Modi in Kashmir

Modi’s speech was a disappointment, heavy on unsubstantiated claims, with a bleak political message.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first trip to Occupied Kashmir since he illegally changed the region’s administrative status in 2019 was chockfull of the pomp and show required to feed into his delusions of grandeur. Modi promised a $777 million development package for the region, but was light on details of whether or not that money would actually be spent in the region and on local people, or curiously routed through companies owned by his cronies. Kashmir watchers and local media also lamented that Modi’s speech was a disappointment, heavy on unsubstantiated claims but with little in the way of a truly uplifting political message. Modi did not even announce an election date for the region, despite an Indian Supreme Court order to do so. The last local elections were held in 2014. The same year, Modi took power in New Delhi.

Not only was his speech a work of fiction, but so was his crowd. Reporters on the ground said almost nobody seemed enthusiastic about being there. Independent media reported that a substantial share of the crowd was actually made up of government employees — numbering almost 20,000 — who were forced to attend. An unprecedented security was set up across Srinagar to make the lives of locals even more miserable than usual. The fact that Modi inaugurated several new projects virtually shows his fear, not just of a security breach but even of being heckled. Mehbooba Mufti, the last elected chief minister of the region, noted that the visit had nothing to do with improving life for Kashmiris and was “only meant to address and drum support amongst the BJP’s core constituency in the rest of India for the upcoming parliament elections” in May.

Modi doesn’t care about Kashmiris. He just wants to use the region and its resources to curry favour with the electorate in the rest of the country, along with big money donations from the crony capitalists his government depends on.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2024.

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