Jahingeer Ahmad Dar

Who has the right to be ‘angry’ in Kashmir? Certainly not its power elite The most vocal discontent about Article 370 and the institutional revamping of J&K comes from those who have stifled democracy in Kashmir for decades. …

First things first. It is hard to argue against any sort of ‘autonomy’ that might help preserve one’s collective identity. However, Article 370, often seen as a safeguard, had a major yet often overlooked downside to it. It functioned as a magnificent façade in a political milieu that kept the popular sentiment divided between separatism and autonomy.

While listening to Bella Ciao, an Italian protest folk song  we began reminiscing our memories of lockdowns and consequent razzmatazz of stones, bullets, blood and rushing ambulances in our neighborhoods, melancholy struck us hard on our faces. Being privileged to have spent 30 months of our 28 years of our lives in lockdowns, 21 day COVID-19 lockdown feels like “back to normal”. We (Kashmiris) have somehow managed to strike a cordial accord with such marshaling.