After nearly two months of shutdown and curfew, the political leaders based in Jammu region have claimed that the administration has lifted curbs imposed on them when the BJP-led central government scrapped provisions of the Article 370 and announced bifurcation of the state into two union territories on August 5. Among those ‘set free’ are National Conference’s former lawmakers Sajad Kitchloo and Devendra Rana, arguably the tallest leaders of the regional party in Jammu, senior Congress leaders Raman Bhalla and others. Rana told the media that the police informed him that he was free to take part in any political activity. However, the administration has been quick to rebut the claims of these leaders, saying that they were never detained in the first place and the NC leader was recently seen participating in Navratra functions in Jammu. Regardless of who is speaking truth and who is peddling lies, that these Jammu-based leaders “are free to participate in any political activity” seems to be the first attempt by the state administration to provide an opening for democracy to take roots in the state. Over the past three years since the killing of Hizb commander Burhan Wani and especially since August 5 when the union home minister Amit Shah made the startling announcement on Article 370 in the parliament, the state has been thrown into a perpetual uncertainty. With the detention of all the faces of mainstream in J&K including heads of the regional parties like Dr Farooq Abdullah of National Conference who has been booked under the draconian Public Safety Act and Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, the state has been thrown into a political black hole. According to some reports, the central government as well as the state administration led by the Governor Satya Pal Malik earlier made attempts to broker a ‘peace deal’ with the leaders of regional parties but their moves have not made any headway so far. In this backdrop, it is a significant development that the Jammu-based leaders of the state’s mainstream have been set free. It can be no coincidence that the move to allow democratic activities in Jammu has come at a time when Jammu and Kashmir is gearing up for Block Development Council elections and clearly signals a positive intent on behalf of the central government as well as the state administration to open up spaces for democratic activities in the state after two months of shutdown and three years of simmering violence.