Advocate Sunil Sethi’s recent analysis in Greater Kashmir, “NC and Congress: History of political misadventures,” rightly demands a painful, honest reckoning with Jammu and Kashmir’s past. He correctly asserts that when short-term power overrides democratic integrity, institutional damage endures for generations. The historical trajectory he charts, from the forced reversals of the 1975 Accord to the catastrophic manipulation of the 1987 elections, consists of undeniable blunders for which the National Conference and Congress must answer.

Yet, an honest reckoning cannot be selective. If history demands true political accountability rather than convenient explanations, the lens of scrutiny must turn with equal force towards the BJP. The present establishment routinely treats its own record as an exception to the rule. However, for over two decades, BJP has embedded itself within the region’s political matrix, engaging in the exact brand of opportunistic accommodations and realpolitik it decries in its predecessors.

While new highways, tunnels, and road networks are visible achievements, they serve as a glossy facade. Beneath this manufactured normalcy, Jammu and Kashmir remains caught in a volatile, evolving conflict marked by shifting security threats, unprecedented........

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