The abrogation of Article 370 by the government of India back in 2019 was intended to bring a developmental change on the ground, which remained a distant dream for the people in the 70 years.
The seven decades in Jammu and Kashmir especially in the Valley ruined many lives, shattered many dreams and kept the situation unpleasant for the developmental works, thus leaving the Valley far behind than the other parts of the country.
Kashmir witnessed frequent shutdowns that were being called by the separatist leaders here in a bid to promote and implement Pakistan’s agenda here in Kashmir. In all these years, the shutdowns and other related situations left many people, especially the youth dead, many mothers wailing, many women widowed and many children orphaned.
The situation created by the separatists here doesn’t exist anymore as the people here have moved forward towards peace and tranquility. The violence related incidents have declined to a large extent. Interestingly, as the violent incidents are on decline, the precious lives of youth were successfully saved, which has proved the good intentions behind the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
The abrogation of Article 370 according to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was aimed at eradicating the militancy, ensuring developmental works on the ground and much more.
With just a few years period, the situation has turned calm from volatile across Jammu and Kashmir especially in the Valley where marginal violent incidents as per the reports are occurring against the routine and almost daily such incidents.
The youth have shown their response with the change on the ground as they are giving least interest in any other works or events other than the developmental works and employment.
The youth, who were once being compelled to stay confined on seeking freedom, have now been constantly seeking the jobs to earn for their families and put an end to the devastation they faced in the last many years of narrative, created by Pakistan and its supporters here.
The Article 370 was there in Jammu and Kashmir for a longer period, which failed to give any benefits to the people. However, it only kept the people away from the developments that could have helped in creating employment avenues for thousands of youth, who are rendering jobless since decades.
The special status, under the garb of Article 370 stopped the government from implementing the laws here that only added to the miseries of the people. During the period of its implementation, the lady, who used to marry a person living outside J&K, was not entitled to buy the land, property back in Jammu and Kashmir, which was an injustice to them.
There was much more that prevented people from taking benefits. However, August 05, 2019 ended all the discriminations as the government came forward and ended all these biased issues and events to ensure that the development and employment is finally visible in Jammu and Kashmir.
As the womenfolk have suffered badly in the past seven decades, a song titled Jari Baabul Ki Thandi Hawa, Dekh Kar Meri Gudya Ko Aa sung by Arifa Siddique and Talat Siddique was dedicated to the daughters in the backdrop of Article 35-A.
Moreover, Pakistan, that claim Kashmir as its jugular vein tried to seek support of world community by raising its voice, failed to get any attraction as there was no country that announced support to it with regard to the Kashmir, thus all its moves and measures got a cold response from one and all, which prompted it again to stay away from the internal matters of India.
Pakistan was trying to generate an opinion about the human rights violations in Kashmir, but it failed to look at the events that are visible in Gilgit-Baltistan and Balochistan. Gilgit-Baltistan is a part of Kashmir region, which has been illegally occupied by Pakistan.
The situation at Gilgit-Baltistan didn’t allow Pakistan to get successful in its motives behind Indian Kashmir. The killings, rights violations and other related things at Gilgit-Baltistan forced the country to step backward.
Anyone visiting Kashmir after the gap of four years, can seriously find the difference between the previous Kashmir and present as there has been a lot of developmental changes on the ground, the situation has changed to a large extent, the behavior of youth who were inclined towards militancy are now happy with the mainstream and finding employment avenues to run the family affairs. Kashmir has changed a lot in the past two years and the credit must be given to the government for its August 05, 2019 decision.
(The writer is executive editor Lake City Times and can be reached at [email protected])
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