Spokesperson BJP J&K
Email manzoorbhat.zee@gmail.com
The massive public mobilisation witnessed in Srinagar during the Bharatiya Janata Party’s recent protest is more than just a political demonstration. It is a powerful indication of a changing Kashmir a Kashmir where people are increasingly willing to come out, speak up and participate in the democratic process.
For years, a political narrative was deliberately created that saffron could never find acceptance in Kashmir. The BJP was portrayed as “untouchable” in the Valley. But the recent public response has challenged that narrative.
Today, the saffron is no longer untouchable.
The biggest change, however, is visible among the youth.
Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the focus in Jammu & Kashmir has increasingly shifted towards education, technology, entrepreneurship, infrastructure and opportunities for young people. The young generation that was once pushed towards stones, shutdowns and violence is increasingly aspiring for classrooms, computers, businesses, careers and a peaceful future.
The transformation is not merely political; it is a transformation of aspirations.
There was a time when Kashmir’s youth were deliberately trapped in a narrative of conflict — where a stone was presented as a weapon of political expression and violence was normalised. Today, the aspirations of a new generation are different. They want education, employment, entrepreneurship and dignity.
Official government figures have also highlighted the dramatic decline in stone-pelting and terror-related violence in recent years. The Union Government stated that there was no stone-pelting incident recorded in Kashmir in 2023 and highlighted the shift from violence towards education, technology and development.
This is where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership assumes particular significance.
The most important achievement is not simply the construction of roads, buildings or institutions. The real achievement is changing the mindset of a generation.
A young Kashmiri today wants to hold a laptop rather than a stone. He wants to build a business rather than participate in a shutdown. He wants to compete for opportunities rather than be used as a pawn in somebody else’s political narrative.
And that is precisely why the recent BJP protest carries a deeper political meaning.
When ordinary people come out onto the streets and participate in a democratic protest, it demonstrates that Kashmiris are not prepared to remain silent spectators. They want accountability from their elected government, answers on unemployment, relief from rising costs and fulfilment of promises.
The National Conference and other political parties may continue trying to revive old political narratives, but the ground reality is changing.
Kashmir is moving from the politics of fear to the politics of aspiration.
The politics of stones is giving way to the politics of education.
The politics of shutdowns is giving way to the politics of development.
The politics of separatist narratives is being challenged by the aspirations of a confident young generation.
And the growing public acceptance of the BJP in Kashmir should be understood in this larger context.
The BJP may still be described by its political opponents as an outsider in the Valley, but the people who came out and participated in the recent protest have demonstrated that political barriers are no longer as rigid as they once were.
The saffron is no longer untouchable. It is becoming an increasingly visible part of Kashmir’s democratic landscape.
This is not the Kashmir that the old political narratives wanted to preserve.
This is a Kashmir that wants peace, progress, opportunity and dignity.
And at the centre of this changing story is a generation that has discovered that its future does not have to be written with stones or guns it can be written with education, enterprise, technology and hard work.
That is the real transformation of New Kashmir.
And that is why the political narrative in Kashmir is changing one young mind, one opportunity and one democratic voice at a time.