Why is Kashmir burning?
Answers
Answer:
INDIA has long bristled at any suggestion of international involvement in Jammu and Kashmir, which it considers an integral part and an epitome of its secular credentials.
Answer:
Be that as it may, Kashmir now is falling to pieces; and it appears New Delhi can no longer hold. If the Indian government lets Kashmir slip away in the manner it has in the last few weeks and months; in no time would it possibly find itself accommodating the territorial ambitions (read Independence) of the separatists.
In point of fact, separatism has become the mantra that dominates the current unrest in the Valley, revealing unprecedented anti-India sentiment in the frontline state.
Even though the Muslim-majority Valley has often been disapproved of for rarely exhibiting its gratitude for what India has bestowed on the state in many ways; in this case, the villain of the piece is the government of India's own inaction and inefficiency in recent months.
By allowing the issue of land grant for the Amarnath shrine trust hang fire for far too long turning it into a festering wound, Delhi allowed the politicians in and outside the state to push their own agenda. As a result, the whole Valley is on the boil. But the land issue is only a symptom. At the heart of this conflict is the deep-seated sense of alienation that pervades Kashmir and that is being successfully exploited both by the militants and extremist groups like VHP and Bajrang Dal. For years, Delhi has been sitting on the completely reasonable and constitutional demands like greater autonomy for the state. All that frustration, built and pent up all these years, is spilling over in those violent protests we see on the streets of Srinagar.
It's high time the government of India at the highest level — President and the Prime Minister — intervened to resolve the issue. They must reach out to the Kashmiris as well as send a clear message to everyone that no one is above the law.