J&K: A BJP 'recipe' for conditional, tamed, controlled political activity, like some charity

Ram Madhav, Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal

Counterview Desk
Counting Days – Kashmir, a Pakistan-India Peoples' Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) initiative, has released an article by chief editor of a top Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) media house Kashmir Times, Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal, to respond to BJP's national general secretary Ram Madhav’s article ‘It is time to allow J&K full-fledged political activity’, published in the Indian Express (May 23, 2020).
Madhav in his article had reasons that today the region is “largely quiet”. Criticizing “detractors” who attribute this calm to the excessive presence of security forces and arrests of leaders, he says, “Except for half-a-dozen senior leaders, most politicians have been released. The presence of security forces too has been rolled back significantly. Even then, people are not on the streets pelting stones and shouting azadi.”
Madhav believes, given this situation, “It is time the state administration appreciates this and pays the people handsomely for their openness. Certain harsh measures like denial of 4G services, which were necessary under special circumstances, can now be done away with, as the state administration and security apparatus are capable of handling difficult situations.”

Jamwal responds:

“Political activity” means the freedom to promote a political ideology, liberty to speak, dissent and intervene in social, political, administrative decisions and actions. No political activity exists without the freedom to exercise options and freedom to express ideas.
What does political activity mean in Kashmir? What does it mean in a place ruled by military jackboots and concertina wires?
Hundreds of political activists of all hues faced months of detention. Some released on conditional bonds that forbid them to speak on certain matters including the dilution of the special status of Jammu & Kashmir and its reorganization, some continue to be jailed and many also placed under house arrest.
Tens of hundreds of ordinary men -- activists, traders and lawyers -- continue to be in prison in distant lands. Journalists are summoned by Cyber Police for their reports and social media comments and three are facing criminal charges under draconian laws. These rules of engagement are reinforced with regular surveillance and methods of control. Summon! Intimidate! Detain! Demonise!
So, when Ram Madhav writes about time being ripe for introducing “full-fledged political activity”, it could only mean a euphemism for politics that is certified, endorsed and stamped by New Delhi and his party.
The idea of political activity in fetters is not only being normalised. It is being sold like a commodity and so it must come with its pack of lies that serve the interest of denigrating politics of any kind that does not comply with the whims of the rulers.

Everybody incarcerated is thus tarred with the brush of terrorism and called a ‘terrorist-sympathiser’ to give legitimacy to the hegemony of one kind of politics and political agenda. The calm in Kashmir, induced by maintaining a constant atmosphere of surveillance and intimidation, is being presumed as public acceptance, consent and involvement.

Madhav sees the notification for the new domicile rule as the logical end of the abrogation of Articles 370, 35A, which he deems discriminated against those were not holders of Permanent Resident Certificate (PRC) and robbed them of “their fundamental rights”.

The calm in Kashmir, induced by maintaining a constant atmosphere of surveillance and intimidation, is being presumed as public acceptance, consent and involvement

Doors for the outsiders for getting domicile status will open by trampling the rights of the original inhabitants, subjecting them to prolonged sufferings and indignities. And now, according to Madhav, the time has come to “reward” them for their coerced silence with the offer of conditional, tamed and controlled “political activity”, thrust upon them like some charity.
This article is full of exaggerations and absolute white lies. For example, not all west Pakistani refugees belong to scheduled caste (SC) communities. The sanitation workers brought from Punjab in 1950s are less than 2000 (300-400 families) in numbers. The Chhamb refugees are already state subjects, and so are the Kashmiri Pandits, unless he's talking about Pandits who migrated 200 years ago!
One of the main claims of the Home Minister, while announcing the abrogation of 370 in the Indian Parliament was how this will liberate the women of J&K. He lied about the fact that the question of gender rights was pretty much settled after 2002 in the state. Women do not lose permanent residency rights after marrying.
Women had 50 percent reservation in professional colleges. In reality, all that is now vanished after August 5, 2019 and the women of Kashmir are legally reduced to the stature of Indian women, who did not enjoy many of the freedoms that existed in Kashmir’s customary and legal mechanisms. Similarly, the refuge that Madhav is seeking under the pretension of saving the SC community and giving a large number of residents their legitimate opportunities under the new domicile rules is nothing but pure white lie!
Their Lies! Their Politics! Their Activity! Their Agenda! - and History, our witness. History is testimony to who were the jackals and who were the hyenas in our land!

