Windows usually open in Jammu and Kashmir to breathtaking views. But the repeal of Article 370 four years ago, coupled with central government measures and the crumbling of Pakistan’s economy, has presented the region with a window which is not just pretty but could prove to be destiny-altering.
Separatists and pro-Pakistan elements had weaponised temporary provisions Article 370 and Article 35A to fan separatism and derail J&K’s integration with India. These laws robbed the state’s women, LGBTQ+ persons, Dalits and menial labourers and others of their rights.
With these gone, J&K is slowly emerging out of its decades-old cycle of Islamist terrorism, intifada-style stone-pelting and halted growth. The Modi government’s vision is unfolding with 3Ds — development, delimitation and domicile.
A slew of development schemes has rolled out since August 5, 2019. This year on March 16, for instance, the much-awaited T-5 tunnel at Panthyal in Kashmir’s Ramban district became open to the public. This 870-metre-long tunnel was completed at a cost of Rs 100 crore. The Panthyal stretch of the strategic national highway (NH44) used to be considered as a death trap because of landslides. In September, the road had shut down, causing Rs 1,500 crore loss to Kashmir’s economically crucial apple industry.
The 272-km Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) will be completed by 2025. Once done, the USBRL, with 38 tunnels, will be an engineering marvel. The world’s highest Chenab Bridge is the topping to this rail connectivity project.
Apart from hundreds of infrastructure projects, 1.27 crore tourists have landed in Jammu and Kashmir till June this year. It is set to break last year’s record of 1.83 crore. Stability has brought with it prosperity.
The second D of delimitation balances the skewed power equation between Hindu-majority Jammu and Muslim-majority Kashmir. The number of Assembly constituencies in Jammu, the BJP’s stronghold, has been increased from 37 to 43. But seats in Kashmir have gone up from 46 to 47. Nine seats have been earmarked for the Scheduled Tribes — six in Jammu, three in Kashmir — so no Muslim candidate can contest from these constituencies.
The third and pivotal change is being quietly brought about with the state’s new domicile policy. Families of forces, migrant workers and others are getting domicile under a simplified, online process. A domicile certificate is being issued within 15 days. One can appeal to the competent authority in case of a deliberate delay by officials.
Till last count, more than 61 lakh (61,47,482 to be precise) domicile certificates had been issued.
Moreover, for the first time since Independence, more than one lakh people who migrated from West Pakistan to Jammu in 1947 are set to get full citizenship and domicile rights including the ownership rights of immovable properties, right to vote in all elections and eligibility for government jobs.
Islamist lobbies, legacy parties and families that till 2019 monopolised political power in J&K are naturally alarmed. They have started building conspiracy theories of a demographic shift. The latest target is the proposal to earmark five marlas of land for 1,99,550 landless people in the Union Territory.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has termed this as an attempt to further the demographic shift and alleged that the number of homeless in the state are far fewer.
Undeterred by such Islamist fear-mongering, the central government has started settling non-Muslim populations in eight safe enclaves in Kashmir.
The shift has palpably begun. But it is more democratic and developmental than demographic.
Comments
0 comment