It is only elementary that political problems should have political solutions but Pakistan and the terror network it has nurtured and supported have vitiated the Kashmir issue despite the Shimla accord
The symbolism of Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet holding its meeting in Pahalgam and chief minister Omar Abdullah cycling around the village that, merely a month ago, was stained by the blood of innocent tourists at the hands of terrorists has more meaning than meets the eye. This, coupled with the call of Mr Abdullah to make tourism conflict-neutral, shows the path to normalcy in a region troubled by secessionists and terrorists in the last four decades.
It is only elementary that political problems should have political solutions but Pakistan and the terror network it has nurtured and supported have vitiated the Kashmir issue despite the Shimla accord. Their designs have broken the economic backbone of the region, throwing the people whom they purport to save into penury. It was a powerful tool for them to wreck the state.
Tourism and the local economy thrived occasionally in the region especially when elected governments ran the show. Tourism in the region had shown signs of blooming again of late, though the terror network was active, too. The Union government which credited itself for the revival, however, believed in its own propaganda that the hollowing out of Article 370 ended terrorism in the Valley. The result was the horrendous sight of innocent people with no security system around them falling to terrorists’ bullets.
Mr Abdullah has displayed a great sense of statesmanship ever since he became Jammu and Kashmir CM this time around. That he chose to follow up his Pahalgam outing with a security and tourism review meeting in Gulmarg shows that he means business. He had lost no time to convene a special session of the Assembly after the Pahalgam attack and condemned it, sending a strong message from Kashmir to the rest of the world. It is the job of the Union government now to help him take his people back to normal life and economic prosperity instead of using the recent events for furthering its political agenda. The government must walk its talk, restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, and let the people decide their destiny and that of the plots hatched by those from across the border. Trusting the people, as the cycling chief minister demonstrated, is the best way to heal Kashmir’s wounds.
