The Hindus have grouses. They feel discriminated against in all matters. They yearn for a rightful place in political decision-making, administration and equal development of their areas. The tragedy is that all central governments, right from that of Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi, have taken them for granted. They are used to advance the national interest and further the agenda of saving Kashmir for the country.
All this holds true. But still having a Hindu chief minister is bound to have an inevitable backlash from the majority community in the elections and consolidate the allegations that India wants to go in for the demographic change in the state. The issue of a Hindu CM could be a political game for the BJP and Congress ahead of the polls but its ramifications are bound to be more serious than mere political one-upmanship.
It’s a recognised fact that Jammu and Kashmir is a Muslim-majority state. The international attention on the state is much more than on any other state. Handing the post to a non-Muslim would give credence to the charges that a systematic plan is on to undermine the Muslim identity, which they have closely identified with Kashmiri identity, with the Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Sikhs being usually out of the purview of the definition of Kashmiri identity.