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| Why was HM Shah's Kashmir visit significant? | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, June 30: Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Kashmir for two days on June 26 and 27. This was his maiden visit to Srinagar as Home Minister. It was a significant visit on many counts?
Amit Shah's maiden visit to Jammu & Kashmir - a key area for the Home Ministry - was a clear indicator of the priorities and what lies ahead. It was significant because during his two day visit, he did not meet either representatives from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) - a former ally of the BJP - or the National Conference; the two main political players in the Kashmir Valley.
Both the NC and the PDP have little support-base either in Jammu or in Ladakh and their leadership itself proved that their constituency is Kashmir, and only Kashmir. The NC proved it in 2014 and 2019 by not fielding its candidates from any of the three Lok Sabha constituencies in Jammu and Ladakh. The PDP proved it in 2019 by not fielding its candidates from any of the three Lok Sabha Constituencies. Both the parties supported the Congress in Jammu and the Congress lost the election miserably. The BJP won both the seats with huge margins. Both the parties supported an independent candidate in Ladakh and the BJP candidate won the election again with a huge margin.
Amit Shah also didn't meet representatives of the Congress and the People's Democratic Front. Nor did he meet any other leader from the Valley, including Shah Faesal and Er Rasheed.
Amit Shah was perhaps the first Union Home Minister who visited Kashmir to have first hand information on the prevailing situation in the Valley but who didn't meet any leader belonging to the Kashmir-based political parties. And it was a significant development. What was even more significant was that he didn't address press conference. Earlier, his predecessors used to address press conferences in Srinagar.
Amit Shah's maiden visit was significant on another count. He met a delegation of Jammu & Kashmir Panchayat Conference (JKPC), a body of Sarpanchs and Panchs, leaders of elected village bodies. The message was loud and clear: Shah wanted a "different narrative for J&K" and "he was ready to reach out to the people". It also became clear from hos June 28 Lok Sabha speech: In the Lok Sabha, he said: "Political power has moved away from select families in the states to those on the ground".
Amit Shah's visit was also significant because he made it clear that he was not in full accord Jammu & Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik's view that "there should be talks with the Hurriyat Conference". Hurriyat Conference is a conglomeration of about two dozen separatist outfits. Significantly, the Hurriyat Conference did not call for a boycott or a bandh during his visit and it happened for the first time in 30 years. |
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