Shaurya Gurung  

‘Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat & Kashmiriyat’ Path Shown By Atal Bihari Vajpayee is the right one- PM

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech on Wednesday for the first time openly embraced former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s “insaniyat, jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat” line on Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that the path shown by the ailing BJP stalwart was the right one. PM Modi promised that his government was “moving forward in the direction of holding panchayat and city council elections” in the state.

“We want to move ahead on that road. Vajpayeeji said Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat (humanism, democracy, Kasmiriyat) — with these three basic elements we want to develop Jammu and Kashmir. Whether it is Ladakh or Jammu or Srinagar valley. We want balanced development where an ordinary person’s aspirations are fulfilled, infrastructure is strengthened; we want to move ahead with brotherhood in our hearts,” the prime minister said. “We do not want to move on the road of bullets and abuses, we want to move ahead with love and affection with the Kashmiri people who have stood with us in patriotic fervour,” he added.

Promising local elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the PM said: “The biggest thing is that during the past one year village headmen from Jammu and Kashmir in large numbers have been meeting me with the request to hold panchayat elections there. The elections could not be held for some reason or the other. I am happy that the villagers of Jammu and Kashmir will have this opportunity in the coming months... That is why we are moving forward in the direction of holding panchayat and city council elections.”

Vajpayee had said in an April 2003 speech in the Lok Sabha: “I assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir that we wish to resolve all issues — both domestic and external — through talks. I stressed that gun can solve no problem; brotherhood can. Issues can be resolved if we move forward guided by the three principles of insaniyat, jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat.” Vajpayee had also spoken about Kashmiriyat, peace and democracy in J&K while delivering I-Day speeches in 2002 and 2003.

During his first three I-Day speeches, PM Modi had avoided the Kashmir issue. It can be recalled that in 2016, India-Pakistan ties were at its lowest ebb following the Uri terrorist attack and the surgical strikes. Around the same time, former Hizbul commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces in Kashmir, triggering a cycle of violence in the Valley.

Shaurya.Gurung1@timesgroup.com

Courtesy: Economic Times: Aug, 16 2018