Demonetization: A Pill Gone Wrong

31st December 2016 is coming and earlier around this date we all used to be so happy thinking about the coming New Year. But this year's significance of this date has definitely shadowed the happiness of many. This year 31st December is also a deadline for depositing the scrapped currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 into bank accounts. All of it started on 8th November 2016, when the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, continuing with his promises to fight corruption, abruptly scrapped the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs.1000 denomination with some conditions and deadlines announced along with it. But by the side of this announcement came replacement of these notes with new Rs.500 note and Rs. 2000 note. The thrust was to go for cashless transactions from the very next day after withdrawal of 86% of the country's currency. The main argument behind imposing this decision was to flush out black money, corruption, counterfeit notes and terrorism funding in India. 

Meanwhile like the rest of the country, within minutes Jammu too had the impact of this announcement. People started running out of their houses to spend these scrapped notes in one way or another. A sense of urgency to get rid of these notes was witnessed in many Jammuites. It was the quantity of notes which made every family in Jammu decide where they should spend it.  Some people rushed to stand in lines at petrol pumps while others went to the nearest grocery store. Most important ‘appeared-segment’ that night were people who went rushing towards jewelry shops of Jammu. Incidentally, some of those panicked customers are at present finding themselves in CCTV recordings of the jewelry shops. These recordings are now evidence against them. On the night of 8th November, Jammu markets immediately swelled as there were countless confused buyers out on roads.  Many shops in Jammu that night even remained open till 1 a.m. Things didn’t end soon and many after effects of this announcement were visible in Jammu. One of the events which came into public domain was when some vehicle was found carrying scrapped notes in Jammu city. Another thing that has amused Jammuites is how nothing has happened in Kashmir after this big announcement. People in Kashmir protest for any small incident like ration shortage but they didn’t protest over currency note shortage. 

Demonetization drive was just a beginning, as since then we are seeing some traits of undeclared-financial emergency across India. A political turbulence has come in the country as the whole opposition is on a tightrope with this policy implementation. They since then have been accusing PM Modi’s idea of a cashless economy unrealistic. But this accusation looks factual in a country where several crores of people in rural India don’t have any bank account even till today. We cannot overlook the role of the internet also as far as implementation of a cashless economy is concerned.  Just think of rural India where we have negligible internet presence. On the other hand, if in J&K any small anti- social incident happens then the first step taken by the administration is to shut internet services. How can with such prevalent internet services India can go for a cashless economy? Several problems were also aggravated by everyday changing deadlines and flip flops of the central government. Post demonetization it appears that the working of banks and ATM’s have totally altered. One aspect of bank operations which impacted the policy of demonetization is ‘Jan-Dhan accounts’. These accounts were opened by all banks with an objective set by the government to help poor people in the country. Strangely, time changed and these accounts came to the rescue of the rich by helping them to launder their cash into such accounts. One more case is of Axis Bank where its employee’s have been found involved in trading with old scrapped notes against new notes. While on the other hand, ATM’s are no more 24x7 working machines as ATM’s dry up within a few hours signifying the intensity of the problem. Moreover, ATM’s are now becoming death points as in the last month we saw many deaths of people while standing in ATM lines across the country. It is one of the heartbreaking moments as people are getting killed for their own money. It appears that all such situations have emerged all because of non-availability of cash in the country.

Demonetization is no doubt a very reforming and politically bold step for the country taken by PM Modi. But I believe demonetization for now has not been handled properly and this pill to cure the country has gone wrong. This whole drive has backfired and tarnished the image of the Prime Minister. The present Prime Minister was considered a business-friendly politician because of his work and growth achieved in Gujarat. But here it's contrary as demonetization has clearly affected the businessmen of this country. Let’s not forget its impact on farmers who are part of 98% people who buy and sell mostly on cash in India. Either it is a disaster or a miscalculation, by the group of people in government who conceived this demonetization scheme. In addition to it, the fight against corruption touched a new low, as a situation in the country has emerged whereby people are buying new notes against old notes by paying heavy commission. Hence, it has given rise to new corrupt practices which hinders the basic idea behind demonetization. Another fact that demonetization will impact the terrorism funding too got affected after a Kashmiri militant, who was killed in encounter, was found carrying new Rs. 2000 note within few days after demonetization drive started. The possibility of people getting immediate relief is not near but things have started improving very slowly after 6 weeks. Inspite of sufferings of small scale industries, we should still support the government argument that demonetization drive will bring good days for Indian economy. Let’s support this reform but present pain shouldn’t be ignored against future promises.

