Guest post by JAHANGIR RANA

It has now become an established trend for the Indian political establishment to beat the drums of ‘victory’ after every electoral process in Kashmir. Almost invariably, prior to an election, this establishment maintains that the issue of resolution is not linked to elections in the disputed state. However, as soon as the electoral process is over, the same establishment is out to cash the participation in elections as an implicit approval for the status quo.

In an interview last week, senior Congress politician Mani Shanker Aiyer went as far as claiming that Azadi can be attained through Panchayat, pointing at the recent participation in Panchayat elections. These bombastic claims are now bordering on the absurd. To assume that the twenty-year resistance in Kashmir has been about devolution of power and development at grass roots, Aiyar and his colleagues within the establishment continue to live in denial. Continue reading Goodbye UN, Hello Sarpanch: Jahangir Rana →