Assess any three

The rise of coalitions has the following benefits:

a) STRENGTHENING OF DEMOCRACY: The rise of coalition governments has strengthened our democracy. It helps a wider variety of opinions to be expressed in governance. It also creates a fairer, functional and representative system.

b) DEBATE AND CONSENSUS: Since people belonging to different political opinion camps are consulted for every policy, there is greater scope for eliminating mistakes and errors in the proposed plans. There is greater transparency, and different ideologies can be expressed through the working of the government.

c) CONTINUOUS GOVERNMENTS: In a coalition culture, various parties get to enjoy being in power. As a consequence, whenever a change of regime occurs, the party which enters the government has had prior experience in ruling the nation. This promotes a positive culture and prevents power from falling into inexperienced hands. Hence, there is a continuity in the functioning of the governments.

OR

Jammu and Kashmir is a volatile area, and is mired in conflict and unrest. There are several causes of conflict like:

a) Kashmir was integrated into India under complex circumstances. The tribal invasion by Pakistan in September 1947 had forced the Kashmiri King to pledge loyalty to India in exchange of military support. However, Nehru took a high road and promised for a referendum in the future, which never happened.

b) After the failed invasion in 1965, Pakistan decided to create unrest in the country through terrorism and radicalization of Islamic youth. The people of Kashmir live in terror all the time, as there are unrest, hartals and curfews owing to terrorist activities.

c) ISI and Al-Qaeda have established stronghold amongst Kashmiri youth. This has deteriorated the rates of economic development, and stifled local industry. Furthermore, technology is used to bring radical minds together and cause mass disruption of ordinary life.