Valley and hills: On peace in Kashmir
The separatist politics that dominated Kashmir for decades appears to be losing ground in the face of the assertive approach by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government. The Narendra Modi government has succeeded in altering the ground realities in Kashmir, advancing a new narrative of an aspirational region that seeks prosperity, peace, and integration. Reflecting this shift, members of several separatist outfits — J&K Peoples Movement, Democratic Political Movement, J&K Tahreeq Isteqlal, Tahreek-i-Istiqamat and J&K Salvation Movement — recently announced their formal dissociation from separatist ideology. Union Home Minister Amit Shah hailed the development as evidence of separatism becoming a thing of the past, crediting Mr. Modi’s vision of a “developed, peaceful, ...