The outburst of a senior minister’s wife against the ruling Peoples Democratic Party leadership on the ongoing unrest in Kashmir Valley looks things are not all well within the party. The reaction of a former top business executive who had set her shop in Valley and was inaugurated by none else than the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has her own reasons. She has sought the government to ‘step down’ in the face of uncontrollable situation prevailing for the last over fifteen-days. Stating that the government’s reaction “is wrong, unacceptable and needs rectification”, she said in her Facebook post, “the powers that be need to either step up and stop the wrongdoings. Or they need to step down. I guess they just need to step down… what matters most is to keep the faith for our future generations. So that they can know the face of truth. Their truth. Our truth. They can do this. And they should.” The reactions may have political implications or not it definitely reflects the frustration and helplessness of the people in general. Given the situation people who have even the smallest idea of investing in Kashmir Valley now surely would think twice. Normally, unrest is good for the media business. Newspapers thrive on bad news, with circulation and pages often going up to cope with the demand and the sudden spurt in news. But not so in Srinagar. The ongoing curfew in the wake of militant commander Burhan Wani’s killing and its violent aftermath have hit the newspaper industry very hard. Most of the publications have drastically reduced the number of pages and are still battling to get their editions distributed in a city largely under curfew since 9th July. Outstation newspapers have virtually stopped coming to Srinagar. Violence can never be the answer, but we also have to ensure that terror is defeated. Yet, we have to understand that Kashmir has erupted like never before. People are out in the streets and the maturity of the ruling establishment will be tested in the days to come.
