Good, At Long Last Article 370 Stands Abrogated

It has never ever been a secret with nor concealed by BJP that the party stands for the revocation of Article 370 in J&K. A special status the state was enjoying since independence due to this Article 370 has been abrogated. For whatever consequences the step taken by our PM Modi is daringly drastic.

Today the people are bothered about the consequences of the government's dramatic action. I think the government is aware of the consequences and hopefully the government must have plans for next actions. The earlier governments sat through for decades on Article 370 thinking it will dissolve by itself in the passage of time. It did not. Rather the special status granted to J&K complicated the veracity of expectations among the people in the state.

Many questions are raised today after the abrogation on

• establishing normalcy, 
• end of terrorist activities, 
• Kashmiri Hindus going back to their homeland, 
• control on cross boarder terrorism, 
• action aimed to earn political mileage for the upcoming assembly elections in mind, 
• internal and external consequences for India etc, etc etc….
• Hence an undemocratic action because the consent of the governed not taken into account.

To my mind all the above doubts, apprehensions are impractical and expectations too early. Deployment of police, army and paramilitary force is necessary for precautions when such steps are taken. Such deployment has not been for suppression of popular opinion. What has been going on for the past decades -- appeasement, elections, failed talks and discussions, providing security, medical cover and all sorts of VIP facilities to the separatist organizations, allowed them to rape, murder and terrorize Kashmiri Hindus to leave their home land and stay as refugees in their own country?  What all were not done as much as possible to reason with majority community and their separatist leaders?

True it is also a matter of speculation whether this abrogation bring long time peace. True the Article has been neutered and castrated long ago between 1954 and 1995 by passing nearly 200 constitutional orders to take away the exclusive powers of the state under its own constitution to make the Article 370 hollow. True erosion started ever since the government under Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed, Syed Mir Qasim. True the Beg-Parthasarthy agreement of 1975 restored Sheikh Abdullah to the mainstream. Then which wrong we are addressing to? What could be the Kashmiri opinion? To stay with India on a condition? To enjoy special status? Why? To bully the nation? No, no, no...not any more to appease sentiments. If Privy Purses of the princely states could be abolished why not Article 370? It is not imposing new grammar for Kashmir but bringing the state in the ambit of Indian constitution on equal platform. The nation is no more under a delusion of psychological consequences and prolonged political unrest as we have been made to believe over the past decades. I think the government presumably has taken sufficient precautions in anticipation to steer the state towards normalcy. Yes establishing "normalcy" is of paramount importance to take on to development agenda.

Demolition of status of the state and the state to be run by the Lt Governor is not an insult but a necessity for the time being to translate government plan for normalcy. Otherwise also J&K has been more or less run by the Union government since the 1990s with local political activity of parties like the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party never ever missed the opportunity to malign India, hail Pakistan and even extend their support and shelter separatist leaders for their anti national activities.

Enough is enough. Force feeding of bitter medicine is the requirement of the day. It

could be the beginning of a new process which will tell Kashmiris to grow up, the world of UN resolutions and Pakistan is long past. Kashmir has been and will remain a part of India and it would be a good idea if they get used to it. The UN resolutions of April 1948 that underlined that the final status of the state needed to be determined through a reference to its people is of no significance today as India has grown into a strong economic power to reckon with especially due to her reputation of respecting sovereignty of nations and achieving diplomatic goals through goodwill than military ambition. Therefore India is capable of solving her own internal issues. Participation of people in the state in successive elections vindicates the will of the people for self determination. The separatists activities and political parties exploring their own vested interest grew up as weeds in the state to corrupt the popular opinion with threats and intimidation and to bully India to stay away from fiddling with special status enshrined in Article 370. Thanks god Article 370 revoked at long last for good riddance.