Summer Heat In Kashmir's Winter

Finally, it's winter in Kashmir. But still we are witnessing some heated actions which started in summer of 2016. The social environment this year in Kashmir was quite contrasting as emotions ran higher and above all. Many shades of decade old events were witnessed. Though uncertainty prevails in Kashmir for decades now but this summer everything seemed so rigid. So who do we blame this year? Surely, for some it’s the government and for others it’s the public who have again lent their support to this year’s unrest. Now with the onset of winter, various analogies are being drawn in the last few days to show that unrest has ended and is settled. But ask people living in narrow lanes of Srinagar and you will catch the same summer heat in Kashmir’s winter.  For these people unrest is unbroken. Hurriyat has started issuing some relaxation but that is for the convenience of local people. An uneasy calm still prevails and bandh has crossed the fourth month which is the longest ever in Kashmir. Since July this year, Kashmir has been witnessing various deaths along with uncountable injuries.

After having written a few weeks back about the prevailing matter I believe that issue is still frozen and no melting point seems near. Moreover, there have been many odd instances in the past few weeks which made me write again over this problem. When was the last time we heard of schools, buildings, cars and auto rickshaws being burnt in Kashmir? I am sure it takes us all decades back into our memories. Also let me remind you that this year we witnessed women pelting stones in some areas of Kashmir. The role of Kashmiri women changed drastically. This change signifies a lot if it is observed from a social angle along with its social repercussions in near future. In addition to all this, have you ever heard of efforts being taken on a large scale to create a sense of cohesiveness between Kashmiri militants and Sikh militants of Punjab? If not, then we had that too in Kashmir this summer. This all appeared when Zakir Rashid Bhat, successor of Burhan Wani, alleged that the government was planning to take action in Kashmir valley in an operation similar to ‘Operation Blue Star’ in Punjab. It didn’t end here; Zakir Rashid Bhat also claimed that his organization is planning to raise an exclusive group for Sikhs in their outfit. It’s so terrifying to think of the motives of these anti- national elements. The Sikhs in India have already suffered a lot because of militancy in Punjab and I shall never-ever want my community to go through that phase again. 

The incidents this summer signified how minds of Kashmiri people are burning with anger, when we saw petrol bombs being hurled at J&K Education Minister, Nayeem Akhtar’s house. Many shops and vehicles too were targeted this year in this newly adopted strategy. Situation in Kashmir this year is very threatening as with every passing day new kinds of attacks have taken place. Earlier, bandh was considered a conventional mode of showing anger but rifle snatching events, one after another, this year showed traits of guerilla warfare. All of a new stratum appears to have risen this year in the society of Kashmir. This all is being supported by people who want things to be so much interlinked socially and religiously that it doesn’t get easy to unwind this whole mess later. Besides this, unrest of 2016 witnessed the eruption of a new colour flag in some areas of Kashmir. Did you guess it? I know you must be still thinking of green. No, this time we had red colour flags of China which were waved and cuddled by the angry young boys on Kashmir roads.

The inference to high intensity of this year’s unrest can be drawn from another angle. A three ban was imposed on publication of newspapers in Kashmir to stop certain things from coming into public domain. As our country is seeing tremendous campaigns to convert India into ‘Digital India’ yet Kashmir saw a ban of 133 days on post paid mobile net services.  This year’s overall situation made present Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to plead before the central government as well as separatists in Kashmir to give peace a chance. The opinion of the Chief Minister seems to have fallen on deaf ears as both centre and separatist want their supremacy to exist. This all has proved that the agenda of development of Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has failed to impress Kashmiri people. ‘Strategy of sentiment’ won over the ‘agenda of development’ and this fact cannot be ignored as the level of response to bandh is enormous. The Modi government is more burdened because of this unrest as BJP is in an alliance in J&K with PDP. Once again, it appears Pakistan has been successful in exploiting the Kashmiri youth during unrest. On the other hand, this time the central government left nothing to the imagination as all those involved were picked up in night raids across Kashmir. Nevertheless, the truth is that this picking up won’t give any result as the youth in Kashmir has taken it up as their job to maintain unrest every year. At this moment as winter has set in, unrest as well as militant violence is bound to decline on a similar old pattern. The state and centre government should involve all stakeholders and bring some permanent solution to this problem. All that is crucial for the Kashmir issue is ‘good-intent’ of all stakeholders as a replacement for ‘track-I’ & ‘track II’ diplomacy or will come another summer after a bitter winter.

