Former Research and Analysis Wing chief AS Dulat recently told a media outlet: “Tourism is not normalcy in Kashmir.” I asked Dulat what his idea of normalcy in Kashmir was. “The happiness of Kashmiris,” he replied, adding, “If you don’t treat them with dignity, if you continue to push them around, violence will occur in Kashmir, now and then.” From Dulat’s perspective, it would seem that unless the “minds and hearts” of Kashmiris are won over, normalcy can’t be Kashmir’s fate—and nor will they be emotionally integrated with India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is mistaken in believing that economic integration alone can emotionally integrate Kashmiris with India. In March 2024, Modi hailed the birth of the “new Jammu and Kashmir… for which we all were waiting for many decades.” The wait for the new J&K, for normalcy, is over because it is now “touching new heights of development… after the removal of Article 370.”