On August 5 last year, Jammu and Kashmir went through a mammoth change whose implications have not been fully felt yet by the people. The abrogation of the Article 370 and bifurcation of the erstwhile state into two union territories ushered J&K, especially Kashmir, into a state of perpetual uncertainty, even as the political vacuum continues to swell with every passing day. While the restrictions on the movement of public have been completely removed from all areas of the valley and restoration of low speed, restricted mobile internet has brought even if only a semblance of normalcy for people living under six months of communication lockdown, the situation on the ground is not so encouraging and there is no reason to celebrate or rejoice what New Delhi has achieved in J&K. While the central government may be patting itself on the back for the fact that not even one civilian was killed in the aftermath of the August 5 move (though this claim has been rebutted by ground reports), the move, effected without taking the people of J&K on board, has dealt a severe blow to the idea of India in Kashmir. Those who were the faces of this idea in J&K have been deemed as threat to public order, reducing them merely to a bunch of pampered prisoners. After former union minister and National Conference president Dr Farooq Abdullah, two former chief ministers - Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti - have been booked under the draconian Public Safety Act which has also been slapped on former minister Naeem Akhtar and National Conference MP Akbar Lone’s son. This does not project a good image of what is happening in Jammu and Kashmir. For a moment last month, it was felt as if the central government was attempting a new political experiment in Kashmir as reports in various media suggested that the former Peoples Democratic Party leader Altaf Bukhari was becoming the “old wine in new bottle” slur in Kashmir’s political lexicon. However, such an experiment in bound to fail because the idea of democracy has lost currency in Kashmir after the arrest of Dr Farooq, Omar and Mehbooba, or maybe before that even. They may have committed their own share of omissions and commissions during their political careers, for which they will have to be held accountable, but their absence from political scene will keep unsettled the question of legality and credibility of ‘democracy’ that is being thrust on Jammu and Kashmir.