In its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court in reply to the challenge to the scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution, the Union government claimed that since August 5, 2019, when the historic decision was taken, there has been a dramatic improvement in the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The affidavit said, “In 2018, there were 228 terrorist-initiated incidents, 143 infiltrations, 1,767 stone-pelting incidents, and 91 security force personnel were killed in action against terrorists. However, by 2022, the terrorist-initiated incidents had reduced by 45 % to 125, net infiltration by 90% to 14, stone-pelting incidents by 97% to 50 and the loss of personnel was 31.”

Regrettably, all of these gains have been neatly undone by the four terrorists who gunned down 26 tourists from close quarters at the verdant Baisaran expanse in Pahalgam tehsil on April 22. It is not exactly that the situation is back to square one. But the inescapable reality is that in one fell stroke, the terror quartet not only nipped the 2025 tourist season in the bud but also sent a grim reminder that the abrogation of Article 370 has not made much difference to the cold ground reality, which is the continued alienation of the average Kashmiri Muslim from the dispensation in Delhi.

The massive trust deficit was evident when I spoke to several persons from different walks of life during a recent visit to the state. It is true that Kashmiris,........

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