A sudden gust of change

“We have been waiting for this. I never hoped this would happen in our lifetime,” says Archana, a Kashmiri Pandit settled in Delhi, thus summing up the mood among people of the community in the capital. WhatsApp rumours notwithstanding, the revoking of Article 370 — which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir — and repealing Article 35A that defined ‘permanent residents’ and gave them special privileges in the region, certainly came as a surprise.

While, somehow, there appear to be more opinions on the move than there are actual people to give them, we wished to gauge what the scrapping means for Delhi-ites from Jammu and Kashmir.

For Noida resident Rajesh Handu, this comes as a positive development. “Article 370 never ensured peace in Kashmir. Demographically it failed as Kashmiri Hindus were driven out, regionally it deprived identity to Ladakh and Jammu, economically it ensured only few valley families benefited, while, as masses remained poor, its abrogation will bring peace and prosperity to the beleaguered state.”

Archana, resonating with the sentiment, adds, “Justice has been done to all the Army men, widows who lost their husbands, orphans and to the Kashmiri Pandits.”

Among the Kashmiri Sikh community of Delhi, we yet again see a celebration of the  abrogation. West Delhi resident Poonam Sethi focusses entirely on Jammu and comments, “Now, the biggest step would be a good medical aid and a good hospital. Earlier, everything would come to Kashmir before coming to Jammu and, as a result, nothing was happening there.”

Mridul Kerni, a B.Sc student from Jammu presently in Delhi, agrees with Sethi. he also adds, “One nation, one rule, one country; that will happen. Now people are happy. Most importantly, no one was allowed to buy land in J&K and now Article 370 has been revoked and people from outside will come, MNCs will be build, more job opportunities will come, education will improve.”

Another resident, Taranjit Singh Sahni, believes this is move towards equality in the state. He says, “I think one of the most important things that will happen is that everyone will be at par.”

However, for Irfan Rashid, a Kashmiri resident of the city, the move is problematic. He says, “Jammu and Kashmir is not the only state having special rights; we have 10 other states where you cannot buy land. Why target only J&K?”

As every news channel, online portal and newspaper continues to extensively report on the proceedings, and the path ahead is best left to time to uncover, it is definitely a charged atmosphere in the political centre stage of the country, irrespective of whether people support the move or not.