Professor Balveer Arora, former rector of JNU and presently chairman of the Centre for Multilevel Federalism, says the “othering” of Kashmir has been a long process, similar to what happened in Punjab. “There are a lot of similarities between Kashmir and Punjab and the people are naturally empathetic with each other. Both have strong religious affiliations but it goes beyond religion. For the Sikhs, 1984 is playing out in this form for the Kashmiris, they are caught in something similar, the price that a religious minority has to pay for wanting more independence from the Centre. Also, both feel they have been let down—after all, the Anandpur Sahib Resolution of 1973 also demanded greater autonomy for the state, and more powers to be devolved from the Centre to the states. Kashmir is an abstraction for most Indians, many Indians don’t even know that other hilly states enjoy similar restrictions on outsiders rights as in Kashmir. Unfortunately, communalism has crept into perceptions.”