The crackdown on terror supporters and stringent legal measures taken against those found sheltering terrorists has been a blessing for the people of the valley.
“Nothing has changed!” This is the standard response you would get from those who milked and still make unsuccessful attempts at milking the resources and misleading the public of Jammu and Kashmir. Multiple and layered lobbies of the innately twisted secessionist narrative builders in Kashmir don’t waste a breath before criticizing every progressive step taken by the UT administration, yet claiming, “nothing has changed.”
The question is, are people buying any of their factually flawed arguments? The answer is a big no! Barring their own ilk, who have since been defanged, not a single right-thinking Kashmiri is interested in their propaganda and mindless violence.
Across the country, whenever someone even mentioned “stone-pelting,” it was immediately linked to Kashmir. Since time immemorial, successive governments have utterly failed at curbing this well-established enterprise. The consequences of stone-pelting went beyond the confines of law and order. This enterprise, fed by Pakistan, bred by the infamous Inter-Services-Intelligence (ISI) and run on the ground in Kashmir by the secessionist conflict entrepreneurs, ruined one too many families.
This, once well-established and well-oiled stone-pelting machinery has now been rendered defunct. Kashmir has since seen no shut-down (hartaal), no more gullible youngsters falling into the trap of separatist, secessionist, and terrorist elements when it comes to stone-pelting. The very abrogation has saved the lives of numerous youngsters who otherwise would have become cannon fodder for deploying Pakistan’s propaganda in the valley. In fact, the very word “separatist,” which was once displayed as a badge of honor, has completely been wiped off from social discourse.
The crackdown on terror supporters and stringent legal measures taken against those found sheltering terrorists has been a blessing for the people of the valley. Every Kashmiri wants to leave behind the days of unabated bloodshed and violence. Every Kashmiri, like every other Indian, just wants peace, prosperity, and a dignified life.
Another interesting thing that can now be seen is that, once in the minority, patriotic voices in the valley are now coming out fearlessly, which during the previous regimes, was unseen and unheard of. Anyone siding with the nation would be socially ostracized, or worse, killed. More and more youngsters are realizing that peace is the only way to go.
The #HarGharTiranga (tricolor in every home) campaign saw millions of takers in the Kashmir valley. Only three years ago, this would have been impossible as the masses out of the fear of secessionist elements and terrorists would never dare to be seen with the Indian national flag.
