Topics Covered:
- India and its neighbourhood- relations.
European MPs’ Kashmir visit
What to study?
For Prelims: About European Parliament, composition and functioning.
For Mains: The recent visit- concerns and implications.
Context: A delegation of Members of European Parliament (MEPs), consisting of more than 20 MPs, recently visited Kashmir to understand the ground situation after India revoked special status given to the state under Article 370.
Observations made:
- Decision to revoke provisions of Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu & Kashmir was an internal issue. And it should not be used against India.
- The recent terror attack on civilians indicate that Terrorism is not finished yet in Kashmir.
- Terrorism should not be seen as only India’s problem but a global problem. For most of these terrorists trace their origin to Pakistan.
- After interacting with various groups, they felt that the situation is not as bad as they thought.
- J&K should be promoted as a dynamic place for building tourism infrastructure, development projects and educational institutes.
Concerns and issues raised wrt to their visit:
- When the govt can allow MPs from a foreign country to visit Srinagar to understand the situation, why not allow MPs from opposition parties from India.
- Why were MEPs not allowed to talk to detained J&K leaders, certain groups and sections.
- These MPs were invited by a businessperson who runs a non-profit organisation in India. How could the govt honour invitations by such a person?
- The choice of this delegation has also raised eyebrows. A majority of those travelling to Srinagar belong to anti-immigration and far-right parties in the U.K., France, Italy, Poland and Germany.
- If the objective of govt’s move was to bring back normalcy, then would terror activities recur?
- Why have the communication networks not been restored completely?
- It is also being said that the government has committed grave sacrilege by introducing a third party to assess the ground situation in Kashmir and that also through an unknown think tank.
Way ahead:
It’s high time for the Indian government to understand the implications of this visit and allow for more detailed visits by Indian MPs, journalists and other sections of the society. Meanwhile, communication networks should be restored.
Sources: the Hindu.
