The provision, article 370 of the constitution, prevented the Indian government from having any say in the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir except in matters of defence, finance, foreign affairs, and communications. This contributed to the province’s struggles: While the rest of India experienced strong social and economic development, Jammu and Kashmir lagged in terms of economic growth, employment, fighting corruption, gender equality, literacy, and many other indicators.

Pakistan has its own stakes in preventing prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir, and in the Ladakh area of Kashmir because a weak economy fuels separatist sentiments in some quarters. This fits into Pakistan’s larger strategy of using terrorism as a political tool. Therefore, it also opposes the repeal of article 370, which legitimized discrimination and hindered economic progress.

The decision of the Indian Parliament to reorganise the province and rescind this article corrects a historic wrong. It opens the door to rejuvenate a moribund economy and promote horticulture, tourism and handicrafts that are the unique strength of its culture. This change is now delivering social and economic justice to a region that was out of step with the rest of the nation.

Article 370 was an obstacle to progressive legislation prevalent in the rest of India, such as affirmative action, equal rights for women, juvenile protection, and safeguards against domestic violence. Laws that protect the right to education and information under the Indian Constitution did not apply in Jammu and Kashmir. Clearly, this prospect for a more prosperous Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, cut the ground under the feet of Pakistan.&nbsp;

In past, we have seen a plethora of comments from Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan and senior officials of his government painting an apocalyptic picture of India’s reorganisation of its province of Jammu and Kashmir — and raising the threat of conflict, including nuclear war, with India.

Under Prime Minister Khan’s watch, the people of Pakistan are reeling under economic depression, with inflation at a five-year high, national debt exceeding gross domestic product, and asking for an International Monetary Fund bailout. Mr. Khan has, of course, every right to run his own economy into the ground. But his determination to inflict similar damage on the province of a neighbouring country must be challenged. What Prime Minister Khan finds difficult to accept is that the Kashmir region is now back on the road to progress and prosperity because the Indian government has repealed an anachronistic and temporary provision of law that has hindered development. Its prime minister claims that he offered to work for peace, progress, and prosperity with India. What he does not say is that the assembly line of terrorists that is a major industry of his country continues without pause.

He suggests that institutions like the Financial Action Task Force, an international organization that investigates terrorist financing, are part of a conspiracy against Pakistan. He obscures the fact that the mastermind of the Mumbai terrorist attack of 2008 has been shielded by Pakistan. And that the Pulwama suicide bombing was carried out by Jaish-e-Muhammad, a United Nations-proscribed terrorist outfit that operates openly from one of his major cities.

Mr. Khan has criticised India for its treatment of Muslims and other non-Hindu minorities. This would be laughable if the reality was not so tragic. When Pakistan was created, its population was 23 percent minorities. This is now down to 3 per cent, a figure that speaks for itself. And there are countless faces — Shias, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs — who can testify to this tragic reality. Fellow Muslims are not spared; ask the Shia, the Pashtun, Sindhi or the Baloch people of Pakistan. The irony of seeing Islamabad refusing to recognize the legitimacy of Israel and tolerating anti-Semitic sentiment, but now invoking images of European fascism, is simply astounding. Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, are now in transition. The changes introduced by India have challenged entrenched interests who benefited from the old system at a cost to the people. Incitement and support from across the border for violence and terrorism are to be expected. Many of the restrictions on travel and communications intended to ensure public order and safety have since been relaxed. Preventing loss of life is the highest priority.

India’s actions regarding article 370 had no implications outside of India. Its external boundaries have not changed. What has changed is that there is now hope for development that will help the residents of the region — and that will obstruct Pakistan’s longstanding support of cross-border terrorism. That is why the prime minister concocts alarming scenarios, hoping to stop these improvements. The development will happen, progress will be visible, prosperity will take root and terrorism will fail. India will hope that Pakistan renounces hostility, violence, and terrorism to become the normal neighbour that the entire world desires.

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

The provision, article 370 of the constitution, prevented the Indian government from having any say in the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir except in matters of defence, finance, foreign affairs, and communications.

