Farooq Abdullah’s bizarre assertion that Article 370 should be restored in Kashmir with China’s help has only re-confirmed what the Bharatiya Janata Party has always believed: the Abdullahs were the biggest problem in Kashmir. The expectation that they could be a part of the solution was a cunning, conniving game the Congress party played for decades, resulting in mass exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley in January 1990 and the three decades of brutal, radicalised insurgency that followed.
On 5 August 2019, when the Narendra Modi government revoked Article 370 and thereby 35A and divided Jammu and Kashmir into union territories, a crucial underlying motive became crystal clear: the BJP didn’t see the Abdullahs or the Muftis as stakeholders in Kashmir. In fact, our resolve is based on the sentiments of the average Kashmiri who has felt betrayed and brokered by both the families – more by the Abdullahs than the Muftis, given their longevity in J&K politics.
Considering that the Abdullahs have always used Kashmir’s special status as a weapon for infinite bargain and blackmail, ignoring the basic developmental needs of the state, they have rightly been eased out of the Valley politics after the legitimate revocation of the contentious articles.Read more…
