THE honourable Supreme Court is right in refusing to issue orders to the Central Government to lift restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir, stating that the situation is “very serious”. The Government, too, has insisted that restrictions will be lifted in J&K only in a phased manner as the situation eases out. These two assertions -- one judicial and the other administrative -- demonstrate how serious the situation in Kashmir is following the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India. It is only natural that the Centre handles the Kashmir situation carefully and patiently.
Good signs, too, are available from Kashmir. Stone-pelting has dropped drastically and the security forces are receiving better cooperation from the people in general, thanks to the goodwill they have been able to generate in the State. When such an atmosphere is in evidence in Kashmir, where is the need to seek an early lifting of restrictions? The honourable Supreme Court has understood this well, and hence the refusal to order the Government to lift restrictions on an immediate basis. In fact, the very petition should not have come at all in the first place. For, the current restrictions are in the best interest of the people in Kashmir. Looked at from another angle, it is common knowledge that the people in Kashmir have seen years and years of restrictions necessitated by the need felt on the ground of reality. The State of Jammu and Kashmir has suffered under continued restrictions that stretched across years.
Then, where was the hurry to have the current restrictions lifted? In fact, the need in Kashmir is to go slow on handling of the current situation. If the situation is grim on one count, it is comfortable on the other -- with desperadoes having been restrained strictly and severely, with political separatists having been under arrest. For the first time in long years, the common people in Kashmir are sensing a whiff of fresh air of freedom from fear of terrorism. With these conditions turning favourable slowly, certain restrictions are much needed to ensure continued improvement in the situation. It is necessary for the rest of India to understand that the current restrictions the Centre has imposed are for the larger good of Kashmir. Abrogation of Article 370 certainly upset many an element in the State.
There were reasons to suspect that those elements would disrupt the tenuous peace. Hence the need to carry on with no-nonsense restrictions that would spare no one trying to create trouble. Once the common people get used to a life without fear, once they realise that their normal life has resumed, once the disruptionists realise that their reign has ended, restrictions would be eased by the Government on its own. The honourable Supreme Court has understood these dimensions fully. The biggest immediate challenge in Kashmir is to tackle any sudden outburst of separatism fanned by forces outside the country. Another facet of this situation is of adverse international opinion about India.
Thankfully, the action to withdraw the Special Status to Kashmir has gone well with world leaders acknowledging that Kashmir is an internal issue of India and no other country or political ideology has any moral right and locus standi to meddle with Indian affairs. The stress in Kashmir is palpable at the present moment, following the abrogation of Article 370. It was good that the Centre imposed strict vigil on the State much before it took the courageous step. That ensured peace in the State, something that people could not have ever imagined under previous conditions. The most important dimension of the current situation in Kashmir is that the common people are realising the correctness of the Centre’s position. With proper restrictions in place, the disruptionists will not be able to fan trouble in Kashmir.