Erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir (in India-held Kashmir) has witnessed yet another political upheaval, when former bureaucrat Girish Chandra Murmu was overnight replaced with ace politician Manoj Sinha as the Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory. If media reports are to be believed, Murmu was summoned to New Delhi, reportedly due to his candid remarks on restoration of high speed internet and elections in IHK. He was the first Lieutenant Governor of the newly transformed Union Territory in the IHK. Now, a 61-year-old technocrat and former union minister, Manoj Sinha, has been brought in as second Lieutenant Governor. Manoj Sinha was sworn in as the new lieutenant governor, the first political leader to take charge of the union territory. Soon after his swearing ceremony, Manoj Sinha hopped on the media and parroted his masters’ narrative that August 5 is a very important day in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. After years of isolation, Jammu and Kashmir joined the national mainstream. “I have been told that many works which could not be completed in years have been completed in the past one year,” he stated. The tough task for the new lieutenant governor would be to assure people in Jammu and Kashmir that he will work for the welfare of subjects and will not dance on the tunes of those in New Delhi, because it has been seen that in the past few years, representative of New Delhi, be that governor or lieutenant governor, nobody has worked for the welfare of the people. It won’t be perhaps wrong to say that the lingering problem in Jammu and Kashmir is solidifying the vote bank politics of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA). When anything goes wrong or disastrous in Jammu and Kashmir due to erroneous policies of the centre, the ruling clique blames Pakistan. It should be remembered that last year when special status of J&K in the IHK was unilaterally snatched and it was degraded into two Union Territories, India’s former Home Minister P. Chindambaram, who is also a Harvard law graduate, had repeatedly stated that 7.5 million people in Kashmir are living in a ‘virtual prison’ If we judge the functioning of the administration in bifurcated J&K, the changing of governors too frequently in a short span of time reflects that all is not well in the IHK. The NDA government and its home ministry, which in fact governs the UT appear to have been unable to find a right direction, which could pacify the angry, agitated, and hostile people and political leadership of the J&K. Among the pressing issues Sinha will have to tackle is factionalism within the bureaucracy, with some senior IAS officers recently found to be publicly indulging in verbal spats. Sinha is believed to be rational and has a knack to develop rapport with people, but the million dollar question remains: will he work as per aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, or will he continue to use the situation as fodder for politics? Another issue will be to revisit the state intelligence department, which has of late failed to anticipate events. In the last three days, a panchayat member and a sarpanch have been attacked in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district in two separate incidents. It is not that the successive governments at centre did not understand this situation but it appears the state of affairs in J&K hardly affects their politics rather lingering imbroglio in Kashmir hones their political acumen and ambitions. They do not have any concrete plans to resolve the lingering conflict in the region and to the worst of anything, political parties, instead of finding concrete solutions, are milking from the situation to satiate their political ends. In addition to it, scores of democratic leaders are either in jail or under house arrest, not allowed to move out of the house. Houses of some leaders have been notified as sub-jails while some leaders like Saifuddin Soz, a former Congress minister are kept inside the house with heavy security. Senior People Democratic Party (PDP) leader and former chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s confinement under the PSA has been extended by three months. Uncounted numbers of youth are languishing in jails for the last more than one year. When after a few months some restrictions were lifted, the lockdown induced by COVID-19 was imposed, thus alleviating restrictions became meaningless. It should be remembered that last year when special status of J&K in the IHK was unilaterally snatched and it was degraded into two Union Territories, India’s former Home Minister P. Chindambaram, who is also a Harvard law graduate, had repeatedly stated that 7.5 million people in Kashmir are living in a ‘virtual prison’. He did not find any support, but considering the situation in J&K since the last few years, one comes to the conclusion that Chindambaram had rightly visualized the situation in Kashmir. The people’s human rights have been curtailed. They are not allowed to move out to protest. First few months after the nullifying of Article 370 and 35-A, curfew was imposed all over the state and hundreds of suspected political activists were put behind bars. The people’s freedom of speech is still barred and the facility of 4G-internet continues to be affected. They are not able to take online classes amid the corona pandemic and are also unable to apply online for jobs and admissions outside J&K. No one speaks for this form of human rights violations, thus resulting in people getting more and more alienated. Unemployment has touched its peak in J&K and the economy is also in worse condition. Over 4.56 lakh people have lost their jobs since August 5, 2019; the economy has suffered a loss of more than Rs 40,000 crore; 6,000 acres of fertile land has been earmarked for industrial purposes – these are some of the recorded impacts of the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A. According to available figures of unemployed youth, till December 2019, at least 2.5 lakh youth, including 1.5 lakh postgraduates and PhD scholars had registered themselves with the government as jobless. The number could be higher as not everybody does the registration with the government employment exchange. As of now, despite controversy over domicile law, recruitment for over 8,500 posts in government has begun for which outsiders can also apply. A preliminary loss assessment report of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries conducted recently shows that the Valley’s economy has suffered a loss of a whopping Rs 40,000 crore, mainly due to near-continuous lockdowns since August 2019. Shops and industrial units continue to be closed and the Kashmir Trade Alliance demand for compensation is hardly getting any hearing. In spite of COVID-19, the traders demand opening of their business is not met here, although businesses have been allowed to run all over the country. As per the report, the plight of the apple industry is symbolic to the economic downturn in the region. Kashmir produces 75% of apples in India with an estimated annual turnover of Rs 8,000 crore. It contributed 8% to the erstwhile state’s GDP. The lockdown after the abrogation of Article 370, unseasonal heavy snowfall in November and then another lockdown in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic have ravaged this industry. According to rough estimates, 7 lakh farmers (35 lakh people, if we include their family members) are directly involved with the apple industry. This is 50% of Kashmir’s total population of 69 lakh. Even members of the media community and journalists were put under tremendous pressure. Many journalists were called to police stations to explain their sources of news and other related matters. Journalists working in Kashmir have long been under pressure from the authorities, but since August 5, the authorities have stepped up their efforts to muzzle the press. A new media policy was imposed in June 2020, further curbing media freedom. The journalists have dubbed this media policy as an attempt in curtailing the freedom of speech and expression The closure of educational institutions due to shutdown, following abrogation of Article 370 since 5th August 2019, has gravely impacted education and added to the trauma of children and parents. Many students and parents are developing mental ailments facing the uncertain future of their children. The tourism industry, the main source of income of people of J&K, is in doldrums. The second tourist season has gone without generating any revenue because hardly any tourists were seen anywhere, the Amar Nath Yatra was also cancelled for this year causing huge losses to the hotel industry. In August 2019, the government shunted the tourists and pilgrims to leave the region citing increased threat of terrorism. But in fact, it was the abrogation of Article 370, apprehending disturbances, the tourists were told to leave and Amarnath yatra was also suspended in between. Till July last year, 456,525 tourists visited Kashmir, while only 43,059 tourists arrived during the rest of the year. In the last decade, the number of tourists visiting the valley each year unfailingly crossed the 10-lakh mark, except in 2010, 2015 and 2018 when a little over 7, 9 and 8.5 lakh tourist arrivals were recorded respectively. The above mentioned challenges would continue to haunt the new Lt Governor as the problems are varied, many of them need immediate attention of the administration and others can wait. The writer is a senior journalist and Indo-Pak peace activist