Notwithstanding political leaders having described August 5 as 'Black Day' for J&K, it was business as usual for people. To maintain law and order, authorities beefed up security cover in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of the sixth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370
On August 5, 2019, the centre abrogated Articles 370 and 35A, which granted special status to J&K residents and bifurcated the erstwhile J&K state into two Union Territories—Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The loud political discourse on J&K often silenced the sad story of refugees, the scheduled castes, women and others, who had been deprived of equal rights in J&K despite these being guaranteed by the Indian Constitution. The suspension of the special powers of J&K gave a new lease of life to the Valmiki community, refugees of Partition and subsequent wars with Pakistan, and above all, the valiant Gorkha community. These communities of about 3 lakh people had been deprived of citizenship rights, jobs and land ownership by the J&K regime. According to Home Minister Amit Shah, who spoke in Lok Sabha in 2021, 2,642 Valmiki families, 592 Gurkhas, and 43 other families had been provided domicile certificates.
Jammu and Kashmir has a big population of tribal communities – Gujars, Bakerwals and the recently added Pahadis. The Gujjars and Bakerwals live off the land in forests and they did not get the benefit of the Forest Rights Act, which changed the lives of eight crore tribal people in India. The law, now applicable to J&K, is being implemented, and forest dwellers and those dependent on it have been given the rights to the land they have lived on for generations.
For seven decades, women in J&K faced a strange situation wherein they were discouraged from marrying outsiders. The men had no such restrictions. This meant that a J&K-born woman marrying an outsider – even an Indian – would lose her right to be a permanent citizen of J&K, her government job, and be denied admission into a higher educational institution and inherit property. As against this, even a foreigner married to a J&K man was entitled to become a citizen of J&K. This discriminatory regime is dead.
J&K lagged in development due to disturbances and terrorism. It coincided with the period when infrastructure development and industrialisation were going on at a feverish pitch in the rest of the country. The Delhi-to-Kashmir railway line has already changed their lives, and raised possibilities of seamless travel and development in both the Jammu and Kashmir regions.
The biggest-ever achievement is that the Valley has witnessed a significant drop in violence. Life has returned to normal in Srinagar and most of the other areas. According to authorities, there is a 90 per cent fall in the casualties of civilians across Kashmir. People are enjoying normal life and looking forward to jobs and a bright future.
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