By, Sujeet Kumar, Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) & Dr. Siddhartha Ghosh, Director, Red Lantern Analytica Foundation
Srinagar July 28 (KNS): Jammu and Kashmir (J & K) is positioned at a pivotal administrative and political junction. The region has broken away from a pattern of extreme violence, separatist mobilizations, and the steady disruption of daily life. This positive pattern is a great benefit for both the national and the constitutional order of India. However, understanding normalcy only as the absence of violence is inadequate. The Union Territory must concomitantly advance deep democratic involvement, inter-regional integration, social confidence, economic opportunity, and pro-people governance that is answerable for long-term peace and stability.
In terms of the interests of India, Jammu and Kashmir must not be considered only a border area of security concern, but rather, the entire region must be integrated into the developmental, democratic, and cultural efforts and fabric of India. The success of the administration in Jammu & Kashmir is contingent upon people feeling the administration has offered them an economic opportunity and social respect. Security has provided the necessary foundation for stability; governance now has the responsibility to transform stability into secure trust.
The widening socio-economic and emotional gap between the two regions of Jammu and Kashmir must be addressed. The administration of both regions is the same, but day to day contact is almost non-existent. The limited contact of seasonal movements, official interactions and trade will not forge the social cohesion that is required. The administration needs to support inter-regional contact and engagement in trade, sports, culture, and entrepreneurship. The aim must be to facilitate social engagement and cohesion over politics and seasonal movements.
National integration can leverage economic integration. The separate systems of Kashmir and Jammu can be better integrated and streamlined for horticulture, crafts, tourism, food, and cultural industries. This can be further developed using cold storage, packing, and transportation with local market and agro-processing systems. This will foster not only inter-regional trade, but also friendship, as people will earn, trade and build their enterprises together.
The administration should also aim to restore issue-focused politics. The landscape of Kashmir's politics for too long has revolved around the sentiments of identity, separatism, and the resultant distrust. The focus can now shift to the myriad of issues that have plagued the region for years; such as the employment, substance abuse, the deterioration of mental health, and the degradation of the environment among others. These are not trivial issues; they form the basis of stable and healthy politics.
Youth engagement and empowerment must be treated as an essential building block of normalcy. Young people in Jammu & Kashmir require more than employment-linked skill certificates and tokenistic programmes. They need real opportunities involving local economies including tourism, agriculture, horticulture, crafts, renewable energy, digital services and creative industries. Schools and universities need to provide opportunities for debate, leadership and participation, as opposed to just providing examination facilities.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp ChannelAn engaged young citizen is less susceptible to radicalisation, social alienation, and the destructive elements of opportunistic politics.
Aesthetically integrated approaches are also essential to honour, treat and protect Kashmir’s identity. The integrated approach to Kashmir’s identity cannot rely just on "official" festivals, or tokenistic appeals. The integrated approach must be related to livelihood, language, education and employment. Diverse Kashmir's crafts, cuisine, music, literature, and oral traditions, local history and informal knowledge systems must be enhanced and supported through markets, digital platforms, publishing, film, tourism and teaching.
As stated, the administration must address the challenges posed by the uneven application of control over the lives of its citizens. The excessive control of the practices of ordinary faith may, in the long run, be more counter-productive and create more of a threat to the social order. The more appropriate approach is to strike a balance between the rights and freedoms of legitimate faith; the monitoring and control of extremist elements, and responsible community leadership. The social order must be addressed that leaves young people vulnerable to extremist ideologies.
While implementation of developmental projects and successful implementation of the security calculus are necessary, the healing of the emotional schism requires more. The dispensation must allow for legal dissent, civic engagement and the redressal of grievances in a peaceful manner. Not all critiques of governance warrant classification as a threat to security. Constructive criticism of governance and the government on issues, including but not limited to, such as joblessness, the spate of corruption, delays in administration and the infliction of hardship upon the public, only serves to strengthen democracy.
In regions plagued by terrorism with a bordering nation’s hostile design, the strategy is incomplete without the presence of security forces and police. Further, their actions must promote the confidence of the public. Engaging with the citizens of J&K in a security framework based on fairness, restraint and accountability, is India’s best security option in J&K. The citizen should not experience the state only as the apparatus of enforcement, but as the provider of dignity, safety and opportunity.
The governance of J&K must balance the confidence of democracy and national security with administrative efficiency, local traditions, cultural sensitivity and economic growth. It is in India’s interest to secure the order of J&K and to ensure that the citizens of J&K are stakeholders in the Indian Union.The trust of the citizens of J&K will be secured when they see peace as a lived reality with employment, democracy, just policing, dignity, and the physical and psychological means to actualize a better tomorrow. The goal of the administration must be to convert the stability of J&K into trust and integration.
The views expressed in this article are the authors' own.