In his recent piece, “Dynasties at the crossroads: The dynamic and changing politics of Kashmir,” Advocate Sunil Sethi adopts an analytical tone to unpack what he characterizes as the structural persistence of political inheritance in the Valley. Writing as the Chief Spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (J&K), Sethi commendably steers clear of abrasive campaign rhetoric. He acknowledges that political capital, community relationships, and organizational roots cannot simply be wished away, and he concedes that dynastic successors must still undergo the crucible of universal franchise.Yet beneath this measured sociological framing lies a deeply flawed premise—one that has formed the core of the ruling party’s ideological messaging: that Kashmir’s political evolution can be reduced to a battle against an entrenched political oligarchy, and that the constitutional dismemberment of August 2019 was the noble catalyst that finally unlocked democratic parity for the common citizen.

To view Kashmir’s political history solely through the lens of family entitlement is not merely an analytical misstep; it is a deliberate simplification of a complex, layered polity. Kashmir’s politics has never been a passive audience to dynastic theatre, nor will it yield to an ideological campaign that seeks to reduce its historical struggles, rights, and distinct identity to the mere arithmetic of surnames.

Myth of Kashmiri exceptionalismThe most striking blind spot in Sethi’s critique is its selective geography. By isolating Jammu & Kashmir’s political landscape, the piece implies that inherited political capital is an aberration unique to the Pir Panjal and the Kashmir Valley.In reality, dynastic linkages remain a ubiquitous reality across the entire Indian democratic fabric. From the Scindias, Pawars, Yadavs, Badals, Paswans, and Gandhis to influential families across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, and Maharashtra, Indian parliamentary democracy has long coexisted with hereditary influence. More crucially, the party Sethi represents has neither demonstrated an institutional immunity to this phenomenon nor........

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