The people of Jammu, by and large, see a ray of hope in revocation of Article 370 and Article 35A. They see it as a measure to end discrimination with the region besides opening up of vistas of employment opportunities and boost to productivity in wake of industrialisation.
Amandeep Singh Boparai, Social Activist: The abrogation of Article 370 was a strong and historic decision for the residents of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir State. The people throughout the country wholeheartedly welcomed this move. Jammu came in open support of this historic decision.
The West Pak Refugees, Valmiki Samaj and many others who were residing in Jammu for the past many decades got their due rights which were denied to them by previous dispensations in J&K and the Centre.
After rejoicing this historic move, people of Jammu region thought that this will bring an end to the discrimination which they have faced from the last about 70 years due to rules of different regimes headed by Kashmiri leaders but as time passed Jammu is still the victim of Kashmiri hegemony. Discrimination with the region is still continuing.
The Central Government has failed to meet the aspirations and resolve grievances of people of the Jammu region. Local political leadership too failed drastically in projecting the demands of Jammu region.
The people are feeling helpless and cheated. Discrimination is still there which is evident from recent recruitment list of Fire & Emergency Services Department where out of 700 posts, only 60 were filled from Jammu province and the rest all from Kashmir province. There is no benefit which can be seen on ground after abrogation of Article 370.
Ajay Shan, B.Tech Student, GCET Jammu: The erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir has suffered a lot in different sectors due to existence of Article 370. Now with the removal of Article 370 and 35A, the big industrialists would be able to buy land in J&K to establish industries which would create jobs for the youth, especially the engineering graduates who otherwise had to go outside Union Territory in search of jobs.
Now the Indian Constitution is directly being implemented in J&K and the slogan of “Do Nishaan, Do Pradhaan and Do Sanvidhaan” has ceased to exist.
Article 370 was a big hurdle to implement different central laws and schemes in J&K without the consent of the erstwhile State Legislature.
It was also the root cause behind the growing terrorism across the Kashmir valley which can be evident from the fact that there is a sharp decrease in terror activities. Many local terrorists have surrendered during live encounters in last one year after the abrogation of Article 370. The nefarious designs and attempts of some vested interests to change the demographic profile of the UT have also decreased to a larger extent and peace is prevailing across the UT for the past one year.
Many politicians also used Article 370 as a tool to create discrimination among the people in three regions of erstwhile State which further led to corruption and nepotism. The people were suffering too much but now they are feeling secured and believe that everything will be balanced irrespective of anything.
Shilpa Yadav, Teacher: From the last one and a half years it is all dead in politics. After the abrogation of Article 370, a new ray of hope was there that it would begin a new era of development but nothing like this happened. The ground situation is still the same with zero development, zero job opportunities and zero avenues for youth. We are still facing the discrimination at the hands of corrupt politicians.