 "Empty streets greet Modi on his first visit to J&K")
During the visit, barely six months before the state is scheduled to hold Assembly polls in early 2015, Modi inaugurated the Udhampur-Katra railway line that will make travel easy for pilgrims to the Vaishno Devi shrine, inaugurated the 240-Mw Uri-II hydroelectric project and addressed soldiers at a ‘sainik sammelan’. The rail line is part of the strategically important 326-km Udhampur-Katra-Quazigund-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL) project in the state. The construction cost of the 25.6-km Katra-Udhampur section is about Rs 1,132.75 crore.
Modi did not address public meetings either in the Valley or in Jammu. The PM did say at the railway flagging-off ceremony that people of the state had experienced difficult times. He said he hoped to win their hearts by ushering in development, and that his intention to develop the state did not stem from political compulsions.
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Previous prime ministerial visits to J&K over the past decade and a half, by Atal Behari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh, had their defining moments or were used to send a message to Pakistan and the people of the state.
The PM’s speech at the Katra railway station was bereft of any political message. The state is slated to go to polls after the Assembly completes its six-year term in January. The Bharatiya Janata Party put up its best performance in the state in the recent Lok Sabha elections, winning three of the six seats.
"Our priority is to win the hearts of every citizen of this state through development,” Modi said. The speech was in stark contrast to his election speech in Jammu on March 26, where he had issued a warning to Pakistan and all those who worked at Islamabad’s behest.
On Friday, the PM termed his visit to J&K as the start of his vikas yatra (development journey) for the entire country with the blessings of Vaishno Devi. Modi recalled how he had begun the final leg of his election campaign, his Bharat Vijay rallies, after offering puja at the shrine on March 26.
Hurriyat chairperson Umer Farooq, a moderate leader in the valley, said J&K was not merely an economic issue that could be dealt with steps like rail linkages. “Unless the issue is addressed in its historical perspective and in accordance with the political realities, there is no possibility of restoration of peace and ending uncertainty,” Farooq said. Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who heads the hardliners, said Delhi “cannot win” the hearts of the people of Kashmir through development.
Modi’s visit to J&K came in the wake of BJP MP and minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitendra Singh, asserting on the day the new government took office that it would take steps to convince people that Article 370 should be repealed.
On Modi completing a month in office, the BJP in a video released on social media repeated its promise to Pandits to resettle them in Kashmir. The BJP also plans to rename Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir for a more integrated approach to the issue.
On Thursday, Kashmir’s top cleric, Bashir-un-Din Ahmad, said Pandits would be welcomed if they chose to return but warned against any move to create separate settlements. Geelani alleged the Centre under Modi’s leadership had plans to alter the ethnic and religious demographics of the Valley.
Modi, in his address to jawans and officers of the army, said self reliance in defence manufacturing was essential for the security of the nation. He praised the defence forces and said "strong armed forces are necessary for an atmosphere of peace, amity, harmony and brotherhood". Modi said he accorded the highest priority to modernisation of the defence forces. He said the people of India trusted its armed forces and believed that no power on earth could defeat them. The PM promised his government would take steps in the interest of jawans and welfare of their families.