Enough discussions are carried out on this subject already, which if viewed holistically; keeping the political vested interests at bay, could give some food for thought to the people of the state of J&K. For long they have suffered or should I say have self inflicted misery upon them by being blindly led by the self proclaimed so called righteous leaders and saviors of Kashmir.

Firstly, what have these so called saviors of J&K achieved by paralyzing the government machinery in the state for so long? Isolation, poor or no infrastructure, unemployment, poverty, just to name a few. When the entire nation stands united today and the world acknowledges its steadfast growth, J&K is still entangled in the ruins of religious politics, primarily due to the sheer ignorance of its local populace.

Foolishly calling it a jewel, when over the years it is ripped off of its lack luster and it is breathing heavy, would be a question very difficult to answer to, to the coming generations. Trying to think positive, hypothetically let’s for once visualize what good amendments in Article 35A could do to this unfortunate state.

Lack of open economy is the biggest deterrent in the growth of the state. Who would be interested in investing in J&K unless they are provided with land-owning rights? Resultantly, it is the people of the state who have been deprived of the benefits that an open economy has brought about in other parts of the country. So, rather than aiding the people of J&K, these provisions have, over the years, impeded the growth of the state which has immense touristic and other potentials.

While the kin’s of the saviors get the best possible education overseas, the rest of the kids have no school/colleges/universities to attend to, just in case they do exist they do not have a skilled staff.

Even if the child manages to complete his/her degree, does he have a job in hand?

Today youth exchange programmes are in vogue worldwide, but we in J&K choose to stay aloof. Why? We don’t want sharing of knowledge base nor do we want competition for our job amongst our own fellow Indians.

This situation has been long exploited by the so called saviors who find it easy to radicalize unemployed youth in the name of protecting the Kashmiri identity and the state is always in a state of turmoil aided and abetted by Pakistan.

Secondly, all those who came from Pakistan and chose to settle in J&K are still treated as refugees. 80% of these people belong to Scheduled Castes but they do not enjoy any benefit which is otherwise available to similarly placed people elsewhere in the country. A population of around 3,00,000 is excluded from social welfare schemes, scholarships, admission to schools run by the  state government on account of the protective shield that the state of J&K enjoys on account of Article 35A.