In Kashmir, the initial bravado seems to be giving way to nervousness

The biggest error of judgement by decision-makers in Delhi may be the removal of the mainstream political parties of the state from the public sphere by imprisoning their leaders

After the initial rhetoric of “finally integrating” Jammu & Kashmir into India, the Modi government appears uncertain about how the ground situation will pan out. Whenever restrictions are relaxed, public protests erupt, concertina wires and mobile bunkers are redeployed in the agitation prone areas.

As of now protests seem largely limited to Srinagar but no one can guarantee that they will not spread to other parts of the Kashmir Valley. It seems that those who assumed that the ordinary Kashmiri would get on with life as usual after their flag, Constitution and statehood were peremptorily taken away, miscalculated.

In retrospect,