Srinagar, May 18 -- In today's Kashmir, politics is increasingly driven not by governance but by emotional spectacle. One week the Valley debates liquor. The next week Urdu. Then statehood. Then Darbar Move. Then another speech clip goes viral and dominates the public mood for three days. Politics has slowly transformed into a continuous cycle of outrage, reaction and perception management. Governance appears somewhere in the background while symbolism occupies center stage.

The liquor controversy exposed this reality with startling clarity. Television debates exploded overnight. Social media transformed into a battlefield of morality. Religious sentiment was invoked. Protest slogans emerged. "CM Residence Chalo" became a political perfo...