Jammu and Kashmir should focus on retaining talented youth: Mattoo

Jammu and Kashmir must become a place where talented youth can thrive, rather than a region from which ambition must permanently depart, Amitabh Mattoo, Dean of the School of International Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said on Sunday (August 30, 2026), calling for the restoration of Statehood.

Delivering the third V. N. Bahadur Memorial Lecture on “Jammu and Kashmir today: opportunities and challenges”, Mr. Mattoo said that the next decade must focus on retaining local talent. He called for building universities, supporting entrepreneurs, encouraging technology, and investing in horticulture, tourism, and creative industries, warning that prolonged hopelessness in a conflict-scarred society can become dangerous.

He stated that the challenge in J&K is no longer merely to integrate territory but to consolidate belonging. “Nowhere in India has the relationship between state and citizen been more intense, more complicated or more consequential than in Jammu and Kashmir and while the state has confronted terrorism, built institutions and conducted elections, there has come a turning point with the harder question being does very citizen of Jammu and Kashmir feel that he or she fully belongs?” he added.

Mr. Mattoo said seven years after the abrogation of Article 370, substantial gains must be acknowledged as the security environment is considerably better and ordinary life has acquired predictability. He added that the 2024 Assembly election was a watershed moment towards normalcy and trusting democracy, as it was fought over jobs, hospitals, schools, and roads rather than being interpreted as a referendum on sovereignty.

“True normalcy is therefore not merely the absence of violence. It is the presence of democratic life,” Mr. Mattoo said.