FOR NORMALACY
| Date :18-Sep-2019 |
THE direction of the honourable Supreme Court to the Centre to restore normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) is perfectly in tune with the need of the hour. After the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India from the State, the situation has been fairly in control and no violence of serious nature has been reported. The security forces, too, did not have to fire a single bullet in all these days, indicating that things are almost on track. Yet, whatever is available in J&K is nothing but a tenuous calm that can be disturbed by divisive elements at any moment. Hence the need to continue with reasonable control on various factors of disturbance. Otherwise, the overall situation is fairly in control.
However, it is necessary to take an unconventional look at what is happening in Kashmir for the past some time. That may help us evolve a new definition of what normalcy means in the peculiar context. Against the background of severe disturbance in the State for the past 35 years, when the atmosphere was weighed down by anti-India sentiment, no normal definition of normalcy could be applied. But in the changed condition, the fact that more than 30,000 Kashmiri youths take part in the Army’s recruitment drive with a keen desire to work in the Armed Forces, offers us an altogether new definition of what is normal. When Article 370 was in place in Kashmir, every word had a different meaning. So, shouting anti-India slogans was normal. Pelting stones on the security forces was also normal. Offering shelter to divisive elements was normal. Lakhs of members of the Pandit community fleeing the State was also normal. It is against this background, definitions have changed now.
For, thousands of youths now want to join the Armed Forces. Lakhs of Pandit community people now look forward to going back to their abandoned homes and properties. No stone pelting has been witnessed nor has a single bullet been fired by the security forces. Schools and colleges have been re-opened and are running well, though on depleted numbers of students. The administration eased the strict regulations during festival time and there was no abuse of the facility. Another important aspect of the Kashmir situation is that terrorism has been reduced to almost nothing. There are reports about some terrorist infiltration, no doubt. But that does not obliterate the reality that the security forces are in a fair control of the situation and will put down any messing up immediately.
The heavy deployment of security forces in Kashmir was done in anticipation of a possible trouble before Article 370 was withdrawn. But then, the heavy deployment has not affected normal life that flows smoothly when the restrictions are lifted or reduced. There may have been some instances of reimposition of restrictions in certain areas due to changes in the situation. These are the surefire signs of what should be described as ‘normal’, which nobody has missed. The overall situation is much calmer than at any given moment in the past 35-40 years. Everybody is looking forward to restoration of peace in Kashmir so that normal activity will get going. The greatest sign of what can be termed as normal is of hope of peace and harmony coming alive in Jammu and Kashmir.
Until some time ago, it was not possible to imagine that such good things could happen in Kashmir. But all those unfulfilled expectations are on the verge of coming to fruition. These are certainly the signs of normalcy by any standard. It is good news that Kashmir is now coming back to normal levels. It may not be long before the Centre is able to establish complete normalcy as per the direction of the honourable Supreme Court. The nation can see and sense the efforts the Centre is making to get Kashmir back on track. There is every reason to believe that all those efforts will bear positive fruit.