Omkar Dattatray
Finally the ice has broken and chill in the relations has gone by convening of the meeting of the leaders of Jammu & Kashmir by the Prime Minister of the country. Since the meeting has been conducted in a free and open atmosphere and was also held in positive and cordial manner and all participants put forward their opinion and stands regarding disturbed Jammu & Kashmir and all wanted to move forward, the meeting created new hopes among the regional leaders for ushering peace and prosperity in J&K. There was near consensus on the holding of the assembly elections in Jammu & Kashmir it among the participants in the historical meeting and the meeting is a good augury for the disturbed Jammu & Kashmir. The spontaneous statement by the Prime Minister of removing ‘Dill ki Duri & Dil ki Duri’ is a welcome development and it showed the love and affection of the prime minister for the people of Jammu & Kashmir. The statement is a welcome development for the regional leaders and the people of the erstwhile state. The Prime Minister has said that the elections to the Jammu & Kashmir assembly should be held after the delimitation exercise is completed and thus there was unanimity on the issue of conducting the elections but there were some differences on the delimitation exercise as some regional leaders including former Chief Minister Omer Abdullah did not see the need for the delimitation and as such they have reservations on the delimitation and they suspect foul play in the delimitation. The fact of the matter is that the delimitation of the constituencies is long overdue and this should be completed before embarking of the democratic process of the elections in the erstwhile state. As the populations increases there is dire need for the delimitation of the constituencies in the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir. Whatever it is the need is for bridging the differences and removing of the ‘Dilli Ki Duri & Dil Ki Duri’ so that the people of Jammu & Kashmir will feel no alienation and no isolation but will feel to be the part and parcel of India. For this to happen, the statement of the Prime Minister should be made practical by working on the essence and theme of removing the distance between the people of Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of the country. Thus the quote of the prime minister about removing of the distance between the people of Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi and the meeting of the minds and hearts of the people of Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of the country should be encouraged and given top most priority and this can be done by removing the differences among the regional satraps and the national leaders. While the all party meeting has broken the chill in the relations between the regional leaders and the national leaders it also exposed the regional leaders who vouched for the holding of the dialogue with the neighbouring Pakistan. Well the all party meeting exposed the regional leaders who wanted the dialogue between India and Pakistan to resolve the vexed issue of Kashmir. The meeting also made it crystal clear that the regional leaders and the congress wanted the restoration of the full statehood for the Jammu & Kashmir and that too before the holding of the much needed elections. The regional satraps not only demanded the restoration of the full statehood but also wanted the restoration of the special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir as guaranteed by the Article 370 of the Indian constitution. But the meeting did not deliberate on the controversial and subjudice issue of the abrogated Article 370 which is now a history and even prime minister cannot restore the abrogated Article 370.The restoration of the abrogated Article 370 requires the convening of the joint session of the parliament but the fact of the matter is that the transitory and temporary provision of the Article 370 can and should not be restored in any case. It took the nation seventy years to do away with the special provision of the constitution and thus the centre government will not restore the abrogated article come what may. But the regional players wanted the restoration of the abrogated article and now PDP President Mehbooba Mufti has said that she is not going to take part in elections until and unless the scrapped articles 370 and 35A are restored. She has said that articles 370 and 35A are our identities and we cannot compromise on this. Whatever it is we cannot ignore the fact that centre wants to bridge the differences between Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir and also to remove the differences of the hearts between the people of Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of the country. Thus the prime minister has said that his top priority is to remove the distance of Jammu & Kashmir and Delhi on one hand and at the same time to remove the distance of the hearts and minds between the people of Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of the country. Thus, it has become crystal clear that how much is the Prime Minister concerned with Jammu & Kashmir and how much he loves the crown of India and for this, all the political parties and regional parties should take initiative in this respect.