Home Minister Amit Shah's Condition of ‘Normalcy’ for Statehood Evokes Sharp Reaction in J&K

Srinagar: After Union home minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that statehood of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) will be returned following the return of “normalcy” in the region, there was sharp reaction from the regional political leadership, some of whom even termed the remarks as “self-contradictory.”

“Delimitation has started and soon elections will be held. I have given assurance in Lok Sabha that as soon as the situation becomes normal in Jammu and Kashmir, statehood will be given back to J&K,” Shah said during a virtual release of the "District Good Governance Index.”

Shah added that the J&K Union Territory can be developed only through democracy but, for the democracy to thrive, “peace is necessary” in the region. “I want to appeal to the youths of Jammu and Kashmir not to get instigated by the statements of vested interests. I want to tell the youths to have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, have faith in Jammu and Kashmir administration," he said.

Reacting strongly to Shah’s remarks, Mehbooba Mufti, president of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), took a dig at his statement and said that the authorities had launched a campaign in Kashmir to create a false semblance of normalcy.

“After quite literally terrorising people of J&K into silence to create a false normalcy narrative, GOIs admission that situation still isn’t normal is self contradictory. Also proves that silence shouldn’t be misconstrued as normalcy,” the former chief minister tweeted.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led government has on several occasions announced that elections would be held in J&K after completion of the delimitation process and that the return of normalcy in the region would pave the way for the restoration of statehood, a key demand of regional political parties since J&K was downsized into two Union territories on August 5, 2019.

There are, however, apprehensions in political circles that there will be a delay in elections. Political parties have vehemently opposed the first recommendations of the Delimitation Commission earlier in December terming the draft as “biased.” 

Imran Nabi Dar, spokesperson of National Conference (NC), which has put forward its concerns over the draft as well as the process of the delimitation said the government had failed to do its job in the region since the Abrogation of Article 370. 

“In other words, J&K's statehood will continue to be held back and its democracy stomped upon, because GoI has failed to do its job in the last two and a half years. Absolute normalcy is a mirage and a smokescreen to hide their failures,” Dar told NewsClick.

Senior politician M Y Tarigami said the current political scenario where people’s rights had been withheld amounted to “contempt” that would only prolong “uncertainty”.

“This narrative is being repeated off and on for so many years. What time is appropriate for the restoration of statehood, which institution can decide the appropriate time for giving the right to the people of J&K that is enshrined in the Constitution?” said Tarigami, a leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Tarigami, who has served four times as Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the erstwhile state of J&K, also lashed out at the government, adding that statehood should be restored as the government has claimed restoration of normalcy, development and peace to a large extent.

The mainstream political parties in J&K expected a revival in politics before the Delimitation Commission submitted its first recommendation. There were indications that elections were likely to be held in the summer of 2022 but just as the parties were beginning to warm up, there is disquiet among the regional parties against an unrelenting BJP.

In a write-up, another NC politician. Tanvir Sadiq, likened the events that followed after August 2019 to “a fish bone stuck in the BJP’s throat”.

“The only way the party can justify the events of August 5, 2019, is by winning a majority in the assembly, then passing a resolution in favour of the abrogation of the special status. To do that, it will have to, one, increase seats in its strongholds; and two, change the demography of each constituency. The sequel will be to hold elections,” Sadiq wrote, adding that the present situation is not convenient for BJP to win support for its decisions.