Freedom from `Civil Curfews’—Is Kashmir Transforming?

By: teawithrev

Since the onset of militancy in Kashmir in 1989, Kashmirs had forgotten to be part of the Independence Day celebrations. For them, August 15 used to be the ` Civil Curfew Day’, imposed by Pakistani agents at gun-point!

 During the past about three decades, Independence Day celebrations were usually marred by violence and acts of terrorism. The day was purposefully used to be chosen by terrorists to be in the news for their cowardice acts of killing innocents and resorting to firing, grenade hurling, stone pelting and bomb blasting.

Era of `Red Alerts’

As majority of population, admittedly were supporting terrorists either under duress or by choice, the administrative machinery used to be left with no choice but to sound `red-alerts’.  One such `red alert’ was officially declared in Kashmir on the eve of   Independence Day in 1995.

However, things started drastically changing after the Abrogation of Article 370. Initially, it was a shock and a war on the psyche of the majority of Kashmiris who were fed with the notion all these years that “Kashmir is a disputed territory—hence there existed Art 370’’.  By no means of imagination, they might have thought that this so-called “disputed territory’’ can be turned into a Union Territory.

Has Transformation to do anything with Bakshi’s famous `40 lakh’ quote?

Kashmiris have now reconciled with the facts….And the reality is that the present Kashmir genuinely appears to be transforming. This was evident this year (2023) also, when thousands of Kashmiris took part in “Tiranga Yatras’ and Independence Day celebrations across every nook and corner of Kashmir

But is this transformation permanent? Kashmiris are known for siding  with any dispensation. That is why Kashmiris often invoke former Prime Minister Bakshi Saheb’s famous quote, who when asked once how much support he had from out of 40 lakh population of the State and how much support was there for the jailed Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah?—- his (Bakshi’s)   famous reply was that 40 lakh were with him and 40 lakh were equally with Sheikh Abdullah! In addition, when militancy dawned upon Kashmir, the same symbolic `40 lakh’ were overtly or covertly supporting militancy and the same 40 lakh might be now supporting the transformation!