Both intended and unanticipated benefits have come from the ongoing campaign against secessionist remnants in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and their handlers in terrorist safe havens.

Due to decades of political propaganda and covert politics, the majority populace has developed a culture of anarchy, secessionism, and political ignorance. This has been severely damaged. In the past, corrupt political elites and self-serving Jihadist ideologues used revered religion concepts, institutions, and values to appeal to people’s fundamental emotions. Islam was enthralled by extremist and exclusivist interpretations despite traditionally being a catalyst for social cohesiveness, tolerance, plurality, and coexistence.

The people of Kashmir shown an outstanding dedication to intercommunal harmony and peaceful coexistence throughout the communal clashes that followed Partition. In 1947, the populace expelled the invading tribes and rallied the community to defend the indigenous minority. The political elite, though, was not in a happy place. They failed to clearly express the nationalist emotions in their political communication while methodically preparing generations of marginalised Kashmiris to serve as pawns in their devious political schemes.

These political opportunists, who alternated between the ‘Azadi’ and the autonomy slogans, failed to reflect the goals of the nationalist movement and instead utilised the Constitution’s provisions for internal autonomy to haggle with and occasionally blackmail the Centre.

They rigged elections, destroyed political institutions, and performed poorly in terms of governance. Their poor management of state affairs, among other things, fueled public resentment and led to crises of New Delhi’s legitimacy.

These patrimonial regimes disenfranchised the vast majority of the people and political adversaries in order to promote the interests of a small group of party loyalists. The local governing elite’s bad governance fueled public resentment, discouraged mainstream dissident political formations, and created the ideal environment for populists and demagogues to prosper. As a result, the local political parties in J&K aborted efforts to develop democratic institutions, which shaped the region’s divisive politics.

Due to these historical circumstances, major non-ruling elites came together to create the Muslim United Front (MUF) to run in the 1987 Assembly Elections in hopes of bringing about a democratic regime transition. The MUF’s confidence in any democratic transition was shaken by the alleged widespread rigging, which is how the first group of separatists dressed as jihadists arrived. Pakistan, which had been on the hunt ever since suffering a humiliating setback in the 1971 War, saw this as an opportunity to enter the troubled seas of Kashmir.

The jihadists supported by the local religious radicals and housed by the Pakistani deep state attempted to destroy the foundation of the syncretic, secular, and pluralistic Sufi way of life that had naturally developed in the area. As a result, Kashmir experienced the agonising migration of its Pandit minority amid a rapidly shifting social landscape. The once-divisive, separatist, and exclusivist political culture of the valley has changed.

The Jihadist discourses promoted ‘takfiri’ interpretations of the Islamic faith as the secular spaces were forcibly Islamised. The term, ‘Islamised’, refers to the process of purging traditional syncretic norms and instilling fanatical and intolerant religious ideals. The takfiri jihadist discourse embarked on a mission to strip the commonly practised Islamic faith of its Sufi (mystic) essence and transformed Islam into an ideology for insurrection against the nation.

This deliberate politicisation of a pluralistic, inclusive, and non-belligerent Islamic faith sowed seeds of social disharmony among the population. This ideological shift unleashed a wave of death and destruction, where ordinary and expendable lives were lost while the merchants of death amassed their fortunes.

The phase of bloodshed was pushed by those who exploited people’s political ignorance, using conveniently interpreted Quranic verses and Hadiths to lull ordinary people into believing that they could replicate the victories of Afghan Mujahideen against the former Soviet Union in Kashmir and drive out the mighty Indian state.

The instigators of this violence fed some youth the illusion of Kashmir’s separation from the Indian Union. The state’s response to this ideological tectonic shift was largely reduced to asserting its military muscle to quell the revolting situation. It took decades to regain control over the informal spaces of Jihadist indoctrination and channels of political communication to have a narrative change in the valley.

Previous governments narrowly attempted to neutralize terrorists in arithmetic proportion, only to allow them to re-emerge in geometric proportion in different spells and sub-regions. They lacked any effective ideological counter-narrative or a grand strategy to strip the jihadist ideologues of their popular appeal. It was not until the Modi government addressed the root cause of the issue that progress was made.

By dealing a decisive blow to the secessionist jihadists who mobilised people against the Indian State using religious sentiments and making local youths pawns in Pakistan’s “thousand-Cut policy”, the government finally took control of the dominant narrative.

The government’s policy of accommodating and empowering the elected representatives of local self-government institutions and law-abiding citizenry, on the one hand, and disallowing the dynastic mainstream politicians from expropriating the public, on the other, heralded the winds of a favourable change in the region. The present government ended the ambiguity and equivocality regarding Kashmir’s constitutional status within the Indian Union and, thus, saved countless youths from falling for the illusory notion of “independence” possible to be attained through violent jihad.

Article 370, which promised a semi-autonomous status within the Indian federal system, was maliciously exploited by soft separatists — mainstream dynastic politicians — to emphasize Kashmir’s distinct identity in exclusivist and parochial terms and foster disaffection for the Union. A stretched phase of jihadist separatists’ historical waywardness and subversive politics that had caused the loss of human lives and material resources was finally put to an end.

The indiscriminate and appeasing inclusion-moderation approach of the past governments had not increased the costs of terrorists and their nurturers; the present government’s naked iron fist policy for separatists and velvet glove for the law-abiding citizens turned the tables on jihadist discourses.

A new dawn of normalcy has already begun, and it manifests itself in the form of people’s disillusionment with the pointless and self-destructive insurgency. This reality may sound intimidating in the short run, but in the long run, it will dismantle the mental barriers that had prevented Kashmiri youth from engaging as equal citizens in the nation-building project.

At the time of Article 370’s revocation, the people rejected the hideous designs of separatists and terrorism apologists and distanced themselves from them when they refused to protest the abrogation. The new Kashmir is now a peaceful region, with its priorities shifting toward civil liberties, good governance, sustainable jobs, quality healthcare, and entrepreneurship. People are no longer swayed by the notion that a few hundred guerrillas supported by an enemy state can overthrow India from Kashmir.

People have witnessed the failure of jihadist groups, such as IS and Al-Qaeda, on the global stage and the havoc these groups wreaked in Pakistan, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

It would be misleading to argue that the lack of street violence and stone pelting following the abrogation of Article 370 was solely due to the massive security presence.

The truth is that people themselves had realised the futility of such actions and have come to terms with the new reality, which was previously overshadowed by political expediency and poor governance. The incumbent government deserves praise for ensuring peace and improving the lives of ordinary people by tightening the noose around the terror sponsors and jihadist ideologues.

As we commit to the larger national consensus and proudly join the Union with a unified heart and mind, this period in our history is crucial. This dedication is a sincere illustration of lively democracy and public legitimacy. After incurring significant financial and human costs, people have finally come to understand the futility of those bygone years.

(WITH INPUT FEEDS)