By Farooq Wani
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, his second in 16 days, once again turned out to be rich in offering and content for the local population.
If the February 20 visit to Jammu operationalised several development-linked projects worth Rs.32, 000 crores in investment, today’s trip to Srinagar’s Bakshi Stadium was no less, as it saw the launching of another 53 development-linked projects worth Rs.6, 400 crores, with a focus on further improving the UT’s agriculture and tourism sectors.
“Dil jeetne aaya hoon” (I’ve come to continue winning the hearts of Kashmiris) said Modi at the start of his address to a mammoth gathering and this he seems to have done by his plain speaking. His Srinagar visit was significant as it was his first since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 that had prevented introduction of several development initiatives in J&K and thereby deprived its people of many benefits that other Indians were enjoying.
The ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu Kashmir’ (Developed India, Developed Jammu Kashmir) programme did indeed breathe new life into local Kashmiris by making a quantum improvement in their quality of life, and they now seem quite convinced about the credentials of both the Centre and UT administration to deliver on the promise of taking J&K to new heights of progress and prosperity.
Recalling the sacrifice of erstwhile Jan Sangh leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, who died of a heart attack in Srinagar a day after he was arrested by Jammu and Kashmir Police in June 1953 for trying to cross the border of the state, Prime Minister Modi said that Mukherjee’s dream of Kashmiris becoming members of India’s unified parivaar (family) is being realised.
“Your smiling faces are being watched all over the country right now and will bring satisfaction to all the countrymen,” Modi said, adding, “I consider Kashmir as my ‘parivaar’. Parivaar’ is always in our hearts and minds.”
The Prime Minister also used the occasion of his visit to caution all Kashmiris to stay away from the “politics of dynasty and opportunism”, which had done nothing other than denying common citizens equal opportunity, equal dignity and fundamental rights that others across the nation were benefiting from. Unlike the past, now locals were clearly profiting from uniform laws and pro-poor schemes, Modi said. Declaring that his intent was to carry on going on the right path, Modi reiterated that the “Progress of Kashmir is our priority.”
The Rs.6,400 crores bonanza for the Kashmir Valley included a Rs.1,400 crores impetus for the tourism sector under the ‘Swadesh Darshan’ and PRASHAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation And Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive) scheme and for the Hazratbal Shrine project; distribution of around 1,000 new employment letters to locals; the launch of the ‘Chalo India Global Diaspora Campaign’; an appeal to Indians and foreign visitors to buy local and spend a 5 to 10 percent of their travel budget to boost the local economy and urge Indians to be part of the ‘‘Wed in Kashmir’ campaign;
An amount of Rs.5, 000 crores was also announced for farming sector schemes. That Modi and BJP are in election overdrive was clear for all see. Today’s announcement of 53 projects came 16 days after he laid the foundation stones of development-related projects worth Rs.13, 375 crores, including permanent campuses for three IITs, one IIM campus in Jammu, 20 Kendriya Vidyalayas and 13 Navodaya schools. Then also he distributed appointment letters to about 1,500 new government recruits and interacted with beneficiaries of various government schemes under the ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu’ program.
His government’s commitment to realise key socio-economic infrastructure and honest intent to strengthen connectivity with local citizens is both missionary and visionary, a determination to ensure that progress takes place from the bottom-up. Last month, railway and road projects were also inaugurated and a 40,000 square metre state-of-the-art airport terminal was opened to the public
The inauguration of a new railway line from Banihal to Sangaldan via Khari and Sumber and the electrification of the Baramulla-Srinagar-Banihal-Sangaldan stretch (185.66 Km) is progress beyond measure. The construction of a 44.22-kilometre-long Jammu to Katra stretch of road to form part of the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, the conversion of the Srinagar Ring Road into a four-lane project, improving the Srinagar-Baramulla-Uri stretch of National Highway-01, the Kulgam and Pulwama bypasses on National Highway-444 are all part of the ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Jammu’ initiative.
The focal point of his Srinagar visit was to highlight the removal of Article 370, which he said was the “biggest hurdle” to J&K’s development. Kashmiris, he said need to strongly reject the “politics of appeasement” and instead endorse “the bugle of development”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said J&K Bank was victim of dynasty politics and corruption and the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) was investigating thousands of fraudulent appointments made in Jammu and Kashmir Bank. J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha credited PM Modi for the many developmental initiatives taking place in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.
His claim that Kashmiri youth were now talking about advancing technologically instead of remaining trapped in the destructive cycle of bullets, pellets and stones gave hope to locals that every effort was being made by the local administration and the Centre to dismantle the terror eco-system that had raged rampant for nearly three decades between 1989 and 2019. Kashmir, he said, will never buy peace to establish peace.
Sinha also said that Srinagar’s late-night life is picking up like never before, comparing the city’s pedestrian markets to those that exist in Europe. Gone are the days when the media ad nauseam talked and wrote negatively about the people of Kashmir and wrongly portrayed them as being anti-India.
Extraordinary security measures for the Prime Minister’s visit were put in place and naturally so, given the heightened threat perception. Nevertheless, Modi’s messaging was clear- his visit in itself sent out the signal that things are back to normal in the UT.
With general elections around the corner and opposition parties seeking an announcement on assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, Modi’s visit was keen on political and development-oriented nous.
The author is Editor Brighter Kashmir, Author, TV commentator, political analyst and columnist. Email: farooqwani61@yahoo.co.in
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