They are no less Indians

In recent times, the exchange of heated words between India and Pakistan at the UN and elsewhere on J&K, and PoJK, and the Indus Waters Treaty has intensified. This is a natural corollary of the two nations’ high-profile confrontation during Operation Sindoor - launched after the Pahalgam massacre last year - but the real issue at stake is how this narrative translates for the people of this Himalayan region. It is unlikely that India or Pakistan will ever agree on the status of Jammu and Kashmir on the two sides of the Line of Control ( LoC).  The only people who can make this statement in the loudest and clearest terms are leaders of Jammu and Kashmir. The people have to be owned and respected for that. They are not demanding anything in return, but rather respect to their positions and their role as advocates for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmir is Kashmir; this fact has been reinforced time and again. This time, too, it is becoming increasingly clear that sidelining Kashmir’s viewpoint from the national mainstream narrative is not always beneficial. And, no other voice can be as potent and powerful as the real and authentic voice from Kashmir’s soil.  At a time when rebuffing Pakistan on all counts, particularly its unwarranted references to Kashmir, is considered both a diplomatic and national necessity, the question arises: where is the Kashmiri leadership? It may be argued that diplomats’ job must be left to diplomats, but when their voices are amplified by the local leadership those voices resonate with greater credibility across the board. This Indo-Pak confrontation has escalated significantly after India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty on April 23, 2025, to punish Pakistan for its continued terror ventures on Indian soil. The immediate context for this was the killing of 26 civilians, 25 of them Hindu tourists from various parts of the country, in Baisaran, Pahalgam on April 22, 2025. That bloodletting shook the whole country. The outrage over the savage brutality of terrorists swept across the nation.Kashmir was the first to give vent to this outrage in the streets. The noise of protest over the killing of their guests on their soil was so loud that it was heard all over, but unfortunately,the reaction was weighed in economic terms rather than as collective outrage against terrorism and those backing it. The message was clear: Kashmir stood with the country in denouncing terrorism. However, it has not been read in that spirit to date. At the time when India and Pakistan reiterate their stated positions on Jammu and Kashmir and PoJK at the UN, public sentiment is affected. The post-Pahalgam outrage in Kashmir could have been channelized into a narrative that would have put the adversaries on the mat diplomatically, politically, and internationally. Why that opportunity was lost is a question that will linger on, and answers will have to be found.In the first place, all this propaganda against the regional parties of Kashmir, claiming their hearts beat for Pakistan and that they are soft separatists, should best be stopped forthwith. Voicing critical issues that India takes up at the UN, or replying to Pakistan’s assertions regarding J&K and its people, should be left for the Kashmiri leadership to handle.  There was a lot of wisdom in the thought process when Delhi used to deploy Farooq Abdullah to put across the Indian stand in Geneva and elsewhere. Only he could have called the bluff of Pakistan. It was not only P V Narsimha Rao who did it, Atal Bihari Vajpayee too did so when he introduced him to visiting US President Bill Clinton in 2000: “Here is leader from Kashmir.”Both Omar Abdullah, then National Conference Presidentand MP, and PDP President and MP Mehbooba Mufti were invited to the state banquet hosted for the visiting US President George W. Bush in March 2006. Omar Abdullah was among the invitees at the dinner hosted by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the US President Barack Obama in 2010. These were not mere courtesies, but big diplomatic statements for the world to see. And interpret. Delhi’s respect for the elected and other prominent leaders from Jammu and Kashmir will make international statements that no one else can made. Recently, when Farooq Abdullah asked Pakistan to stop zulm (tyranny) over the protesting PoJK residents, it made more impact than all the statements combined. Delhi has provided excellent connectivity projects to J&K. The introduction of Vande Bharat train between Jammu and Srinagar has transformed the travel experience for the population, especially in the Valley. Passengers can board the train and arrive at their destination without the hassles of traffic jams, waiting for hours together for the landslide-prone highways.  This is the greatest gift of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the people of the region, who had dreamed of this for generations but never hoped it would ever translate into reality. This travel transformation underlines a far greater connection than merely connecting physical places. It is a people-oriented projected that has touched their souls and stirred vibrancy. The people on the other side of the LoC are not just envious; they regret that they are not part of these journeys. The Pakistan government has deliberately kept them aloof and isolated from such developmental projects. Jammu and Kashmir people have expressed their gratitude to Prime Minister Modi and the nation for providing them with connectivity free of all fears and vagaries of weather.  What was needed at the time of the suspension of the IWT was to tell that it was being done for their benefit. First, the perpetrators and backers of the terror attack that dented Kashmir’s image and dealt a big blow to its culture of hospitality are being avenged. Second, the usage of the waters of the rivers flowing to Pakistan had always been a concern for the nation, and J&K in particular.The waters were not fully utilized: they flowed to Pakistan unhindered, and the development of J&K suffered. Pakistan is asking a fair deal, but what if India starts asking for compensation for all the trillions of cusecs of water that flowed to Pakistan every year since the IWT came into effect in 1960? Pakistan should be made to pay for this. And, if Kashmiri leaders make this demand, the nation’s case will be much stronger at the international stage. The point is simple: they are no less Indians.