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Being a Kashmiri who has seen the good, the bad, and the worst of Kashmir, who has witnessed the peak years of Pakistan sponsored terrorism and turmoil, who has lived through the unrest of the 2010s and heard stories of Pakistan sponsored terrorism and the gun culture of the dark 1990s, I believe I am in a suitable position to present a picture of pre and post Article 370 Kashmir. I have seen schools shut, businesses closed, tourism collapse, and the economy on a ventilator. All of this happened before the abrogation of Article 370, while Kashmir was living under it. Having witnessed so much, I believe I am in a suitable position to present a comparative analysis of pre and post Article 370 Kashmir, while also comparing it with our brethren in PoJK, who are going through immense hardships at the hands of Pakistan. I won’t dwell into fancy terms like integration and all but factual and ground based that is felt by a common Kashmiri.
If we talk about peace and security, Kashmir longed for this for decades. Terror attacks, stone pelting, and unrest were common. I visited Tral, once a hotbed of violence, in 2015 for the first time. I had also heard about Tral from my friends and teachers; they would narrate stories of violence, fear, and uncertainty. They would say, no one knows which street a gunman would come from, which car would be attacked, which way a stone would be pelted, or when shops would shut down. Back in school, I would often hear, “Aaz gov Kupwar kanni jung Jumma parith” (stone pelting happened in Kupwara after Friday prayers). It became so normal that we started taking it as routine and, after some time, stopped discussing it. I myself was once trapped in that Friday stone pelting incident, and it was a terrifying experience. I was 8 y/o when I found myself trapped in a dangerous stone pelting incident in Baramulla. Imagine the pain and mental trauma it would cause to an 8-year-old child. My cousin, along with his family, witnessed a grenade blast right in front of them in Sopore town. He said it was a near death experience for him. We would not go out in the dark, fearing we might not return or that terrorists might kidnap us. I myself have seen the bruised dead bodies of those who dared to speak against the fear and violence of Pakistan sponsored terrorists, and how inhumanely they were killed. What changed after Article 370 was that the grip on violence and terror was tightened, and peace gradually returned to the Valley. I visited Tral again in April this year, and the town was bustling with life and business. That is what changed. I no longer fear going out in the dark or being taken by terrorists. I no longer have to see my fellow Kashmiris being killed for speaking the truth. I no longer hear my cousin say fearfully that he saw a grenade blast in front of his eyes and felt close to death. This is what changed for a common Kashmiri.
What peace and security brought with them was uninterrupted education and tourism. Before Article 370, education often faced interruptions, with schools shut for months, no regular classes in schools and universities, and exams being delayed. The lives of students became difficult, with no academic activity and uncertainty about their future. The same happened with tourism. There were no tourists, no revenue, and our tourist destinations often looked deserted. I myself have faced the loss of months of education many times, and I know its dark impact. People feared coming to Kashmir. But post abrogation, we got smooth and uninterrupted academic activities, booming tourism, and, moreover, a growing sense of trust among visitors who now feel safer and more secure in Kashmir. That is what changed.
Connectivity and infrastructure have witnessed a major transformation. Before 2019, a normal journey from Srinagar to Jammu would take 7 to 8 hours. We did not have rail connectivity with the rest of the country, and travel used to be tough and time consuming. The National Highway connecting Srinagar from my town was a two-way road. Many far-flung villages lacked basic road connectivity. Now, after 2019, the same journey normally takes around 4 hours. We are also connected to the rest of the country through railways. We have tunnels that bypass many difficult terrains, with many more projects under construction and in the approval phase. The National Highway is taking the shape of a four-lane road. Airport’s expansion has been approved This is the transformation Kashmir has witnessed after 2019.
Post 2019 also brought a sense of accountability and a check on corruption in Kashmir. Public workers would often take their duties lightly, and corruption remained unchecked. I would barely see traffic police on the roads, but now employees perform their duties with sincerity. They fear the system and authority, and they fear taking bribes. Seeing traffic police on roads has become normal now, and such sincerity and accountability have taken a place in every department. This is the change that the 2019 move brought to Kashmir.
Border tourism was a foreign concept for Kashmir. Exquisite places like Keran, Machil, Gurez, and Bungus remained unexplored and largely untouched. They were mostly known for infiltration attempts from Pakistan, but now they have emerged as tourist attractions. Thousands of visitors travel to these places, stay, and enjoy their beauty, bringing valuable contributions to the Valley’s economy and local livelihoods. This is what changed in Kashmir after 2019.
A scar that bruised Kashmir badly for decades was separatism. Before 2019, separatism enjoyed a comfortable space in Kashmir, bringing all sorts of troubles to the region. It made us victims of Pakistan sponsored terrorism, radicalised innocent Kashmiris, and damaged the social fabric of our society. The sun of that scar set in 2019. Post 2019, separatism witnessed a drastic decline, and those who were once linked to it are now contesting elections, praising the government’s peace efforts in Kashmir, opposing Pakistan’s brutalities, and condemning Pakistan over the turmoil in PoJK. From the same pulpits and platforms that were once used to promote separatism and Pakistan’s narrative. With separatism pushed into the background, what followed was what Kashmiris had long yearned for: peace, progress, normalcy, and development. This is the change I witnessed, and every Kashmiris has.
This is just the tip of the iceberg. Social welfare schemes, entrepreneurship initiatives, Mission Youth programmes, network connectivity, electricity roads, in far flung areas water supply, grassroots democracy through BDCs and DDCs that strengthened the three tier governance system, new industrial policies, buses for convenient intra city commuting, parking spaces, and the development of health and education infrastructure such as GMCs, colleges, hospitals, and the expansion and modernisation of existing facilities, all of this remained limited or absent before 2019. But post 2019, these areas witnessed a transformation and moved towards building a better Kashmir. This is what changed in my Kashmir after 2019.
I don’t want to draw a comparison between Kashmir and PoJK because it is painful to narrate what is going on there. But more importantly, it is necessary to expose Pakistan’s claims. Right now, PoJK is burning, people are dying and being arrested. Pakistan is unfolding a brutal crackdown in PoJK. The region lacks basic rights, including proper roads, electricity, and essential facilities, with no concrete steps taken on inflation and tariffs. Schools and shops are shut, the economy is suffering, and there seems to be no value for human life. Tourism has become a distant dream, while in Kashmir, education runs normally, tourism is booming, and yatras continue smoothly. Kashmir is covered in the hustle and bustle of daily life. I saw a clip from Keran showing Neelum Valley, a famous tourist destination in PoJK, giving a deserted look, while the Kashmir side of Keran remains crowded with tourists.
Having said all this, it does not mean there are no challenges or issues in Kashmir. But you cannot empty a trash pit built over multiple decades in just a few years; it takes time. We all hope and have trust, inshallah, that just as Kashmir has overcome other challenges and embraced the peace and prosperity it longed for in recent years, the remaining issues will also be overcome and resolved in the coming years. We hope for Kashmir filled with peace and progress a Kashmir that is growing and becoming better by the day, a Kashmir we proudly call home. Inshallah.
Alizaroon112@gmail.com
