From the vantage point of Mumbai, a city defined by an unapologetic, forward-looking hustle watching the daily political theatre of Jammu and Kashmir is a study in profound grief. Distance often grants clarity, but in the case of Kashmir, it only sharpens the tragedy. Day after day, month after month, one observes a quiet, clinical Centre in New Delhi methodically squeezing out every remaining inch of political space from the Union Territory’s elected representatives. The central apparatus operates with a transparent disregard for the local government, laying bare an unyielding political estrangement that treats regional democracy not as a sacred trust, but as a bureaucratic inconvenience to be contained.Yet, as disheartening as New Delhi’s stern indifference is, it pales in comparison to the true tragedy unfolding within the Valley itself. The far greater heartbreak is the spectacle provided by Kashmir’s own mainstream political class. Stripped of real power, reduced to municipal-level authority under a tough bureaucratic architecture, one would expect these leaders to display a solemn unity, a dignified maturity, or at least a basic sense of collective responsibility.

Instead, what the public receives daily on social media is a shameful, juvenile brawl. Valley-based politicians, driven by fragile egos and petty rivalries, trade insults over pittance. They quarrel publicly like squabbling heirs fighting over the ruins of a house that has already burnt down. In doing so, they erode whatever shred of dignity and self-respect remained in the Kashmiri political discourse, transforming themselves into a collective laughing stock, a troupe of egoistic actors trapped in a comical, self-inflicted humiliation, totally detached from the agony of the people they claim to represent.The people of Jammu and Kashmir did not vote in the recent elections out of a sudden love for the Union Territory framework. They voted to register their presence, to claim a voice, and to erect a political firewall against total administrative disenfranchisement. They gave a........

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