The provision, article 370 of the constitution, prevented the Indian government from having any say in the affairs of Jammu and Kashmir except in matters of defence, finance, foreign affairs, and communications. This contributed to the province’s struggles: While the rest of India experienced strong social and economic development, Jammu and Kashmir lagged in terms of economic growth, employment, fighting corruption, gender equality, literacy, and many other indicators. Pakistan has its own stakes in preventing prosperity in Jammu and Kashmir, and in the Ladakh area of Kashmir because a weak economy fuels separatist sentiments in some quarters. This fits into Pakistan’s larger strategy of using terrorism as a political tool. Therefore, it also opposes the repeal of article 370, which legitimized discrimination and hindered economic progress. The decision of the Indian Parliament to reorganise the province and rescind this article corrects a historic wrong. It opens the door to rejuvenate a moribund economy and promote horticulture, tourism and handicrafts that are the unique strength of its culture. This change is now delivering social and economic justice to a region that was out of step with the rest of the nation. Article 370 was an obstacle to progressive legislation prevalent in the rest of India, such as affirmative action, equal rights for women, juvenile protection, and safeguards against domestic violence. Laws that protect the right to education and information under the Indian Constitution did not apply in Jammu and Kashmir. Clearly, this prospect for a more prosperous Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, cut the ground under the feet of Pakistan. In past, we have seen a plethora of comments from Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan and senior officials of his government painting an apocalyptic picture of India’s reorganisation of its province of Jammu and Kashmir — and raising the threat of conflict, including nuclear war, with India. Under Prime Minister Khan’s watch, the people of Pakistan are reeling under economic depression, with inflation at a five-year high, national debt exceeding gross domestic product, and asking for an International Monetary Fund bailout. Mr. Khan has, of course, every right to run his own economy into the ground. But his determination to inflict similar damage on the province of a neighbouring country must be challenged. What Prime Minister Khan finds difficult to accept is that the Kashmir region is now back on the road to progress and prosperity because the Indian government has repealed an anachronistic and temporary provision of law that has hindered development. Its prime minister claims that he offered to work for peace, progress, and prosperity with India. What he does not say is that the assembly line of terrorists that is a major industry of his country continues without pause. He suggests that institutions like the Financial Action Task Force, an international organization that investigates terrorist financing, are part of a conspiracy against Pakistan. He obscures the fact that the mastermind of the Mumbai terrorist attack of 2008 has been shielded by Pakistan. And that the Pulwama suicide bombing was carried out by Jaish-e-Muhammad, a United Nations-proscribed terrorist outfit that operates openly from one of his major cities. Mr. Khan has criticised India for its treatment of Muslims and other non-Hindu minorities. This would be laughable if the reality was not so tragic. When Pakistan was created, its population was 23 percent minorities. This is now down to 3 per cent, a figure that speaks for itself. And there are countless faces — Shias, Ahmadis, Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs — who can testify to this tragic reality. Fellow Muslims are not spared; ask the Shia, the Pashtun, Sindhi or the Baloch people of Pakistan. The irony of seeing Islamabad refusing to recognize the legitimacy of Israel and tolerating anti-Semitic sentiment, but now invoking images of European fascism, is simply astounding. Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, are now in transition. The changes introduced by India have challenged entrenched interests who benefited from the old system at a cost to the people. Incitement and support from across the border for violence and terrorism are to be expected. Many of the restrictions on travel and communications intended to ensure public order and safety have since been relaxed. Preventing loss of life is the highest priority. India’s actions regarding article 370 had no implications outside of India. Its external boundaries have not changed. What has changed is that there is now hope for development that will help the residents of the region — and that will obstruct Pakistan’s longstanding support of cross-border terrorism. That is why the prime minister concocts alarming scenarios, hoping to stop these improvements. The development will happen, progress will be visible, prosperity will take root and terrorism will fail. India will hope that Pakistan renounces hostility, violence, and terrorism to become the normal neighbour that the entire world desires. (Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

Opinion-Jammu and Kashmir: With positive approach on path of progress

A decade ago while analysing the development scenario in Jammu and Kashmir, the Planning Commission lamented the slow growth in the region and attributed it to various factors. It said the climate of armed militancy in Kashmir and low productivity in agriculture and allied sectors has impeded employment and income generation. Poor industrial infrastructure along with the poor investment climate has left the industrial sector in its infant stage.

It mentioned that there has not been a suitable strategy for the potential sectors to achieve higher economic growth. It further mentioned that the lack of good governance and sound fiscal management has also been responsible for the poor economic growth of the state.

During the past two years, the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been marching on the path of development as a result of the government’s initiatives, which included various developmental schemes executed under the prime minister development package focusing on individual beneficiaries and reviving long-pending projects lying dormant for several decades by removing the obstacles, through ensuring effective and transparent administration.

Both the Union and the UT governments have been leveraging technology to provide several benefits to the local population of the UT. In the field of IT, several procedures have been framed such as providing, building two large sizes IT parks (spread over half a million square feet) — one each in Jammu and Srinagar.

