Modi’s Siachen and Srinagar visits made sense
It would be wrong to perceive Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Siachen and Srinagar on Diwali as mere symbolism. It is true that the trip had a good dose of symbolic significance attached: Mr Modi could have spent his first Diwali as Prime Minister in Delhi or his home State of Gujarat or his parliamentary constituency, Varanasi. That he chose to be with the Indian soldiers at the world's highest ‘battleground' and with the sufferers of the massive floods that hit Kashmir weeks ago indicated his desire to connect with the people. It is also a fact that the people of Jammu & Kashmir are slated to vote for their Assembly, and, therefore, Mr Modi’s opponents linked the trip to politics. But those who allege politics must remember that the Thursday visit was not the first that Mr Modi made to Jammu & Kashmir; it was the fourth since he took over as Prime Minister five months ago. This in itself is indicative of the emphasis that the Prime Minister has placed on the State and the well-being of its people. If the Bharatiya Janata Party has been using these visits to strengthen its position in the State, there is nothing wrong in that. Mr Modi did not play politics during the trip. He did not take swipes at the Omar Abdullah-led Government or his other political opponents. If anybody played politics, it is the Congress, which boycotted the Prime Minister's visit. While delegations from the National Conference and the Jammu & Kashmir People's Democratic Party met Mr Modi to apprise him of the grim situation in the aftermath of the calamity and seek enhanced Central help, the Congress simply sulked, and its spokespersons directed barbs at the Prime Minister over the visit. One Congressman dismissed the trip as being motivated by the coming State election. If even the recent electoral debacles have not reformed the Congress, then nothing can be done to cure the party of its churlish mindset. Surprisingly, even a spokesperson of the Nationalist Congress Party downplayed Mr Modi's visit, saying that it is normal of a Prime Minister to visit Siachen and meet the jawans. If it is so normal, how is it that the last time an Indian Prime Minister went to Siachen was nearly a decade agoIJ
Mr Modi's visit was, thus, more than symbolic. By being among the soldiers at the height, Mr Modi got a first-hand understanding of the difficulties the soldiers face and the requirements they have to perform their duties in a more effective manner. Armed with the experience, the Prime Minister can now cut through the defence bureaucracy's red tape for the good of the Armed Forces. Similarly, by interacting with the flood-affected victims in Srinagar, Mr Modi has been able to better understand their priorities and the lacunae in the relief and rehabilitation measures taken so far. The package he announced showed that the Prime Minister is keener on specifics — money for key hospitals, schools and repair of devastated homes — than on a grand announcement of one-time monetary help. Since the commitment he made, amounting to around Rs1,000 crore, is clearly not enough, one can expect more in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, it is for the State regime to pull up its socks and not be missing in action, as it sadly was when the catastrophe struck Jammu & Kashmir.