Autonomy as a Solution for Kashmir?

Kashmir has been one of the most disturbed places in the world for more than 2 decades now.Of course,next only to West Asia and the Civil War stuck autocracies of Africa.However,over the past couple of months the reasons that has attributed to these disturbances are more local than global as has been the case so far.
The recent spate of violence and an upsurge in the separatist voices in Kashmir has made many wonder as to what has suddenly changed for Kashmir.The death of 63 Kashmiris in a matter of 2 months however,has evinced more curiosity than empathy among the rest of India.How are these deaths different? After all thousands of innocent Kashmiris have already lost their lives to the hands of militancy in the last 2 decades?
The answer lies in the question itself.This time around the deaths are a result of excesses of the security forces in dealing with mobs,as claimed by the people of Kashmir.No doubt that this has an element of truth in it.The violent protests that broke out as a result of a fake encounter has now thrown Kashmir into a seemingly endless cycle of violence.Although the issue of contention that was earlier limited to the abuse of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act(or AFSPA),a legislation that gives Security and Quasi-Security forces unlimited powers to deal with extremists,has now taken the form of a widespread resentment.
And like always the Indian establishment is busy finding a "foreign hand" to it.Some even consider it as an act of handful of Islamic miscreants.While for others it is the separatist forces that are playing.Although these apprehensions might be partially true.However,the fact appears starkly different.Under the shield of Article 370,J&K has been granted a special status.But the government has done nothing special to improve the conditions in Kashmir.This state,in fact,has become a scapegoat and a victim to lethargic diplomacy and pusillanimous politics.It took 60 years to build a rail link connecting a stretch of Kashmir valley(Qazigund-Baramulla) to the rest of India.There is still no proper educational infrastructure in the valley leave alone Centres of Excellence(like IITs,NITs etc.).Tourism and Cottage Industries are still the mainstay of the
state economy and the livelihood of the people that hasn't helped improve their incomes.People are harassed in the name of their own security(thanks to AFSPA).Still the people of the state have,time and again,reinstated their faith in the Indian democracy.
Why should we expect a generation which hasn't seen anything but violence since its birth,a generation that has no jobs,a generation that is skeptical about its own future;to be enthused about a depressing and constraining surrounding?
However,having said all that,the fact remains that azaadi is surely not the best of the possible solutions for Kashmir.Even if Kashmir is liberated,it will surrounded by three Nuclear states with countries such as China & Pakistan eager to express their influence on it.It will not be long before Kashmir falls into the hands of extremist forces,as rightly pointed out by Dr. Farooq Abdullah,Former CM of J&K.Neither is Autonomy as a feasible solution as it will lead to loosening of India's grip on the state.
It is high time that we honor the long standing faith of Kashmiris in Indian democracy and with such a crisis in sight,it seems inevitable that India should undertake an economic and social integration program for Kashmir,with the rest of India.And given the situation,this needs to be urgent.It should be made noticeable that a Kashmiri is as Indian as a Gujarati or a Marathi,in all possible terms of the Indian democracy and the Constitution.

Is our Independence for real?

 On 15th August,the World's largest Democracy(so called!!) will celebrate its 64th Independence Day..A good reason to cheer for more than 1.1 billion(and counting..) Indians. But the events that took place over the past few days,weeks, and months have certainly left a lot to ponder upon,for our great Democratic state. 

On one hand we can be proud of our achievements in terms of the spectacular economic growth we've achieved over the past few years,we can be proud of our new currency symbol,we can be proud of our continuing success in the field of space exploration,we can also take pride in our increasing military might,in our successful and prospering services industry,in our increasing influence on the global stage,in our constitution that gives us the liberty like no other.And we can be proud of countless other things.
And while most of the Indians are eagerly waiting for the country to emerge as the next global superpower,the country is actually grappling with grave internal threats.The astonishing pace of economic growth over the past decades has changed the face of most of the geographical regions of India.However,the dividends of this growth haven't been distributed equally among all the stakeholders.The result is Maoist unrest in the Central & Eastern India that has now engulfed around 1/3rd districts of the country and now we are facing a war within,war with our very own civilians.
Separatist voices are being raised from the North(Kashmir) to the Far East(Meghalaya and Manipur).During our 63 years of freedom,we haven't been able to inculcate the feeling of belongingness among our own citizens.Isn't it a pity for us?
The state has failed miserably in ensuring food security for our(humongous) population.The result is  flaring up of food prices which is pushing fraction of population back into poverty. Isn't it a failure of government policies?
Inefficient governance,corrupt and unaccountable bureaucracy,lack of basic healthcare,sanitation and shelter in rural India,overloaded urban infrastructure-these are just a few stories that capture national attention,there are a countless others which simply go unnoticed but are persistent for years together.
So this Independence Day,isn't it a question that we need to ask ourselves-Is our Independence for real? If not,how can we as citizens can contribute to making this nation a better place to live?
How we can reintegrate India which has broken into regions of unrest,dissatisfaction?
And we need to get out of our complacency cocoon to make a brave attempt to make every Indian a stakeholder in the Indian aspirations of the 21st century.

Hello World !!

Hey Guys,
I feel happy to be a Blogger,finally!! One thing I yearned for quite some time now. And being an Engineer and that too Computer Science Engineer,I couldn't have thought of a better title for my first post i.e. "Hello World"-a universal program for those who are writing their first piece of code.
It(blogging) seems to be an exciting job(Hope it turns out the same way!!!)..
I hope you guys like my writing.Do keep visiting,commenting and following

Thanks