Argument for the sake of argument

I read Hindu's editorial opining on the election results in Jammu & Kashmir. I have been reading the newspaper for quite some time now and after reading the editorial I felt that the author of the piece had some pre-formed ideas and he would have given them whatever be the result of the elections. E.g. the way in which the article tries to talk the reader into thinking that hardliners do not exist (or in negligible number at worst) among the voters, seems childish. Quoting from the article

Hindutva chauvinism hasn’t paid off despite the seemingly dramatic improvement in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s fortunes, which have taken its tally from just one seat in 2002 to 11 now. Claims that the BJP has ridden a communal tide in Jammu are empirically unsustainable. First, it must be recalled that the ultra-right Jammu State Morcha broke away from the BJP on the eve of the 2002 Assembly election.

About PDP, the article says

The party found that its hopes of emerging as the principal political voice of the Kashmir region have been thwarted, even though it secured the backing of the rank-and-file of the Jamaat-e-Islami. Winning 21 seats compared with 16 in 2002 is less impressive than it might seem. After all, in the 2004 Lok Sabha election the PDP was ahead in 25 Assembly segments.

So what is the point, you ask? Well, the point is refusal even by a newspaper (which is supposed to even hold its own opinion stand the test) to look at election results objectively and accepting the fact that a section of the population in J&K is polarized in terms of their attitude towards relation between the state and the religion (and I am not talking about any particular religion).

Just when I was discussing this point with a friend, I read the editorial in Business Standard (the day after) and there were signs of respite. The author was cognizant of the fact that the population in the state is not homogenous when it comes to its expectations. Simply put

It might be a mistake to read into these developments a rejection of sentiment in the Kashmir valley for “azaadi”; but it should be obvious that they reflect greater acceptance of current reality and the need to deal with it on its own terms.

An editorial is meant to show as many sides to the story as possible rather than interpreting a development through one's colored glasses.