Arun Joshi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not touch the mesmerisingly beautiful Kashmir this poll season despite Kashmir being the centrepiece of his national security-oriented campaign in the rest of the country.

But the hope that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan voiced about the possibility of resolving the Kashmir issue if the BJP comes to power finds an echo, though in whispers, here.

Modi, who was relentless in invoking the CRPF men killed in Pulwama, Balakot strikes and the promise to end once and for all the special status of J&K with an unlimited ridicule for the idea of reviving the position of a separate PM for J&K of the gone by era that evoked admiration and scorn, seems to have deliberately avoided the Vale from his campaign schedule.

Analysts see multiple reasons for Modi avoiding Kashmir in his campaign calendar. Can he say the same thing in the Valley about terrorism and squeezing separatists, banning of the Jamaat-i-Islami and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front that he has been bringing in his speeches across the country? it is being asked. It is an irreconcilable proposition for him and the BJP this election time.

Part of the reason he has not come to the Valley is that his pledge for Vajpayee’s mantras — dialogue within the parameters of humanity, democracy and the Kashmiri ethos of co-existence — faced an uphill struggle because of the peculiar situation in the Valley, as also vis-à-vis Pakistan.

Kashmir, after encountering formidable militant attacks, particularly Pulwama, is witnessing intense anti-militancy campaign that is determined not to stop until Delhi has neutralised much of the threat.

But the scale and intensity of the fire against his idea of India in which Hindutuva is splashed all over has not deterred Kashmiris from hoping against hope that stability in the country under his leadership is more important if it also extends to Kashmir than the instability inherent in loose coalitions.

The turmoil that Kashmir suffered during the time VP Singh, Chandra Shekhar, HD Deve Gowda, Inder Kumar Gujral were Prime Ministers instantly comes to their mind.

“If stability comes with Modi’s re-election, we don’t mind it, but that should translate into hope and promise for Kashmir,” commented a businessman.

The feeling that India should have a strong leadership that has the support of the majority has been a long-held view in the Valley. Vajpayee was seen in that grouping and the Mufti duo — Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and his daughter Mehbooba — Mufti had pinned the same hope on Modi when they aligned with him in 2015.

It has been given a new urgency by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan who had stated on April 9 while talking to foreign journalists, “Perhaps if the BJP wins, some kind of settlement in Kashmir could be reached.”

Modi had responded, saying he would play a “helicopter shot” to the “reverse swing of Imran Khan”.

Pakistan Prime Minister is an ex-cricketer who had won World Cup for his country in 1992. Modi is, perhaps, waiting for the perfect moment to step onto the Sher-e-Kashmir Cricket stadium in Srinagar — the venue of his two previous rallies.

At the moment, the road leading to the stadium is riddled with potholes signifying the Valley’s trials and tribulations as even PM’s car would not reach there without bumps to which Kashmiris are used to.

The road was far better when he addressed his first rally there on December 8, 2014, during the Assembly poll campaign in Kashmir despite the place suffering the worst floods in a century that time.

Courtesy :The Tribune ,30 april,2019