A former student leader at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Shehla Rashid appreciated the efforts of PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah to bring a ‘stable governance and economy’. In an interview with news agency ANI, Rashid said Modi was a ‘selfless man’.
Rashid who initially made headlines leading protests against the circumstantial death of Dalit student Rohith Vemula, has in the past been critical of the ruling party at the Center.
“Right now, we see a really well-intentioned administration. The Prime Minister – he doesn’t care about criticism. He has taken so many radical decisions, even at the cost of his popularity. He doesn’t care about criticism. He is a selfless man who works for the national interest. You look at the Home Minister – he has ensured peace in Kashmir, regardless of what anyone criticised at that time,” she said.
“Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his visit to Srinagar told Kashmiris that it is their country and they can live and go wherever they want. These were his exact words. And we should take a moment and acknowledge that we are living through a historically very important phase. We should be lucky that we are in this country and not anywhere else in the world right now. Because there is peace, there is development and we’ve just overtaken our former colonizers, the United Kingdom as the fifth largest economy,” she said further.
‘Zero civilian casualties in Kashmir’
In an interview with news agency ANI, Rashid, once a staunch Modi critic, praised the prime minister and his decisions, particularly the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rashid was quoted by the ANI, “There have been court-martial of some army personnel who were involved in the fake encounter is it not what we were asking all along. There will be people who will say why you are saying this? They have not actually visited Kashmir recently. They have not seen the kind of change, the visible change. That’s why I decided to speak out,” she said.
On August 5, 2019, the Centre issued an order amending The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954, and superseding it with The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019. The Indian government made all provisions of the Constitution applicable to Jammu and Kashmir and amended Article 367 to directly apply the Constitution of India to the region.
On August 6, the President issued a declaration under Article 370(3), rendering all of its clauses, except the one stating that all articles of the Constitution shall apply to J&K, inoperative.
Shehla was amongst the 23 petitioners who had moved the Supreme Court against the revocation of Article 370 in 2022, alongside Kashmiri bureaucrat and 2010 IAS topper Shah Faesal. However, the duo later withdrew their names from the petition and came out in support of the Center’s decision.
Internet services in full bloom in Kashmir, says Rashid
“There are congressional committee reports in the US that will still say restore internet in Kashmir whereas the internet is in full bloom, 5G is working. But a lot of these narratives whether they are motivated they know. It is a feature of our times. It is polarisation. People do not want to acknowledge their opponents for doing good work and that is not good for democracy,” she told ANI.
Rashid, who seems to be in complete awe of the prime minister and his decisions, during the interview, claimed there have been zero civilian casualties since 2019, the year when Article 370 was revoked in Kashmir.
“The present government treats Kashmir not as a security problem, but as a political problem. Because of Article 370, there was a sense that we are separated. There was a sense that we are special, but it wasn’t really serving any purpose; but people held on to it. People like me used to say that this is a sign of federalism, and federalism is good within the ambit of the Indian Constitution. But the abrogation has served to end the duality… the identity crisis.. the hesitation to say ‘Are you an Indian or are you a Kashmiri?’ has ended. I credit the current establishment for not treating Kashmir as a law and order or security problem because it was not. I think they managed to correctly diagnose the problem,” she said.
On being asked about her support for stone pelters in The Valley, Rashid terms it as “sporadic incidents of infiltrations”.
“I am much more grateful for today’s situation because it has become clear that Kashmir is not Gaza. Kashmir was involved in back and forth protests and sporadic incidents of insurgencies and infiltrations. Somebody needed to break the ice and I would like to credit the current government, especially the prime minister and home minister. They have ensured a political solution to it,” she tells ANI.
‘Muslims are lucky to live in Modi’s India’
On being asked about the discrimination and atrocities the Muslim community faces, Rashid said that political academics classify them as the second largest majority instead of the minority.
She said that Muslims should consider themselves lucky to be living in India. “Yes, they hurt you as a Muslim, but as a Muslim do we keep focusing or harping on that narrative on the negatives? I don’t think so because we’ve lost years doing that. This is our country as much as it is anyone else’s country,” Rashid said.
On growing communalism, Rashid said that it existed way before the inception of the Bharatiya Janata Party. “Is there communalism in this country, yes. Seventy years back we were partitioned on a religious basis. So we cannot say that communalism began when the BJP came in 2014. We have been partitioned on religious lines and it was a bloody partition by all accounts. There has been communalism and there will continue to be communalism. At the same time, the problem with the critical orientation is that we only focus on the negatives. We forget to celebrate the positives,” she said.
X users react to Rashid’s interview
The internet was taken aback after ANI posted Shehla Rashid’s interview and her sudden U-turn with her take on the Modi government. Below are some posts condemning her stance.
Who is Shehla Rashid
Shehla Rashid was a former JNU PhD student. She was considered a human rights activist who rose to prominence for leading student protests with close allies Umer Khalid and Kanhaiya Kumar against the Modi government’s policies, especially on the Citizenship Amendment Act. She was arrested by the Delhi Police in 2016 on charges of sedition. She was a strong voice against the atrocities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rashid was born in the old city of Srinagar in the Habba Kadal locality. She studied computer engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Srinagar following which she completed M.A in sociology from JNU.
