On early Thursday, terrorists killed a BJP sarpanch Sajjad Ahmed Khanday in Kulgam district of South Kashmir. His house in Qazigund block was close to the Rashtriya Rifles camp. The terrorists called him out and shot him dead. This was the second terror strike against BJP sarpanches in the Valley within a span of 48 hours, during which another BJP sarpanch Adil Ahmed was shot and critically injured. Jammu & Kashmir police have started shifting local BJP leaders to safe houses in Pahalgam and Qazigund to protect them from Jaish and Lashkar terrorists.
Clearly, terrorists in the Valley have now turned desperate because of fast dwindling support from local Kashmiris during the one year of Central rule, when Article 370 was abrogated on August 5 last year. The terrorists and their masterminds sitting across the border had expected a huge public upsurge against the Centre’s action last year but that did not happen.
On the contrary, the Centre has launched numerous development schemes and has given powers to local elected sarpanches to implement them in their villages. The lives of common Kashmiris have started to change for the better as a result of these schemes. Kashmiri youths have stopped joining the ranks of terrorists and this trend has irked the terror masterminds sitting in Pakistan.

In my prime time show ‘Aaj Ki Baat’ on Thursday I showed how local Kashmiris were speaking out in support of development. I had sent two of our reporters to villages in the interior of South and North Kashmir to gauge the mood of the people. Most of the people told India TV reporters that they have never expected in their wildest dreams that the fruits of development would reach their villages so easily.
I remember, last year when Article 370 was abrogated, we had sent our reporters and the common Kashmiris were then clearly sceptical in their views. They had then said, ‘we have seen so many political parties come and go, but nothing happened’.
This trend has now changed. Kashmiris are now speaking out on issues like development, education, health and other issues that relate to common people.
During the last one year, more than 20,000 big and small development projects were completed, electricity was provided to villages lying close to the Line of Control, 1.3 crore Kashmiris were enrolled in Ayushman Yojana, there was 262 per cent hike in scholarships for school children, and nearly four lakh domicile certificates were issued. The list of achievements prepared by the state administration is long, but we decided to hear the common Kashmiri’s voice.
Panchayat elections were conducted last year in the Valley and it was nice to hear from the panch and sarpanches how the fruits of development have now reached their villages.
Only a year ago, the same people were afraid to speak on camera, but this time, they were emphatic. Most of the Kashmiris, India TV reporters spoke to, said that benefits of development were now reaching the common man.
In places like Anantnag, Pulwama and Shopian, notorious for being hotbeds of terrorism, common people came out and spoke. An official said that there has been nearly 40 per cent dip in the number of youths joining the ranks of terrorists. The common Kashmiri youths have shunned ‘gun culture’ and are now concentrating on their careers. Young Kashmiri girls are learning computer education and want to become IT professionals.
All the government agencies, including security forces, in the Valley are working in close coordination and the results are evident on the ground. Government officials, who rarely visited far-off rural places in the past, were now spending more time on helping local panchayats. In almost every village, the village panchayat has now become the nodal point for looking into grievances of local people.
One year ago, there was complete lack of sense of security among the people. The army, J&K Police and CRPF, are working in close coordination. They have promised the common people that if terrorists barge into their houses, security forces would first try to protect the villagers, and then target the terrorists. On June 20 in Lakdipora village of Kulgam, two terrorists had barged into a house. Local villagers feared that the security forces would blow up the house killing the family members, but the jawans did a great job. They first asked the family members to come out, gave them protection and then eliminated the two terrorists. No damage was caused to the house. The family members are now praising the security forces.
Visiting far-off villages in the interior of Kashmir valley and then speaking to local people was not an easy job for our reporters Manish Prasad and Amit Palit. They took risks, went to the villages and spoke to common people. After August 5 last year, when Article 370 was abrogated, we had sent our reporters to villages. At that time, there was widespread fear among the people, and most of them had then said on camera that they would wait to see whether the government fulfils its promises. One year ago, the common Kashmiris had hardly any hope that village roads will be built, hospitals and schools will reopen and that power supply will be provided. Now, after a year, the common people have started saying that development work has indeed begun, things are improving, but much more needed to be done.
The common Kashmiris do realize that the pace of development work has slowed down because of COVID pandemic, but the wheels of progress have surely started moving. Work on Jammu-Srinagar railway line has begun and several other infrastructure projects are on the anvil.
Now that the Centre has appointed an experienced political leader like Manoj Sinha as the new Lt. Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, the first steps towards a political process are expected to begin. Manoj Sinha hails from Ghazipur, eastern UP. He is an experienced politician who has won several elections, and also served in the Telecom and Railway ministries at the Centre. With Sinha taking over as L-G, we should expect early elections in Jammu & Kashmir. Let us hope an elected government will take over in the near future and fulfil the aspirations of the people.

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