By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
Srinagar: For the past one month, Kashmir has been under siege: at the last count, 56 civilians have been shot in protests following the encounter of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani. More than 5,000 have been injured; a thousand amongst them have lost eyesight due to pellet injuries. Last Friday alone, three people were killed and 150 were injured. Hospitals have been attacked, the courts have asked for an end to the use of pellet guns (which was of course, refused) and Sopore has been taken over the Army.
But according to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the issue in Kashmir is economic in nature, and that the reason why people, especially the youth, are angry, is because they crave for development.
In short, Kashmiris are ready to die because they want ‘Acche Din’.
Interestingly PM Modi, who merely repeated what all his predecessors have repeated in the past, didn’t choose either Parliament or even Jammu to talk over the Kashmir unrest. Instead, he expressed his views 1,426 km from Jammu in a rally in Madhya Pradesh.
While using the famous words of Kashmiriyat, Insaniyat and Jamooriyat used by former Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee on solving Kashmir issue, PM Modi said, “we give so much love to Kashmir but some people there are causing it a lot of harm. Whether it is the J&K Govt under Mehbooba ji or the Central Govt, we are finding a solution to all problems through development.”
“Kashmir wants peace. Whatever Kashmiris want for betterment of their livelihood, the Centre will help. We want development for J&K.” he added.
While referring to youths pelting stones, PM Modi said, “Boys who should be holding laptops, bats, balls in their hands & dreams in their hearts are ones carrying stones.”
He of course, did not mention why they had stones in their hands, or why so many people had been shot above their waists. But if statement was expected, so was the backlash from Kashmiris, at least from the ones who can still access the internet. Ever since the death of Wani, mobile internet has remained largely suspended in all parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
The ones who were lucky enough to have a platform online wasted no time in expressing their outrage at PM Modi’s comments.
The Kashmiris have been repeatedly demanding a political solution to the Kashmir problem once for all, even as all mainstream political parties at the central and the state level have been sidelining the issue, terming it more of an “economic issue”.
“What development… killing innocent people and blinding the youth..there is only one solution.. right to self determination,” wrote Faheem Baba, a netizen on his Facebook account.
Another netizen, Mansoor Tantary wrote,”Again Politician are deceiving people of India by portraying that kashmiris are fighting for development and jobs . Ignoring the political nature of the problem,”
While netizen Irfan Ali wrote, “What nonsense. Jammu and Kashmir is a political issue and it can’t be solved by development and economic packages.Better understand the gravity of the situation and stop pretending it.”
“If you think that developmental packages can solve Kashmir problem then you are wrong. You can calm down tempers for a short while but it will erupt again. To solve this problem, Indian government needs to come out with a political solution once for all,” Sheikh Ashiq, ex President of Kashmir Chambers of Commerce and Industries told TwoCircles.net.
Meanwhile, Kashmir remains on boil, and it is unlikely that an economic package will come to its rescue.