Among some other initiatives, the UT administration also released a real estate policy equipped with a transparent bidding process to disburse government-created “land banks” to private developers. The all-around developmental approach adopted by the J&amp;K government has a special focus on developing a network of roads and highways only.

To ensure growth in the valley and enable the UT to come at par with the other states of the country, almost all the projects across various sectors that were ignored, have been infused with new life.

In 2015, a huge package of Rs.800 billion was allocated by the Modi government to the state government for initiating various development projects to convert J&amp;K into a modern, prosperous and progressive place.&nbsp;

The benefits of abrogation of article 370 have started to trickle down to the people. After Aug. 5, 2019, the J&amp;K government received investment proposals worth Rs.150 billion from around 40 companies from sectors like Information Technology, Defense, Renewable Energy, Tourism, Skill, Education, Hospitality, and infrastructure.

During the past two years, the J&amp;K government has achieved 100 per cent household electrification with 24×7 power for all. Household water connections have reached 43 per cent of rural households which is double the national average of 21 per cent, and a road map has been prepared to ensure 100 per cent coverage of piped water supply to all 10816 million rural households by December 2021.

The Indian government in February 2020 approved Rs 60 billion for a multi-purpose irrigation cum power project in J&amp;K’s Kathua district. National Hydroelectric Power Corporation has been in charge of power projects to overcome the acute shortage of electricity in J&amp;K.

In 2019, 15 power projects were inaugurated and the foundation stone for 20 others laid with worth Rs.100 billion. The formation of Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) and Jammu Power Development Corporation Limited (JPDCL) has been helping J&amp;K to become self-reliant in the power sector.

With a holistic approach for all-around human development in the UT covering crucial sectors like education, healthcare, employment generation, tourism, industrial growth among others. To provide quality education to Kashmiri children and youth, the government has established hundreds of schools and 50 new educational institutions offering 25,000 seats to students, launched scholarship schemes benefitting more than half a million students so far.

New Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) are coming up in UT. 02 All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), 07 new medical colleges, 05 new nursing colleges, and a state cancer institute are being constructed for better healthcare services to the J&amp;K people.

The people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially from Valley, consciously exercised their political preference for democracy and idea of India, which encompasses, peace, pluralism, equality, terror-free right to, life and liberty, as against death and destruction inflicted by terrorists on the people of Kashmir.

The idea of India in Kashmir and plural Kashmir’s ethos is meaningless for Kashmiri society and the rest of the world unless the Exiled Kashmiri Pandits are physically repatriated back to their homeland with dignity and political-economic empowerment.

The enactment of the law regarding Zila Parishads under the Panchayati Raj system and its extension to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir post abrogation of Article 370/35A was a great step aimed at introducing grass-root level democracy and administration. In other words, it means taking the governance to the doorstep of the people living in the remotest corner of the UT.

Though it is being done for the first time in J&amp;K that the three-tier Panchayati Raj stands implemented, the people in the UT have responded like mature and responsible citizens and voters in the whole process of elections. The near normal and peaceful election process has added to the happy and satisfactory situation for all concerned.

An overall percentage of 50 per cent&nbsp;voting in the UT despite the severe cold, Covid-19 situation, and the background of the boycott politics in the valley, in particular, is not a mean achievement. Kashmiri’s are sick of ongoing terror violence for more than three decades and are longing for peace and a peaceful right to life and liberty.

They see India as a promising land of opportunities. people of Kashmir Valley have chosen democracy, the mainstream political narrative, and liberal Sufi Islamic way of life and have once again rejected the separatist rhetoric and religious extremism. New Delhi is doing its best to win the hearts and minds of people.

Kashmiris on their part have to make extra efforts to defeat terrorism and separatism and create an atmosphere for peace and a new beginning for regaining their land’s lost glory.”

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

A decade ago while analysing the development scenario in Jammu and Kashmir, the Planning Commission lamented the slow growth in the region and attributed it to various factors.