Comments

When a lake becomes real estate: The mismanagement of Hyderabad’s waterbodies

By Dr Mansee Bal Bhargava* Misunderstood, misinterpreted and misguided governance and management of urban lakes in India —illustrated here through Hyderabad —demands urgent attention from Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), the political establishment, the judiciary, the builder–developer lobby, and most importantly, the citizens of Hyderabad. Fundamental misconceptions about urban lakes have shaped policies and practices that systematically misuse, abuse and ultimately erase them—often in the name of urban development.

'Serious violation of international law': US pressure on Mexico to stop oil shipments to Cuba

By Vijay Prashad In January 2026, US President Donald Trump declared Cuba to be an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to US security—a designation that allows the United States government to use sweeping economic restrictions traditionally reserved for national security adversaries. The US blockade against Cuba began in the 1960s, right after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 but has tightened over the years. Without any mandate from the United Nations Security Council—which permits sanctions under strict conditions—the United States has operated an illegal, unilateral blockade that tries to force countries from around the world to stop doing basic commerce with Cuba. The new restrictions focus on oil. The United States government has threatened tariffs and sanctions on any country that sells or transports oil to Cuba.

When grief becomes grace: Kerala's quiet revolution in organ donation

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Kerala is an important model for understanding India's diversity precisely because the religious and cultural plurality it has witnessed over centuries brought together traditions and good practices from across the world. Kerala had India's first communist government, was the first state where a duly elected government was dismissed, and remains the first state to achieve near-total literacy. It is also a land where Christianity and Islam took root before they spread to Europe and other parts of the world. Kerala has deep historic rationalist and secular traditions.

Bangladesh goes to polls as press freedom concerns surface

By Nava Thakuria* As Bangladesh heads for its 13th Parliamentary election and a referendum on the July National Charter simultaneously on Thursday (12 February 2026), interim government chief Professor Muhammad Yunus has urged all participating candidates to rise above personal and party interests and prioritize the greater interests of the Muslim-majority nation, regardless of the poll outcomes.

Beyond the conflict: Experts outline roadmap for humane street dog solutions

By A Representative In a direct response to the rising polarization surrounding India’s street dog population, a high-level coalition of parliamentarians, legal experts, and civil society leaders gathered in the capital to propose a unified national framework for humane animal management. The emergency deliberations were sparked by a recent Suo Moto judgment that has significantly deepened the divide between animal welfare advocates and those calling for the removal of community dogs, a tension that has recently escalated into reported violence against both animals and their caretakers in states like Telangana.

Why 20 years later, Rang De Basanti feels less like cinema, more like warning

By Mohd Ziyaullah Khan* This Republic Day , the Rang De Basanti , starring Aamir Khan , completed 20 years since its release. I first watched it in a single-screen theatre in my city—at a time when multiplexes were only just beginning to appear and our town was still waiting for one. It remains my favourite film, and I often revisit it on OTT platforms or television around Independence Day or Republic Day, when the air is thick with rehearsed patriotism. A few days ago, I noticed it streaming again on Jio Hotstar . Released in 2006, it is a film I have watched many times over the years. Yet, like all powerful cinema, returning to it at different stages of life offers a different experience. Twenty years ago, I found it deeply inspiring. In 2026, watching it again felt suffocating. At its core, the film follows a group of Delhi University friends who challenge the might of the central government after one of their own, a flight lieutenant, is killed in a MiG aircraft crash alleged...

Stray dogs, an epsilon (ϵ) problem: Of child labour, and the art of misplaced priorities

By Bhaskaran Raman The Greek alphabet ϵ (epsilon) is used in maths and science to denote a quantity which is not zero, but extremely small *** Since the Supreme Court's interim order on the issue of stray dogs came out on 07 Nov 2025, there have been a range of opinion pieces speaking for the voiceless. Most of them take the stance that there is a "problem" with stray dogs, but that we need a humane solution. I agree with this broadly, but I think we need new terminology to talk about this.

A. R. Rahman's ‘Yethu’ goes viral, celebrating Tamil music on the world stage

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* Good news for Tamil music lovers—the Mozart of Madras is back in the Tamil music industry with his song “Yethu” from the film “Moonwalk.” The track has climbed international charts, once again placing A. R. Rahman on the global stage.

The Galgotia model: How India is losing the war on knowledge

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Galgotia is the face of 'quality education' as envisioned by those who never considered education a tool for social change or national uplift — and yet this is precisely the model Narendra Modi pursued in Gujarat as Chief Minister. In the mid-eighties, when many of us were growing up, 'Nirma' became one of the most popular advertisements on Doordarshan. Whether the product was any good hardly seemed to matter.

Search This Blog