Home Minister of India.
From all available journalistic sources, it is clear that the talks were held in a cordial atmosphere and all participants expressed their views freely. They conveyed their demand for not only restoration of statehood for J&K, but also bringing back Article 370 and Article 35A. The center, it is believed, was keen on completing the delimitation process and holding of elections in the UT in parallel with negotiations on the restoration of statehood. On a positive note, which is seen as a major concession from the Kashmir-centric leadership, the National Conference publicly appeared to agree that restoration of statehood need not be a precondition to the holding of elections in Jammu and Kashmir.
All these developments augur well for the political future of Jammu and Kashmir, which has been facing back-to-back problems on the security and economic front, exacerbated by the economically devastating impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, which has even crushed an otherwise booming economy of Jammu region. It is also the need of the hour that the process to reshape the political landscape of Jammu and Kashmir undertaken two years back be finally culminated by holding of elections and handing over governance to the elected representatives of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. While most will not say it openly, the political spectrum of Kashmir valley and its people are now reconciled to the fact that Article 370 and Article 35A will not come back ever, not even if the BJP government doesn’t come to power in 2024 again.
In a way, the past two years despite the tumult have indirectly sealed the political fate of Jammu and Kashmir and if anyone, especially in Kashmir valley, had any thought of changing the political map of South Asia once again, that has been put to rest. The people of Jammu and Kashmir truly want to move forward and reclaim everything that they lost in the last three decades. There is a genuine desire to move on, especially among the people of Kashmir valley, who have lost pretty much everything in the last three decades in an elusive search for something that eventually broke apart their state and brought immense misery to the people. This is an absolutely perfect time to finish off the administrative and political process of reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir and restore its self-respect and dignity in the comity of the union of India.

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  Kashmir 370

Javed Beigh