First came the shock value. Followed by disbelief. Then the utter confusion. Just a few days after Amit Shah and Narendra Modi (yes, in that order) dropped a political bomb and jhat phat se did away with the contentious Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, we are trying to process what exactly happened and why. Most importantly, where do we go from here? How naya will Kashmir be from this point on? And what do we do with the purana version? Discard it with disdain? Obliterate it from memory — like we are being instructed to do with several other historical realities that don’t sit well with the Shah-Modi administration? Start writing a fresh chapter with a positive mind, without reminding ourselves of the ghastly past? God only knows.
Weary citizens have gone back to the tedium of their daily grind, and soon the shock and awe over Article 370 will also dissipate, along with Imran Khan’s tepid and timid mewing from across the border. Both sides know only too well that all the empty talk and dhamkis (“Watch! We will finish you off!”) amount to nothing. With torrential rains drowning so many parts of India, citizens are wondering how to stay afloat — literally! In Mumbai, citizens are debating whether they need to invest in speedboats to navigate flooded streets, that have brought life in this once modern metropolis to a halt. As the angry sea spewed tons of garbage back at us to register its own protest against the ill-conceived coastal road, the myriad concerns of a changed political order in Jammu and Kashmir seemed like all of it was taking place in another reality, in a very distant world. And that’s the truth. For the past few years, Kashmir had been transformed in our collective imagination, from a shimmering, unattainable vision to an ugly war zone. For Bollywood fans, Kashmir was always the ultimate movie set, especially created for romantic song and dance routines. Till the stone-pelters dramatically changed the optics.
My last visit to Srinagar in April 2017 was momentous in many ways. After a dream-like week initially spent on a historic houseboat and then the next few days at one of the old hotels overlooking Dal Lake, the idyll ended abruptly. Just two days after we got home, we read about the grenade attack on the Khanyar police station which had taken place a few meters from where our houseboat was moored. Our hearts sank as we watched the same tranquil area erupt into a terrifying conflict zone with barbed wire blockades and armoured vehicles out on full force. The Valley has remained tense and volatile since then.
Given the almost total ban on news/communications since the historic Article 370 nullification, we can only guess the ground reality with locals saying they are cut off from the rest of the world. Someone complained, “It’s a concentration camp.” Surprisingly, one had expected strong protests by media folks about the clampdown, but so far, the blanket ban has passed without any fightback. That in itself is ominous enough. Any jokes or a sharing of memes is being slammed by people who have become overnight spokespersons for Kashmiris. There are any number of chat groups analysing the “Kashmir question”, with complete authority. I wonder why these experts have been silent for 30, 40, 50 years?
The most significant fallout of the Article 370 nullification has been an unlikely development within the Congress Party. We may well see a total disintegration of the 134-year-old political party that appears to be on unreliable life support systems. Is the Congress Party about to self-destruct? Implode? Consider the well-reasoned response to the scrapping of Article 370 expressed eloquently by Dr Karan Singh, the erudite Congress stalwart. Consider too, the opinions expressed by Jyotiraditya Scindia and Deepender Hooda, who defied Rahul Gandhi and disassociated themselves from his stated position on J&K. Expectedly, Rahul-Sonia Gandhi loyalists P. Chidambaram and Ghulam Nabi Azad were in attack mode, while there were others like Bhubaneswar Kalita, who quit the party in protest. The chances of more old-timers quitting are pretty high, thereby sending out a strong signal that it may be curtains for the Gandhis, finally.
The timing, stealth and secrecy of the Shah-Modi masterstroke was indeed brilliant — scrapping Article 370 has succeeded in creating a huge rift within the Congress ranks. There may be no further plotting and scheming required. If the Nehru-Gandhi legacy does indeed crumble and fall apart, it will not be such a good thing for Indian politics. At least naam ke vaastey, the Congress was pretending to play the role of the Opposition. If it gets decimated, we will be faced with the prospect of a near-totalitarian government — creating an unprecedented and potentially dangerous situation.
Then there is the Delhi chatter about rebel bright sparks like Jyotiraditya Scindia and others planning to start a new, breakaway party. Why not? For how much longer can these chaps (no longer young) hang around waiting for their leader to wake up and smell the vino? The last time I spoke to a prominent member of the core group (before the election results), he was nursing a rare malt and sitting tight with a Cheshire cat grin on his face. He had breezily told me his party was going to “sweep” the polls, and that was that. I had asked him: “Minus any credible policies? No special effort?” He had answered cockily that nothing more was required — Rahul was enough.
It is exactly this attitude that cost the Congress big time. Not only were they thrashed during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, they were humiliated like never before and practically annihilated. Now that Humpty Dumpty has taken a big fall, who will put him together again? It seems like an insurmountable challenge as of now. Mr Shah and Mr Modi are being hailed as the tough guys — India needs to send out a powerful signal to Pakistan and the rest of the world. Mr Shah has been labelled the “Invisible Prime Minister” by the Washington Post. What difference does it make? Article 370 is a done deal. Forget about constitutional correctness and other such issues. Going forward, the Shah-Modi duo will have to do much more for Jammu and Kashmir than send Ajit Doval with Id-ul-Zuha greetings. Both Union territories (Ladakh included) desperately need a blood transfusion in the form of massive funds and immediate investments. Till then, the focus will have to be on providing reassurance to a scarred and wounded people. Kashmir remains a tourist magnet, despite the daunting odds. We need to get tourism off the ground, as priority number one. As soon as fresh jobs get created, local youngsters will regain enough confidence to get out of their homes, stop pelting stones, and earn a living. Nothing can be as therapeutic as financial security in a region that has grown accustomed to daily violence and abject poverty, while their “leaders” have basked in luxury for decades and spouted “Kashmiriyat” from the safety of their well-guarded, sprawling villas in the best areas of Srinagar. It was an enviable lifestyle entirely subsidised by Indian taxpayers, all thanks to Article 370. Well guys, that party is over for sure. Get real and find proper jobs like the rest of us. High time, too!