In The Name Of School Olympics

Chain Singh, a 27 years old young man, from Chanser, a small village in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir participated in Rio Olympics 2016. It took J&K more than 6 decades to see someone play in the Olympics. Don’t start presuming about the contribution of any sports association from J&K or J&K Sports Council or any government department to Chain Singh’s this achievement. He is serving in the Indian Army and credit for this achievement goes to the Indian Army only. This fact may refresh memories of many as by now they must have forgotten him. Many in our state were in a jovial mood when the Rio Olympics were going on but now as games are over so is our enthusiasm. ‘Sports’ in J&K for many is an alien word. There must be hardly any instance where you could have noticed parents promoting their children to play sports in our state. For every parent in J&K priority is, education of their children and all of them want their children to be an engineer, doctor or some other professional degree holder. None of them ever desire their children to be a gold, silver or bronze medalist. But yes, they don’t mind these shiny metals at home but not at cost of studies. They cannot be blamed purely for it as there is no skilled sports atmosphere in the state. Parents at all times see children of their relatives as well as neighbors being pushed in studies but not in sports. Over the past many years this approach of our state has made us stand far behind states like Punjab and Haryana.

Few days back sports fever was reignited by District Administration Jammu as we saw an inter-school sports event held under the name of ‘School Olympics’. It was a 9 daylong event  in which events of Kabaddi, Wrestling, Football, Hockey, Volleyball Basketball, Badminton, Table Tennis, Athletics and Marathon were held. It is said that more than 100 schools and 3500 students from government as well as private schools took part in it. The beauty of this event was that it was the first of its kind event which was organized in our state. Basically, it was an inter school sports event but was held in a very professional manner and appeared as a step towards inculcating sports culture in children of Jammu. I too got a chance to witness this extraordinary event. The intensity of the event can be judged with the fact that around one hundred medals were distributed at the closing ceremony of ‘School Olympics’. This event had some unhappy moments also as some officials and participants complained about the refreshments served. I was informed by technical staff on duty there that as far refreshments were concerned, they were initially promised something better. However, I feel this alteration can be understood as the Jammu administration has taken help of many sponsors to conduct this event. In addition to it, some matters pertaining to non availability of toilet facilities at venues was also discussed in the sports circle of Jammu. However, such things can be overlooked but should not be ignored and be worked over for the future.

There must be many people who by now must be trying to add this event in historical pages of J&K. No doubt it deserves a place in history but it has left some unanswered questions too. Though such an initiative held in the name of ‘School Olympics’ was aimed at providing an opportunity to children in the field of sports. But I feel that no impact can be made unless there is infrastructure for the players in state to practice after such events. The winner will become a winner just from such a single event and he or she cannot be a winner in life. The first requirement is to work over the infrastructure. All those children who excelled at this event cannot be nurtured further in such a deficient atmosphere. If we look into the present state of affairs then we can see that we don't have many stadiums in Jammu and not even have a large number of multipurpose indoor sports halls. Till today we have got many packages for the development of sports infrastructure in  J&K  but efforts were made to save this money in banks then spending it on the required infrastructure. We don't have any kind of sports calendar for organizing different sports events in the state.  Events like ‘School Olympics’ definitely give some mental happiness and various ‘personal-liasion’ building sessions also. On the other hand, we need honesty as the final destination for sportsmen in J&K is definitely not such events as they need many bigger landmarks which lie far off in their thoughts.

Faulty Signals From Kashmir

The summer of 2016 again has seen a crisis which kept Kashmir under curfew for more than 2 months and caused loss of several precious lives. There are many people, by now, in J&K who since their childhood or youth days have been hearing about the Kashmir crisis. But something contrary is continuously happening between the 'people of J&K' and the 'issue of Kashmir'. On one hand the 'people of J&K' are getting older with every passing day while on the other hand the 'issue of Kashmir' is getting younger day by day. This suggestion that the Kashmir issue is getting young is that the crisis keeps coming again and again especially in the Kashmir region of J&K after every few years. All those who have grown old while witnessing this Kashmir crisis will agree that the situation seems to stand there only where it started from. This context may not be wrong as the Kashmir issue is still young because Kashmiri people are giving their energy, in one form or another, to keep it in continuity. When we go through the pages of history over the Kashmir crisis then we see many political personalities who tried their best to settle the Kashmir issue but failed to do so. Let’s not just peep into history as we have a future ahead which needs to be saved.

