Winning of 'Hearts and Minds' in terrorism-affected areas is an essential step in restoring the trust of the population. Discuss the measures adopted by the Government in this respect as part of the conflict resolution in Jammu and Kashmir.

Q9. Winning of ‘Hearts and Minds’ in terrorism-affected areas is an essential step in restoring the trust of the population. Discuss the measures adopted by the Government in this respect as part of the conflict resolution in Jammu and Kashmir. (10m) – Internal Security

Introduction

Winning of ‘Hearts and Minds’ refers to a people-oriented process for establishing human, social and political linkages in Kashmir for the common good, contributing to building the concept of nationhood.

Concerns	WHAM measures
Historical deprivation	Abrogation of Article 370 made the erstwhile state better Integrate with the Indian Union.
Continuing militancy	Project Sadhbhavana: Indian army helping the youth in shaping their dream.
Implementation of laws such as PSA and AFSPA and associated charges of Human rights abuse	Defence Minister R. Singh’s statement 2023: ‘’AFSPA will go once permanent peace returns of J&K’’
Lack of Economic Development	PM’s development package for J&K: creating employment and better infrastructure in transportation, health etc.
Political Alienation	Gradually moving towards elections with J&K after Delimitation.

Other WHAM measures taken are:-

- Project Himayat: capacity building and employment of youth.
- Project Umeed: for the empowerment of J&K women.

Infrastructure creation: Creating institutes like AIIMS, IIT, and IIM construction of the Jawahar tunnel and Chenab bridge to reduce time lost in travelling.

Creation of new rail links: Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link Project. (USBRL).

Khelo India centres: 94 such centers in J&K which stand at around 10% of all India centers.

The WHAM strategy seems to be a success as evident in:-

Seerat Naaz, a five-year-old requests to the PM for reforms in her school.

Faizan Gul of Global Youth Foundation, Baramulla wants to participate in the next polls though his parents have never voted.

Kashmiri footballer Majid Khan left LeT after mother’s plea and Indian army pressed no charges against him.

Conclusion:

Thus, A comprehensive approach to fight insurgency with a greater focus on WHAM is crucial for building lasting peace and stability in the region.

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