I have followed Narendra Modi’s political career since the Ram Janmabhoomi rath yatra in 1990. Through good times and bad, what has always marked him out is a sense of the occasion: Mr Modi knows what will make news perhaps better than any other Indian politician I know. He is the master of the moment, be it a swearing ceremony to which he invited all SAARC leaders or Gandhi Jayanti where he set in motion his Swacha Bharat campaign. Which is why his decision to visit Siachen and then travel to flood hit Srinagar on Diwali day is so perfectly in tune with his objectives. Even as Gujarat chief minister, Mr Modi would often go to the border in Kutch on Republic Day to spend time with the jawans rather than mingle with fellow politicians. So it isn’t as if this is a one off moment in his cv.
Cynics may suggest this is about the right photo-op, that Mr Modi chose to travel to the valley at this time because the state is about to go to the polls. I even heard someone ask why he didn’t make a similar trip during the Eid holidays. Rubbish, I say. For a leader of the BJP, a party which has been trapped in the Hindutva mould for years, to reach out to the Kashmiri Muslims on the occasion of the biggest Hindu festival, is a powerful symbolic gesture, one whose importance should not be minimised. It suggests the gradual transition of Mr Modi as prime minister to becoming a true pan-Indian leader, one who won’t be trapped by his origins. It should be applauded: if it can result in greater prime ministerial supervision of the rehabilitation process in J and K, that would be even better. A long and difficult winter lies ahead of the Kashmiri people: Mr Modi must lead the way in providing the state with a healing touch.
