In our world where politics is increasingly driven by alt-facts and truth has taken a backseat, it should not be seen either as a curse or a slur: the central government didn’t even care to take into consideration the opinion of people of Jammu and Kashmir before going ahead with the plan for abrogation of the special status. After all, the party had made the promise of abrogating Article 370 in its poll manifesto, and it had got a sweeping, majoritarian mandate for running the affairs of the country. But the Centre went a step ahead and downgraded the erstwhile state into two union territories. Article 370, done and dusted, six months later, the Valley still remains on the edge. Although people draw sadistic pleasure out of the treatment that the former three chief ministers and their coterie have been meted out in the past more than six months, there is also anger at the manner in which people at large have been treated. There is also anguish over the fact that if the people, who championed the cause of New Delhi in Kashmir, can be dealt with such humiliation, what the fate of ordinary mortals is going to be can only be imagined. But if there was one issue that had generated a lot of hope in the hopeless valley, it was that the political and economic landscape was going to change. The clouds of sadness were going to drift away and a new dawn was about to break, so said the ruling party. In the aftermath of the August 5 decision, with all politicians locked up amid a back-breaking communication lockdown, the central government ‘promised the moon’. This has lit a bright spark. And the hope was not confined to Jammu and Kashmir alone. In a survey by the India Today Group, a majority of people supported the central government’s move. Upon being asked if they thought the NDA government's move to abolish Article 370 would lead to a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue, 58 percent respondents felt the decision will provide a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue. Economic interventions were supposed to turn the tables in J&K. But far from turning the tables, they haven’t even moved the table. The crusade against corruption has got restricted to a select few. Perhaps a look at the condition of roads in Kashmir alone will suffice to prove how much things have changed, more than six months after J&K was downgraded into two UTs! Six months may not be enough time to judge the centre but no excuses are going to work on the first anniversary of August 5 move. Time is running out!