Srinagar, June 12 -- By Muhammad Tahir

LAST week, a rumour surfaced that the Modi government was going to again furcate Jammu and Kashmir to pave way for a separate state for the Jammu region - a longstanding demand of the Dogra heartland concentrated around the Jammu-Sambha-Kathua belt. Speculations were also rife that New Delhi would carve an exclusive settler-enclave for the Kashmiri Pandits (as envisaged by group Panun Kashmir) and further disintegrate the Kashmir Valley by merging parts of south Kashmir districts with the Jammu division. A series of events excited these speculations, including the news of around 200 companies of paramilitary forces being deployed to Kashmir. Many people even (apprehensively) expected that Modi will ...