OVER the past three decades, the occasion of new year in Kashmir has evoked both hope and a deep sense of foreboding. The hope is for one more peaceful year. The foreboding is about a possible spike in violence or the Valley’s plunge into yet another mass unrest as was the case on the very first day of the new year in a Rajouri village, where six innocent villagers were killed in cold blood. But 2022 was different. It was a year when all predictions of a turn for worse in the situation proved wrong. There was no doubt some violence. Security forces killed 172 militants including 56 foreign militants in 93 encounters. Around 100 youth are said to have joined militancy and only eighteen of them have survived, Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said in his year-ender press conference. This, according to the DGP, is a 37 percent drop in the recruitment. Similarly, 14 policemen and 17 security forces personnel were killed, which is the lowest ever. There were also 29 civilian casualties – six of them Hindus, including three Kashmiri Pandits, and the rest were Muslims. The DGP said that the new year resolution of police for 2023 will be “Mission Zero Terror” and its prime focus will be to wipe out the “terror eco-system wherever it exists in J&K.”
2023 saw a boom in tourism with over one crore visitors making their way to the union territory. This included 3.65 lakh Amarnath yatris and over ten thousand foreigners. According to the tourist officials, this is the highest number of tourists Kashmir has received so far, beating by far even the pre-turmoil period record. This gave a leg up to Kashmir economy, otherwise laid low by the turmoil and the successive lockdowns of the previous two years.
It is also true that the last year saw zero hartal and as a result, zero disruption of the businesses and the academic session. The schools for the first time remained open for over 200 days. This alone is the biggest proof of the peaceful nature of the year.
2022 also witnessed completion of the delimitation process and revision of electoral rolls in J&K. This has effectively cleared decks for holding the Assembly polls in the UT. However, there are no signs that elections will be held anytime soon. But considering that the general elections are being held in 2024, there is hope that the Assembly polls in J&K will be held this year only. Here’s hoping that all our dire prognostications for the year ahead come untrue and the efforts are made towards ushering in genuine peace. Happy New Year to our esteemed readers.
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