The visit of a group of EU MPs who landed in Kashmir on Tuesday has expectedly raised eyebrows and given birth to many questions. The foremost one that is doing rounds is why suddenly a European delegation has to be ‘imported’ in a land where there is virtually a ‘No Entry’ board for almost all including the political section of the country itself. If this is a conundrum of sorts, the second question that is awaiting a logical answer is about the delegation’s composition which is clearly having a majority of Far-Right followers. Even if there will be deep analyses now regarding the true motives behind this sojourn, it will not be difficult to comprehend that it’s an attempt to salvage the nation’s image in front of the world that had reportedly been under scanner since August 5, the date when J&K arguably witnessed its greatest geo-political seismic shift. Whether it’s going to pay off handsomely or will backfire is a matter of conjecture now since it will take time to get things clearer. But as of now, it’s still ‘opaque’ in Kashmir so far as viewing it through the lenses of democracy is concerned and if the reportage on its state of affairs, both from within and outside the country even through an extremely ‘filtered mechanism’, are to be believed.

If revocation of Articles 370 & 35A and bifurcation of the state into two UTs were the most discussed matters immediate to post-August 5 announcement, the ‘by-products’ which came by way of indefinite communications blackout and other curtailments have been the equally talked-about issues. Almost no representative from the opposition, MP, MLA or otherwise had been allowed entry into Kashmir to have ground-level assessments of the prevailing situation. In this context, it is natural that a hue and cry will be raised over this EU delegation visit. Moreover, it has also been officially ‘announced’ that the visit is exclusively an unofficial one and these MPs are visiting solely in their individual capacities. This adds much to the bewilderment with rising reprimand from the opposition with BJP Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy joining the chorus even. That what defies logic is the choice of MPs, greater part of whom have strangely a political pedigree that is overtly Right and Extreme-Right. If the idea is to establish that all is normal or near-normal in Kashmir, then the lack of heterogeneity of the visiting team will seem rather incomprehensible.  

A normal Kashmir has been promised and if it’s really that in making, will it not be more appreciable if the ‘exercise’ is throw open to any degree of scrutiny from any quarter? If done so, India’s image as the world’s most progressive democracy might have further brightened a little.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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