In what will be remembered for years to come as perhaps the most scathing attack on the three dominant families of Jammu and Kashmir during any speech delivered from Srinagar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a tirade against the Abdullahs, Muftis, and Gandhis. The Prime Minister said that they are the ones who have stunted the potential of this place and played politics at the cost of youth and have instigated violence and unrest here for decades. Gearing up with the elections for the Assembly in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister’s message struck a chord among the general population, who are more than ready to get a new beginning.
“Three Families” and Legacy in Kashmir
Targeting the three families of politicians running Jammu and Kashmir as a private fiefdom, Modi again warned the electorates that their continuance in the politics of the state has deprived them, especially the youth, of all benefits of progress and growth. “These same families have put stones in the hands of the youth for satisfying their political interests during the years of unrest,” Modi said, adding: “Thus, generations have been lost to violence.
He further noted that then, this lot of families strived to stall democracy by not letting, for example, elections to the local bodies such as Panchayat and District Development Councils (DDCs) happen. Modi contended that it was one of the ways through which these families ensured that there emerged no new leaders who could potentially challenge their stranglehold on politics
A New Scenario in Jammu and Kashmir
Since Article 370 was abrogated in the very month of 2019, Modi confessed that things have changed dramatically, especially concerning the return of law and order in the region. For all those who worked incessantly for the peace process, the fact that the youth of Jammu and Kashmir are getting more involved in democratic processes is proof enough, as attested to by the highest voter turnout during the ongoing assembly polls. For the first time in decades, elections took place sans the shadow of terrorism, and for this, Modi was quite justifiably proud.
He says that this is the change of the region, a more significant change under the BJP government, where instead of stones, the youth will hold books and laptops. He believed the young minds of Jammu and Kashmir did not long for war but for school and college and some entrepreneurial start-up and peace.
Empowering Youth: The Modi Vision for Tomorrow
Modi assures that his government will not neglect giving youth a chance in Jammu and Kashmir for the opportunity to empower themselves through a more promising future. He promised employment to the youths along with working continuously for a peaceful development of the region. Our youths are coming forward; they are interested in studies and opportunities rather than violence. Their future shall not be derailed by these three families, Modi declared.
He also promised statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, but stated that would be restored along with a package of several welfare schemes for the people. Welfare measures included financial assistance to farmers and women heads of households and an expanded health insurance coverage
A New Chapter in Democratic Engagement
For the first time in all those periods of bloodshed, Modi boasted about the peaceful elections currently taking place in Jammu and Kashmir. He conceded that several areas have recorded the highest ever voter turnouts, meaning people in these regions had regained confidence in the democratic process. Modi’s theme of youth empowerment lies at the heart of his roadmap for a peaceful and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir.
The Prime Minister has further underlined the economic development that has come as a consequence of the abrogation of Article 370, by placing institutions like AIIMS and IITs in the region in order to work towards the education and employment of its citizens .
The Srinagar speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi will go along with a comprehensive political and developmental agenda to move ahead from the stranglehold of three dominant families over the decades. Modi appears to present a vision of an empowered youth, in line with restored peace and democratic engagement, holding hope for new dawn in Jammu and Kashmir free from the chronology of endless violence that described the region for years. The promises of development and peace with the restoration of statehood evoke hope for a population yearning for progress and stability.
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