A decade ago while analysing the development scenario in Jammu and Kashmir, the Planning Commission lamented the slow growth in the region and attributed it to various factors. It said the climate of armed militancy in Kashmir and low productivity in agriculture and allied sectors has impeded employment and income generation. Poor industrial infrastructure along with the poor investment climate has left the industrial sector in its infant stage. It mentioned that there has not been a suitable strategy for the potential sectors to achieve higher economic growth. It further mentioned that the lack of good governance and sound fiscal management has also been responsible for the poor economic growth of the state. During the past two years, the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been marching on the path of development as a result of the government’s initiatives, which included various developmental schemes executed under the prime minister development package focusing on individual beneficiaries and reviving long-pending projects lying dormant for several decades by removing the obstacles, through ensuring effective and transparent administration. Both the Union and the UT governments have been leveraging technology to provide several benefits to the local population of the UT. In the field of IT, several procedures have been framed such as providing, building two large sizes IT parks (spread over half a million square feet) — one each in Jammu and Srinagar. Among some other initiatives, the UT administration also released a real estate policy equipped with a transparent bidding process to disburse government-created “land banks” to private developers. The all-around developmental approach adopted by the J&K government has a special focus on developing a network of roads and highways only. To ensure growth in the valley and enable the UT to come at par with the other states of the country, almost all the projects across various sectors that were ignored, have been infused with new life. In 2015, a huge package of Rs.800 billion was allocated by the Modi government to the state government for initiating various development projects to convert J&K into a modern, prosperous and progressive place. The benefits of abrogation of article 370 have started to trickle down to the people. After Aug. 5, 2019, the J&K government received investment proposals worth Rs.150 billion from around 40 companies from sectors like Information Technology, Defense, Renewable Energy, Tourism, Skill, Education, Hospitality, and infrastructure. During the past two years, the J&K government has achieved 100 per cent household electrification with 24×7 power for all. Household water connections have reached 43 per cent of rural households which is double the national average of 21 per cent, and a road map has been prepared to ensure 100 per cent coverage of piped water supply to all 10816 million rural households by December 2021. The Indian government in February 2020 approved Rs 60 billion for a multi-purpose irrigation cum power project in J&K’s Kathua district. National Hydroelectric Power Corporation has been in charge of power projects to overcome the acute shortage of electricity in J&K. In 2019, 15 power projects were inaugurated and the foundation stone for 20 others laid with worth Rs.100 billion. The formation of Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) and Jammu Power Development Corporation Limited (JPDCL) has been helping J&K to become self-reliant in the power sector. With a holistic approach for all-around human development in the UT covering crucial sectors like education, healthcare, employment generation, tourism, industrial growth among others. To provide quality education to Kashmiri children and youth, the government has established hundreds of schools and 50 new educational institutions offering 25,000 seats to students, launched scholarship schemes benefitting more than half a million students so far. New Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and an Indian Institute of Management (IIM) are coming up in UT. 02 All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), 07 new medical colleges, 05 new nursing colleges, and a state cancer institute are being constructed for better healthcare services to the J&K people. The people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially from Valley, consciously exercised their political preference for democracy and idea of India, which encompasses, peace, pluralism, equality, terror-free right to, life and liberty, as against death and destruction inflicted by terrorists on the people of Kashmir. The idea of India in Kashmir and plural Kashmir’s ethos is meaningless for Kashmiri society and the rest of the world unless the Exiled Kashmiri Pandits are physically repatriated back to their homeland with dignity and political-economic empowerment. The enactment of the law regarding Zila Parishads under the Panchayati Raj system and its extension to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir post abrogation of Article 370/35A was a great step aimed at introducing grass-root level democracy and administration. In other words, it means taking the governance to the doorstep of the people living in the remotest corner of the UT. Though it is being done for the first time in J&K that the three-tier Panchayati Raj stands implemented, the people in the UT have responded like mature and responsible citizens and voters in the whole process of elections. The near normal and peaceful election process has added to the happy and satisfactory situation for all concerned. An overall percentage of 50 per cent voting in the UT despite the severe cold, Covid-19 situation, and the background of the boycott politics in the valley, in particular, is not a mean achievement. Kashmiri’s are sick of ongoing terror violence for more than three decades and are longing for peace and a peaceful right to life and liberty. They see India as a promising land of opportunities. people of Kashmir Valley have chosen democracy, the mainstream political narrative, and liberal Sufi Islamic way of life and have once again rejected the separatist rhetoric and religious extremism. New Delhi is doing its best to win the hearts and minds of people. Kashmiris on their part have to make extra efforts to defeat terrorism and separatism and create an atmosphere for peace and a new beginning for regaining their land’s lost glory.” (Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

Opinion - Jammu and Kashmir: Marching with India on path of progress

Author

Zee News Rajasthan

Editor

Siddharth Sharma

Home

Live Tv

Latest

World

India

Business

Entertainment

Sports

Opinions

Videos

Photos

Gravitas

Lifestyle

Science

Tech

Rajasthan News in Hindi: In-depth coverage of Rajasthan Crime, Political News, Education, Rajasthan Weather Update and Latest Rajasthan News on Zee News Rajasthan.