Article 370 abrogation fifth anniversary: No one was aware what was on the cards when Union Home Minister Amit Shah entered the Parliament on August 5, 2019, except for him. Article 370 was about to be buried forever, constitutionally, as later upheld by the Supreme Court in December last year. It’s been five years since the historic move by the Narendra Modi government, which remained one of the highlights of its second tenure from 2019 to 2024, and a lot has changed in Jammu and Kashmir, however, bringing along a new set of challenges for the government as it moves forward towards conducting the Assembly elections next month and ending the President's rule in the region.
Kashmir, in the last five years, has witnessed the third G20 Tourism Working Group meeting, growth in tourism, largely decline in terror incidents (except for an increase in the region lately) and much more.
On the fifth anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir, the long-due promise of the BJP fulfilled in 2019, let’s take a look at some fronts which have witnessed drastic changes in the last five years:
Tourism:
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs reply to a ‘Starred Question’ in Rajya Sabha on July 24 this year, J-K has witnessed a persistent rise in the tourism sector in the last five years.
| Year | Total tourists visited |
| 2020 | 34,70,834 |
| 2021 | 1,13,14,884 |
| 2022 | 1,88,64,332 |
|
2023 |
2,11,24,674 |
| 2024 | 1,08,41,009 (till June) |
Terror attacks:
According to the MHA's response to Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge's 'Unstarred Question' on February 7 this year, there has been a decline in 'terrorist initiated incidents' over the years. However, in the last nearly two months, Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a rise in the terror attacks, killing civilians and the security personnel.
| Description | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
| Terrorist initiated incidents | 153 | 126 | 129 | 125 | 46 |
| Encounters/counter terrorism operations | 102 | 118 | 100 | 117 | 48 |
| Civilians killed in terrorist initiated incidents and in encounters | 44 | 38 | 41 | 31 | 14 |
| Security personnel killed | 80 | 63 | 42 | 32 | 30 |
| Terrorist killed | 157 | 221 | 180 | 187 | 73 |
Investments in Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh:
The region has recorded an exponential rise in investments post-abrogation of Article 370, with the total investment rising to the tunes of Rs 2417.19 crores till 2023. The MHA, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha in February this year, detailed year-by-year investment in the region.
| Year | Number of units | Total investments (Rs in Crore) |
| 2019-20 | 302 | 296.64 |
| 2020-21 | 310 | 412.74 |
| 2021-22 | 175 | 376.76 |
| 2022-23 | 629 | 2153.45 |
|
2023-24 (Till December 2023) |
174 | 2417.19 |
Conduct of Lok Sabha Elections 2024 peacefully:
The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 in Jammu and Kashmir were conducted with utmost peace and smoothness, without a bullet being fired and a life being lost. The region witnessed historic numbers in voter turnouts after decades.
The Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency on May 25 made history after it recorded its highest-ever voter turnout in the last 35 years, at 54.84 per cent in Lok Sabha elections 2024, the highest in 40 years. Voters thronged the polling booths with enthusiasm to elect their representatives. Election Commission of India as well as Prime Minister Narendra Modi had hailed the commitment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir towards democracy, who were voting in the Lok Sabha Elections for the first time after the 2019 move.
Challenges for Modi government going forward in Jammu and Kashmir:
With adversary like Pakistan around, challenges in Jammu and Kashmir may keep arising every now and then. A look at some of the roadblocks the government may face in its way forward:
- Tackling Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism
- Keeping radicalisation among youth in check
- Having the local support to terrorists under constant scanner
- Return of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, which was divided into two Union Territories -- J-K and Ladakh in 2019, amid growing terror attacks again
- Conducting peaceful Assembly Elections next month amid sporadic terror attacks in the region (Notably, Lok Sabha Elections 2024 were held without a drop of blood being shed and J-K had witnessed historic voter turnouts).
- Stopping corruption after the return of statehood and re-constitution of state Assembly. Corruption has been a major cause for plight of the locals for over decades
- Ensuring safe environment for tourism to bloom further and investments to grow
Political changes in the last five years
The political activities in the initial phases of the abrogation of Article 370 remained nil as most of the leaders, including PDP chief and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti were under house arrest. Since the change of status of J-K from state to UT, the politics of the Opposition has mostly revolved around the vows to restore Article 370 "when it comes to power" at the Centre. The political parties have been accusing the Centre of "betraying the people of Jammu and Kashmir" by scrapping it of its special status. Internet services remained shut for months post-abrogation, however, were restored at a later stage as normalcy started returning on ground.
On the fifth anniversary of the abrogation, Mehbooba Mufti claimed that she was put on house arrest. Several other leaders made a similar claim.
For the country and the region to move forward, peace and stability at a place as crucial as Jammu and Kashmir is more than a necessity and a lot more remains to be done on the ground to ensure this.
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