DNA Edit – Kashmir calling: PM Modi is reaching out to the people of the troubled state

First the stick. Now the carrot. After dealing with stone pelters and anti-nationals with a firm hand, and post the elimination of a number of terrorists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears to be in the mood to smoke the peace pipe in the troubled Kashmir valley, indeed the entire state. On Sunday, he is expected to launch the valley’s first BPO in the remote Bandipora district, the first such enterprise in rural Jammu and Kashmir. Once operational, it will provide jobs to local professionals, serving as a template to attract more investment in the state. On a whirlwind visit, Modi has plans to rain sops on Kashmir in an effort to win back the affections of people, who are more alienated today than they have been in the last couple of decades. He will lay the foundation stone of two AIIMS hospitals, a regional campus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, a first-ever university in Ladakh, foundation stones of 54 new model degree colleges and 11 professional colleges, dedicate a University Institute of Engineering and Technology and a hydro-electric project, among other infrastructural projects like roads and bridges that will be gifted to the state. It would be fair to say, however, that most of these projects are long overdue and the people of the state certainly deserve what is coming their way. For far too long, the Kashmir Valley has been held hostage to bad politics and cross-border depredations. The worst sufferer has been the common man, caught in the crossfire between various stakeholders. While it would be futile to suggest that these steps would put things on track, it is atleast a step forward in the right direction. There is no substitute for peaceful overtures.