India: A fractured nation, divided polity

After the abrogation of Article 370 and the automatic revocation of Article 35(A), the influential section of the national media wanted the Indian citizenry to feel the pain and anger of the people of Kashmir. Not just the political leaders, but media persons and the people of Kashmir themselves have, since August 5, lived in an India where democratic rights have been temporarily suspended.

If the abrogation of Article 370 was democratic, would the Union government have needed to lock up the entire valley and flood the place with uniformed personnel? The fact that free movement of people has been curtailed means that the Union government expected some kind of violent fall-out which it would have found difficult to handle.

It’s also true that the Kashmiri Pandits are rejoicing because they feel vindicated about what had happened 29 years ago on a cold January day when they were forced to leave the family under threat and intimidation and were labelled ‘kafirs.’ This was ethnic cleansing at its worst and the Pandits have been lamenting for years this forced expulsion from their hearths and homes merely because they were Hindus.