(This is the eighth in a series of insightful reports from the ground, titled The Race From India to Bharat. The author travels all across India as 960 million voters get ready to celebrate the largest festival of democracy in the world: the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. What do ordinary Indians think and feel about the past, present, and future of India? Are they convinced that the old fault lines are healing?)
(Read part one here, part two here, part three here, part four here, part five here, part six here, and part seven here.)
It’s a shade over zero degrees in downtown Srinagar where the author interacts informally with Suman and a few others who are students at Amar Singh College. What impresses the author is her personality. She radiates confidence. Suman Lone does take time to choose her words but is remarkably articulate for her age. Within a few minutes of our conversation, the author starts admiring her. After another 15 minutes or so, the author also has a tinge of worry for her.
Why so? First, let's deal with the admiration bit. Suman has no hesitation in stating what she would demand from Prime Minister Narendra Modi (who is visiting Srinagar on 7 March) if she gets an opportunity to meet him. “My demands would be straightforward. Restoration of statehood, elections, a rethink about the demarcation of constituencies, employment specifically in the government sector, deployment of local high officials in administration and police, freedom of press and freedom to protest to government employees and unions”.