The era of Nehru-Sheikh, Indira-Bhutto and Vajpayee - Nawaz is over. Surprisingly these names define a very large portion of J&K history, especially relating to the Kashmir crisis. Saddest part of this whole history is that nothing came out which could have ended the darkness to add a new bright morning to this issue of Kashmir crisis. But this time the Modi led central government at present has the best opportunity to educate the militants and their think-tanks that the Indian portion of Kashmir is a closed chapter. Moreover the Modi led govt came to power with the promises of keeping the country safe and united during their campaign in 2014 general elections. Interestingly, the PoK matter has been raised by the present centre govt. in order to put Pakistan on back foot. It is significant to mention here that at present PoK is a burning political issue in India after the surgical strikes by the Indian Army in PoK. Presently, this political move has been liked by many, but only time will tell whether this move helps in moving Kashmir out of crisis or it too ends as a political 'pulse raising method'. Now when such an approach has been raised then the Indian government should also start efforts to vacate the PoK as the whole of PoK is a grabbed land. Moreover, till today India had been slow in its approach towards PoK and now onwards it should gain momentum. Many chapters were witness to Kashmir dispute and one such was Shimla Accord but even after this accord Pakistan has never ever changed its approach towards India and always instigated unrest in J&K.

Importantly, the present government at centre has tremendous numbers in Parliament and can take a decisive stance over the Kashmir issue. This fact has been supported by CM Mehbooba Mufti who has recently declared that if the Modi govt won’t solve the issue of J&K then it won’t ever get solved in future. The word of the present CM holds a lot of significance as she has witnessed a similar situation in 2010 too. In a way she must be going through a small déjà-vu. However now her political role has reversed and all she has to do is work positively and not just blame opponents as she earlier had done. Interestingly, the BJP is an alliance partner in the J & K govt and should now undo this whole controversy around the state of J&K. It feels as if the time has come for the BJP to complete the work started by Shama Prasad Mukherjee. This will be their tribute to him but they have to tread through the difficult political structure of the country to reach this milestone. If they take certain more steps either with the help of 'word power' or with the 'power of strong government' then definitely the ever longing demand of bringing peace to J&K could be achieved.

This unrest of 2016 has reminded us of 2010 as similar situations erupted then also. We need to see that, irrespective of any political party the emotions of Kashmiri people are intact and firm. What we saw in the past more than two months has not built overnight and reflects much more which was witnessed. They seem to carry all this in their minds for the last many decades. This time people in Kashmir were so upset that they wanted this unrest to end only when a permanent solution came to the Kashmir problem. For many this vicious cycle of unrest coming after every few years is more harming then a continuous bandh of several months. This hatred with India and the passion for Kashmir issue is seen to be passed socially to all people irrespective of their age and generation. All that is required is to settle their minds which are ignited with passion which make them do so much. It has been witnessed that unrest of 2016 had its impact in Muslim dominated districts of Jammu region also. We cannot deny that their sympathizers have penetrated in such areas too which made government agencies implement curfews also in some areas and we saw some youth detained under PSA. The signals of unrest are not new but repetition of such signals from Kashmir has started fragmenting the whole state of J&K on social as well religious basis and we need to check that it doesn’t tear the fabric of oneness in years to come.

Crumbling Traffic Signals

Traffic signals are believed to be modern tools which help to regulate & streamline traffic in cities. Over the past some years Jammu has seen a tremendous rise in the number of vehicles. The resultant of this rising number of vehicles was traffic jams, chaos on roads & even accidents. The problem of rising traffic seems alarming as earlier only ten thousand vehicles used to get registered at Jammu Regional Transport Office (RTO) every year but now number is said to be thirty thousand every year. Though Jammu Regional Transport Office (RTO) has shown tremendous rise in revenue but roads are not ready to tackle such a big number of vehicles. Hence a policy was conceived in 2012 where it was decided to install traffic signals on Jammu roads to ensure smooth flow of traffic on roads. This policy was drafted in order to look after the future needs of the Jammu city because of rising traffic. But since the idea of putting traffic signals in Jammu was launched with big fanfare the celebrations did not last long. Within four years only the whole idea seems to have shattered as traffic signals at many locations in Jammu lie down in non functional conditions.

