Amit Shah now virtually No 2 in the BJP led NDA government commanded and controlled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi tends to play with the ideas he used as pawns in the recently concluded 2019 parliamentary elections more so over issues concerning Jammu & Kashmir’s special status and regional balance vis-à-vis administrative restructuring. Reach out to the families of uniformed victims in the civil lines areas of Srinagar by Home Minister Amit Shah during his maiden visit to Kashmir may be good for BJP’s political health in rest of India but it is not good for the social health of the bereaved families of valley’s uniformed victims who face social isolation in their localities after central ministers and the top functionaries of army and paramilitaries reach their homes even for consolation.
Directing officers to build memorial in the home places of uniformed men killed in encounters is yet another fractured idea floated by the Home Minister as attempt to build memorials of the slain uniformed men could trigger violent street protests in their home places and ultimately government will have to deploy extra security men for the safety of such memorials. Knowing that excessive presence of police, army and paramilitaries in the towns and villages in Kashmir paints a picture of excessive militarization in the heavily populated valley parts, the Home Minister should not have even given a thought to the idea of building memorials for slain uniformed men in their home places in Kashmir valley . By all standards of understandabilities the provocative military measures suiting the political narrative of the political party presently in power at the centre are not to be experimented in the current hostile security and political atmosphere in Kashmir valley.
Provocative statements of the Home Minister on sensitive core political issues concerning special status of Jammu & Kashmir state may be satisfying for the political ego of BJP cadres in Jammu ahead of proposed assembly elections in state but such remarks could trigger yet another violent cycle of street in Kashmir which may consequentially deepen the crisis of the restoration of popular rule in Jammu & Kashmir.
As Home Minister the priority for Amit Shah should be the idea of peace and security but not the poll prospects of BJP in Jammu & Kashmir and as such he has to come out from the mood of BJP presidency to bring himself and the people in the mood of national interest.
