Six years ago, around this time of the year, social media was snapped days ahead of the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K. The entire state was in grip of fear as to what the future would hold, after this sudden move of the BJP-led NDA government. Today, it is abuzz with rumours and speculations, albeit on a positive note - that statehood would be restored anytime soon now. No debates, no talk of reverting, no demand of revocation in a strong way, although protests were held at a couple of places across both the regions. In fact, these protests were also seen overshadowed by the loud voices for restoration of statehood.
The euphoria for statehood is such that the rumour mill has gone a step further, suggesting J&K would be separated into two states. The feeling of elation spun around the rumours is not unfounded. There is more than just one reason for everyone to believe that this will happen and it is only a matter of time. Looking back, at the time of announcement of this decision, it was none other than the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, in his address, promised this would be granted back and the UT arrangement was only a temporary step, security being the prime concern.
As the days unfolded, the Centre gave this understanding to the political class of J&K that it had a three-pronged strategy in mind, which would be followed step-by-step. Under this plan, in order to correct electoral patterns in terms of Assembly segments in the two regions, BJP began with the delimitation exercise, which was to be followed by polls and restoration of statehood. With the passage of time, political temperatures, which ran high over abrogation of Article 370, got subdued, largely due to delimitation exercise and a long preparatory phase to elections.
If one goes by the timing, it is only a few months back the political voices have grown louder, even though Congress, despite being the ruling alliance partner, has never lost a day in sticking to this agenda for political reasons. While Congress took it straight to Delhi last week, NC supremo and veteran politician Dr Farooq Abdullah and Chief Minister Omar Abdullah raked up the issue every single day. A few days back, Omar even gave this statement, "Something is going to happen...something good might come in a matter of a few days...”
While the people of J&K are a majorly politically awakened class, there are those less educated and less aware on the ground level; the ones who mistook this for revocation of Article 370. For the last couple of days, there have been rumours that statehood status was just a matter of hours. What added spice to the social media overdrive were the hectic meetings in New Delhi's power corridors, which did not go unnoticed by experts, who speculated it could be a precursor to J&K statehood. Home Minister Amit Shah also held meetings with top brass separately.
The fact that these meetings came days ahead of the Article 370 abrogation anniversary on August 5 has only added grist to the rumour mill. However, in a wise move, the Chief Minister tried to dispel this maddening speculative mode by saying that even though he is 'optimistic' about some positive outcome on this front, on Art 370 Abrogation anniversary it looks unlikely. "I've heard every possible permutation and combination about what to expect in J&K tomorrow (August 5), so let me stick my neck out and say nothing will happen tomorrow - fortunately nothing bad will happen but, unfortunately, nothing positive will happen either. I'm still optimistic about something positive for J&K in this monsoon session of Parliament, but not tomorrow. And, no, I haven't had any meetings or conversations with people in Delhi," Omar concluded.
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