Initially these signals were believed to become savior to people of Jammu who go out to drive & ride on their vehicles every day. But after passage of time it is giving an impression to be a futile attempt as traffic chaos still prevails in the city as in some of the areas traffic signals are non-functional now. The project to install traffic signals was done to cover areas where traffic chaos was becoming a norm. But surprisingly the areas which needed these signals most urgently are in the same situation as were before their installation. The reason for it is that in some areas, especially old city, rather than solving the problem of traffic jams these signals aggravated the problem. This all appears quite astonishing as to why such a situation was not prejudged in city areas before commissioning this project. The traffic density is so high in the old city that we cannot even slow down the movement of vehicles for a while as it results in big traffic jams choking the whole city. Hence as this situation started arising every day in the old city because of these newly installed traffic signals it was decided to stop operating these signals in those areas. This all was done so soon that we cannot imagine why these signals were installed then at such points. The responsibility should have been fixed for the failure of such a thing at such a short period resulting in loss of taxpayers’ money. Another reason believed for stopping these signals in the old city was the hindrance to VIP movement in the old city. In effect these traffic signals are now acting as mere flashers at these sites. Now after stopping of these traffic signals at certain point’s pedestrians and motorists have started to suffer immensely. Most of the time warfare-like conditions prevail at such intersections where motorists from all directions try to cross each other resulting in traffic jams.

There is another side to this story of non functional traffic signals which are crumbling with every passing day. As we know that some of the locations in Jammu have been declared to be ‘traffic signal free zone’ yet there are some locations which have traffic signals but appear to be ‘traffic signal free zone’. Many areas of the city where traffic signals are installed are suddenly on several days found to be defunct during the day. Such situations show that the purpose for which these traffic lights have been installed by the authorities is not fulfilled till today. These areas are suffering purely because of technical faults which are due to power supply fluctuations, puncturing of cables and many other defects. This situation has failed to draw the attention of the authorities adding to the woes of the people in Jammu. The major reason for non attention to this prevailing problem is said to be blame game which happens between police & municipality. Immediate steps should always be taken to repair these non-functional traffic signals but instead inter departmental fights are the reason because of which people suffer & face chaos on roads. At times these signals remain non functional for many weeks in prominent areas. The situation worsens when these traffic signals lie defunct in name of various development works on the roads.

Interesting change nowadays is seen at some intersections as there is redeployment of traffic policemen at these points. However, it is pertinent to mention here that these deployed traffic personnel are now not able to handle heavy rush of vehicles during peak hours. The traffic goes out of order whenever there is a minor stoppage in passing traffic at busy intersections. It is during peak hours we get to analyze how much the traffic gets affected by these out-of-order traffic lights. Authorities should admit that there are faults, from day one, in overall implementation of these traffic signals but such admission will be of no use as loss is done. This slowly deteriorating condition of traffic lights has reminded some residents of Jammu about the era of the 70's. It was during this era when for the first time traffic lights were installed in Jammu but became complete failures. Though we are living in present society, we cannot forget the past, which is likely to repeat if no immediate steps are taken to keep these lights blinking.

Unrest Favours Hurriyat, Not Kashmir

The Kashmiris who had their shelters at Jammu and elsewhere in the country have moved out of the Valley because of the present unrest. The colonies like Bathindi, Sunjwan, Sidhra, Gujjar Nagar and other outskirt areas are flooded with Kashmiris these days unlike previous years when they used to come in November with the move of Secretariat. Kashmir is witnessing turmoil over the death of militant area commander Burhan Wani. This unrest has created new political and social alterations in the whole State of Jammu and Kashmir out of a well planned conspiracy under the guidance of militants' mentors from across the border and thereupon the support of Hurriyat. There had been killings of militant commanders earlier also but such large scale protests and pro Pak slogans were hardly seen.

The paid protesters and employed stone pelters in this unrest continue gaining momentum because of the government's policy of going soft towards the misguided youths and utmost restraints exercised by the security forces. This unrest has not only stalled all developmental works, affected the education of children, caused great loss to the business community and snatched the loaves of the daily wagers, but has also created miseries for the common masses. It raises questions as to whom Hurriyat represents as their voice is dying down because the common masses whom they project as their force negate their dictat. They in fact, have rejected the appeal of Hurriyat and militants to contribute to the so called 'Azadi movement'.

