Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday concluded his visit to Kashmir with the usual promises and assurances.
The Home Minister, who arrived in the Valley on Saturday, held the routine security and political meetings, and met 35 delegations. He also addressed police and CRPF personnel in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, where he promised to turn Kashmir into a paradise.
For the common man, however, it was difficult to detect any newness in the visit. Srinagar’s old city remained sealed off for three consecutive days, leaving thousands of its residents under virtual siege.
“Nothing has come out of these visits so far; what will now come out of this?” Shahnawaz Ahmad, a government employee from the old city, said with a pessimistic note when asked about the Home Minister’s visit.
The high-profile visit, during which the Home Minister announced the allocation of funds for the purchase of bullet-proof vehicles for the state police and also said that the Central government was considering helicopter service for the CRPF, was overshadowed by several back-to-back gunfights in the north and south Kashmir.
The Home Minister’s visit evoked little debate at common talking points, reflecting the pessimism that such high-profile visits do not much change the ground reality.
Sibtain Ahmed, who works in the private sector, said there was “nothing new” in the visit. “I don’t see anything new, I don’t see any major development,” he said. “Pro-India parties might be happy with what he said on Article 35A, other than that there was nothing concrete to offer except a new formula: five Cs,” he said.
Singh, while addressing a press conference here today, had listed compassion, communication, co-existence, confidence-building and consistency as “the way forward to attain that permanent solution”. The talk was reminiscent of similar promises made in the past.
Syed Babar, a lawyer at Srinagar High Court, described the visit as “apolitical in letter and spirit”. “I am sure that this visit was to strengthen the security apparatus only. He had nothing to offer to Kashmiri people, just the security agencies were promised helicopters and bullet-proof vehicles. Politically, it was a big failure,” he said.
Visit overshadowed by militant attacks
For the common man, it was difficult to detect any newness in the visit. Srinagar’s old city remained sealed off for three consecutive days, leaving thousands of its residents under virtual siege
The high-profile visit, during which the Home Minister announced the allocation of funds for the purchase of bullet-proof vehicles for the state police and also said that the Central government was considering helicopter service for the CRPF, was overshadowed by several back-to-back gunfights in the north and south Kashmir
The Home Minister’s visit evoked little debate at common talking points, reflecting the pessimism that such high-profile visits do not much change the ground reality
