In Valley, parties’ protest does not resonate with people

(The article was originally published in Indian Express as a part of Dr Ram Madhav’s column titled Ram Rajya on August 08, 2026. Views expressed are personal.) 

The Kashmir Valley witnessed the annual ritual of protests and demonstrations by the local political parties like the National Conference (NC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) on August 5 against the historic decision of the Government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seven years ago, to nullify Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian Constitution. In the last seven years, this has become a perfunctory ritual for these parties. There were some demonstrations outside the parliament too in which some INDI alliance partners like the Congress and the Left parties also joined.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah chose to stay away from Srinagar on that day, on the pretext of visiting flood affected areas in Poonch. One mainstream media outlet in Srinagar commented that he deliberately chose that day for Poonch visit, while playing golf in Srinagar a day earlier. Several senior NC leaders were absent at the demonstrations in various places across the Valley. People’s Conference leader Sajjad Lone limited his protests to a post on X platform calling Aug 5, 2019, as a “brutal coup” and cursing that the day will be held up “with contempt and disdain” by people of J&K. Mehbooba Mufti, and her daughter Iltija, were seen on the streets leading motley crowds in protests.

Both Omar and Mehbooba made restoration of pre-2019 status as the main plank of their protests. From Poonch, Omar posted a message on X saying, “we haven’t forgotten & we haven’t reconciled far less accepted our current circumstances”. He claimed that his party was committed to “reversing all that was done to J&K”. Mehbooba, leading a candle march in Srinagar, insisted that “Article 370 was our protection, our dignity and our identity” and “we will not remain silent until the restoration of Articles 370 and 35A”.

However, across the Valley, there was lukewarm response to these demonstrations from the politically mature, savvy and active people of J&K. They seem to have realised the futility of the rhetoric of these leaders. They know that there is no possibility of even a debate over the issue in the present political milieu, much less it’s restoration. Omar Abdullah himself said in 2024 that expecting the restoration of article 370 from those who abrogated it is “foolishness” and “deceiving the public”. In fact, his government even omitted any mention of Article 370 in the Lieutenant Governor’s address to the J&K Assembly in January this year. Yet, the ritual goes on.

People of the UT understood and moved on, enjoying the benefits of good governance, development and terror-free daily life under the post-2019 regime. They saw the pathetic condition of democracy across the Line of Control in Pak Occupied Kashmir, and their own brethren getting killed in hordes at the hands of the Pakistani military just for demanding better living conditions. They are contrasting the life on this side of the line and the innumerable benefits in areas like healthcare, education, infrastructure, entrepreneurship and sports that they are enjoying. They celebrated democracy by participating in the elections to the UT Legislature in large numbers in 2024.

Problem with the Valley leadership is that they lack any forward-looking agenda and want to take the people backwards. Earlier, they used to bluff that they would take them back to pre-1953 status although it was their own leadership which had hollowed out Article 370 over decades after 1956. What happened in 2019 was the removal of a skeleton that became a hindrance in total integration of the state with the Indian Union.

Sadly, the Valley leadership wants to resurrect the dead. Instead, they should learn some lessons from the leaders and people of Ladakh. After achieving their long-standing demand of the UT status, they came up with a roadmap demanding certain constitutional protections and engaged in discussions with the Centre. On the contrary, the Valley leaders couldn’t go beyond statehood demand and kept returning to their backward-looking agenda of restoration of Article 370.

As far as the demand for statehood is concerned, both the prime minister and the home minister said that the current UT status is temporary, and statehood will be accorded at an appropriate time. Article 370 was a temporary provision, but the Valley leaders enjoyed it for 70 years. Why can’t they bear with this temporary UT status for a few years?

Problem is their bankruptcy of ideas when it comes to the future of the people of J&K. They should remember that Article 370 is history and no mainstream party in the country, including the Congress Party, whose leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi joined their protests outside the parliament, can dare to commit to its restoration. Instead, the Valley leaders can serve their people better by thinking futuristically about the possibilities and opportunities that the Indian Constitution offers for the overall development of the region.