Explained: Did Shehla Rashid make a 'U-turn' on Modi govt?

Known as a fierce critic of the Narendra Modi government, especially its decisions on Kashmir, political activist Shehla Rashid left everyone baffled when she did a volte-face on her stance and heaped praises on the government and its policies in a recent interview.

Who is Shehla Rashid and why did she rise to fame?

Rashid hit the headlines in 2016 when she led an agitation at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), demanding the release of student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid who were arrested under the sedition law on charges of participating and sloganeering against the hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, on university premises. (Khalid, booked in several cases is still in jail)

Rashid, who served as the vice-president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union (JNUSU) in 2015-16, had been vocal about the human rights situation in Kashmir. She became a staunch critic of the Modi government when the Centre scrapped Article 370 which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, and split the state into two Union territories.

She was one of the petitioners who challenged the abrogation of Article 370 in the Supreme Court in 2019, only to back out in July this year.

Rashid has also faced several defamation cases for her social media posts against the government and security forces.

In 2019, Rashid’s estranged father in an interview with a news channel accused her of making defamatory statements against the Indian Army and of being engaged in “anti-national” activities and terror funding.

The same year, she was booked in a sedition case for accusing the Indian Army of human rights violation in Jammu and Kashmir. She had said that the army was raiding houses, randomly picking up men and torturing people in Kashmir – charges that the Indian Army refuted.

Along with bureaucrat Shah Faesal, Rashid had founded the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement in March 2019 to oppose the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, but later left it.

What changed her ‘anti-Modi’ stance, what has she said?

Rashid, in an interview with ANI, published on Thursday (November 16), said that she supports the steps taken by the Narendra Modi government in Kashmir and has come to realise that the prime minister is a “selfless man” taking “radical decisions to transform India.”

Rashid said that while she had been critical of the government in the past, it has now become evident to her the prime minister and the home minister despite being criticised domestically and internationally were actually working in national interest.

Rashid told the interviewer that she arrived at the conclusion after witnessing changes like development, saving of human lives, increased freedom for people, and stress on sports among other things in the valley which was once marred by terrorism.

“What caused my change of heart is the realisation that the Hon’ble PM @narendramodi is a selfless man who is taking radical decisions to transform India. He has braved intense criticism but remained steadfast to his vision of inclusive development that leaves no one behind,” she posted on X, along with a video of her interview.

Stating that Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah brought a “bloodless” political solution in the region, Rashid said it would be wrong to compare Kashmir with Gaza as “Kashmir was just involved in these back-and-forth protests and sporadic incidents of insurgency and infiltrations.”

"Kashmir is not walled off; we don't need permits to work in India. There are schemes like PM Kisan Samman Nidhi and PM Mudra Yojana where more than 1/3rd of beneficiaries are Muslims. There's no systematic discrimination/exclusion of Muslims. Development is secular," she said in another post on X.

Responding to a post if her change in stance is a precursor to a BJP ticket, Rashid said it is less about politics and more about narratives (about Kashmir and the central government) that are disseminated.

“It's less about politics, more about the narratives that we further. Do I promote victimhood complex? Am I discouraging minorities from participating in national progress? India is a meritocracy & development is inclusive. We must equip ourselves with the right skills to compete,” she posted.

Is it the first time Rashid made a U-turn?

This is not the first time Rashid has spoken in favour of the Centre. She had been throwing in subtle hints on social media about her change in opinion about the policies of the Modi government.

On the occasion of Independence Day this year, Rashid praised the Centre and the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, lauding them for improving the human rights situation in Kashmir.

"However inconvenient it may be to admit this, the human rights record in Kashmir has improved under the @narendramodi government and @OfficeOfLGJandK administration. By a purely utilitarian calculus, the govt's clear stance has helped save lives overall. That's my angle (sic)," she posted.

She also reposted a video by Rayees Mattoo, the brother of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Javed Mattoo in which he speaks about waving the Tricolour ahead of Independence Day and praised the Centre for bringing development to the restive region.

In July, both she and Shah Faesal had dropped out as petitioners in the case challenging the abrogation of Article 370. The Supreme Court had allowed the deletion of their names after their request on the matter.