Up until August 5th 2019, India had only one Kashmir policy, which was ‘maintaining the status quo’. Successive governments in the last seven decades did everything they could, simply to maintain the status quo. Jammu and Kashmir became an oligarchy with two families controlling the fortunes of ordinary people. Revocation of Article 370 has unshackled J&K and it is now time for the people to actually enjoy the fruits of freedom and democracy.