By Farooq Wani
Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s latest visit to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir earlier this week again underscores the Centre’s determination and commitment towards ensuring this strategic region’s security, development and recognition of the sacrifices made by the nation’s security forces.
Post the August 5, 2019 decision to abrogate controversial sections of Articles 370 and 35-A that had granted Special Status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, we are witnessing a step-by-step progress towards giving Kashmiris from all walks of life a better future by neutralising acts of terrorism and removing obstacles impeding the region’s development.
Shah’s visit to J&K is significant for several others reasons, the most notable being that, it has come within a fortnight of him chairing another high-level security meeting in New Delhi (June 9) to review arrangements for the commencement of the nearly six week long annual pilgrimage to the holy Amarnath shrine.
This June 23-24 visit saw him re-emphasizing the Centre’s desire to achieve its cherished goal of building a “new Kashmir” under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, firmly moving away from the decadence and neglect of pre-2019 times. It saw him placing stress on following a policy of zero tolerance against the drug menace that has crippled the region of late. The Centre’s determined “Whole of Government Approach” to J&K months before assembly and general elections is indicative of its effectiveness and efficiency to hit the ground running 24×7.
This was reflected in his meeting with met the kin of police martyrs in Srinagar, the distribution of appointment letters to their nearest of relatives, laying the foundation stone for the ‘Balidan Stambh’, a symbolic pillar being constructed to honour the heroic deeds of the security forces, in Srinagar’s Partap Park, inauguration of several developmental projects and the administration’s resolve not to allow India to be used as a new center for globalised narcotics trade.
For those unaware, the Indian government has launched a campaign against the misuse of drugs on a war footing through appropriate forums. The results of this comprehensive and coordinated fight against drugs can be assessed by the remarkable statistic that the value of the seizure of drugs rose almost 30 times from Rs.768 crores in the 2006-13 period to Rs.22, 000 crores in the 2014-22 period, besides a 181 percent increase in registration of cases against drug peddlers. There is not an iota of doubt over the Modi –led government’s commitment to ensure a drug-free India to save the younger generation in particular and society in general.
Since October 2022, Shah has undertaken at least six visits to J&K, the purpose of which has been to send out a firm message to anti-social elements that no stone will be left unturned to ensure the region’s security and development.
At the core of this mission is a constant and consistent aim of reviewing and recalibrating existing action plans to strengthen the entire security and intelligence grid to meet emerging challenges of terrorism, insurgency and narco-terrorism.
Shah, in particular, has been forceful in keeping the narrative focussed on the Centre working overtime to ensure peace, socio-economic stability, development and normalcy in J&K.
There is an acceptance that the hydra of the terror eco-system will constantly raise its ugly head in a few geographical pockets of J&K, but the overall intent is of ushering true democracy in this region, encouraging Kashmir’s youth to be engines of change and growth and moving away from the fiefdom of filial political dynasts.
Each of Amit Shah’s visits have reflected the J&K outreach programme of the Modi government, and the right of the people of J&K to have equal domicile rights, greater socio-economic development and a secure environment that had been denied to them for decades in the past.
Shah’s latest statement that Kashmir’s youth “now carry laptops instead of stones” tells how well this change in environment is firmly taking root and how rewarding the politics of patience and structured thinking has been.
The author is Editor Brighter Kashmir, Author, TV commentator, political analyst and columnist.
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