Stoning Internet

Welcome back to the 21st century. This welcome address is not incorrect for all those who missed the internet during past weeks in Jammu. For some people it was as if they were back in the Stone Age. Interestingly, this revisit to Stone Age was with the help of stone throwing which started in Kashmir. This all started after the killing of a militant in Srinagar. He was a militant of the contemporary era and utilized the services of the internet to spread his cause on social media. He in a way fought mind battles with the help of the internet. His death led to stone pelting all over Kashmir and these stones in a way hit the internet which resulted in ban on mobile internet services in J&K. Life came to a standstill in J&K mostly for all as people these days are very dependent on the internet. However, the worst sufferers were all those who have created their virtual image in the cyber world. They almost faced suffocation as Facebook and WhatsApp too stopped as result of mobile internet ban in J&K.

Incidentally, it was not a blanket-ban and had many features like; mobile internet services of all operators were banned in J&K ,calling facility of private mobile operators were banned in Kashmir but calling services of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited(BSNL) subscribers continued in Kashmir and broadband services of BSNL were operational all over J&K. So in this way it appears that half hearted effort was made to stop rumors and hatred to spread via social media. Moreover, now it appears that it just furthered the problems as the real goal to stop the things spreading on the internet failed. Many videos relating to Kashmir violence were updated on YouTube on regular periods. Even youth in Kashmir changed their profile pictures on all social media platforms with the picture of a newly killed militant. It was an act to show and lend their support to the ongoing violence in Kashmir. The people who propagate hatred are well prepared and have availed broadband services by now. With this all they appear to have understood the methods adopted by administration. Questions are now raised as to why only the services of private mobile operators were suspended and how the subscribers of government owned BSNL mobile users got a chance to evade this torturous ban. This rule of differentiating between government and private operators hasn’t gone down well with the people in J&K.

The Jammu region too suffered a lot but not just because of this ban on the internet but also because of the very contrasting attitude of the administration. Many voices were raised during this ban and asked why the internet is banned in the Jammu region? Almost a month back Jammu people had faced internet ban in Jammu as two Shiv temples were desecrated by miscreants. At that time internet services remained operational in the Kashmir region and had no impact on social unrest in Jammu. Now when social unrest happened in Kashmir then why internet ban was implemented in Jammu region. When this issue was raised by the civil society then administration responded that that have apprehension that some areas with Muslim population in Jammu region may also flare up with tension due to Kashmir issue. Sadly, this answer didn’t justify the ban on the whole Jammu region as with the help of telecom operators specific area ban could have been very easy to implement.

Kashmir violence caused loss to business in the state of J&K. It was a peak tourist season due to Amarnath Yatra and both regions always garner benefit out of the tremendous tourist numbers which arrive in the state of J&K. The student community also suffered equally as it was admission season all over the country and various exams are conducted during this time of year. The example was that an important exam of National Eligibility Test (NET) was conducted only in Jammu but was postponed in Kashmir region which impacted the academic career of Kashmir students. It is pertinent to mention here that it is also admission time in University of Jammu and hence sufferings were borne by students in Jammu region too. Overall there was strong resentment in students of J&K as even a simple form nowadays is to be filled and uploaded with the help of the internet. It has also come into notice that a number of private schools in Jammu have started getting admission enquiries from parents in Kashmir due to growing turbulent times. This shows that parents there are now assured that the studies of their children always suffer. These regular bandh habits of Kashmir shows that parents now want to shift their children to Jammu.

Though this short span of terrible days is over in J&K but yet we don’t know what lies ahead. Winds that blew across Kashmir this summer after the death of a militant showed that radicalization is somewhere raising its head once again. This strategy of implementing a ban on the internet could never lessen the anger in Kashmir youth. The Kashmir issue needs a political solution and not a technological solution. Moreover, if this all keeps on happening then maybe we will see the exit of internet services in J&K in near future. So will J&K ever become part of Digital India, a prestigious project of the present central government? An end to this Kashmir turmoil was assumed to happen under the new alliance in the state of J&K. This alliance was alleged to be wedlock of North Pole with South Pole but now these azaadi-slogans and gunshots are said to have again born out of this wedlock. Of all what happened and after facing stones for weeks yet we all desire that we shouldn’t be taken back into history, which we left 20 years back.