Within three days of the visit of the all-party delegation to Jammu and Srinagar, the Centre has offered an eight-point initiative for peace in Kashmir. This offer needs to be seen in the light of issues that come up, based on who the delegates met, who they did not meet, what all they dwelt on, what they did not consider and what they have stated in public.
There is no doubt about the need to identify the root of the problem and initiate steps to assuage feelings of frustration and anger of the section of the populace, including women and children, who took to the streets with stones.
On some of the delegates “calling on” separatist leaders, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Maulvi Umar Farooq, for the sake of proving that the separatists were reached out to, those of the delegation who did not believe in calling on the separatist duo and also felt that those who did should not have done so on their own, have a valid point. Because, when ruling party/coalition leaders make such a move, it amounts to sending a wrong message to pro-Pakistan separatists, deeply involved with Pakistani organisers/Inter-Services Intelligence operatives both in Pakistan and the Valley in inciting public to stoning and burning. While this duo make no bones about being anti-India, they do not care even about their own Kashmiri brethren, a lot of who have suffered, apart from financial loss, serious injuries from the stone pelting. Geelani has yet again confirmed his worth as an utter nuisance by reacting negatively to the very important aspect of re-opening schools.
Then comes the issue of the few Kashmiri Pandits left in the Valley and Sikhs, who have been receiving threats to convert to Islam. In whatever solution the Centre comes out with, where do these two communities stand? What about the return and rehabilitation of the large number of Pandits who had to flee in the late 1980s? The Delhi-based TV news networks took a couple of days to report a touching story of a lone Pandit who died and the entire neighbourhood of Kashmiri Muslims arranged his cremation. There are also reports of some Kashmiri Muslim families fleeing in pre-dawn hours from the Valley to Jammu. However many they may be, this is unprecedented and significant. These developments only reinforce the fact about separatists and their directors succeeding in winning over sections of Kashmiri Muslims in some districts.
Next comes the issue of chief minister Omar Abdullah’s alleged lack or total absence of governance. Based on detailed discussions of this writer with some senior Kashmiri journalists, what emerged was:
(a) When the first incident of a youth dying by being hit by tear gas shell on June 11, 2010 Abdullah was holidaying with full family in Ladakh. Shortly after being informed about the incident and its serious consequences, he is reported to have switched off his mobile, changed his radio frequency and packed off in his vehicle to Manali, from where after having been incommunicado for few days, rang for his helicopter and flew back via New Delhi. The helicopter is reported to have made nine sorties to ferry his family members.
(b) On June 20, 2010, when the worsening situation flared up again, he was holidaying in Gulmarg, from where he flew out in a helicopter only to have a hurried Cabinet meeting at the airport itself, summarily removed the senior superintendent of police and appointed a new one and flew back to holidaying location.
(c) Whatever gains there may have been of the all-party visit, were soon neutralised by Abdullah clamping curfew after violence erupting on liberal JKLF leader Shauqat Bakshi being beaten up by the police on September 24, 2010.
(d) The student community’s aspirations of allowing the formation of college unions, a Jantar Mantar kind of space to vent out political steam and panchayat elections, were not addressed/allowed.
The public opinion about Abdullah in the Valley is that he should be removed forthwith. Names of Messrs Saifuddin Soz and Abdul Rahim Rathar, the state’s finance minister are being suggested to replace him. In Jammu, the opinion is that there are interested parties who are preventing Abdullah from functioning and want him out. Also, in Jammu there was criticism of some delegates of the all party delegation meeting the separatists.
On the aspect of further reducing the Army’s strength in the Valley, in 2004 itself a substantial reduction had been done and when it had no active presence in cities/towns, why then was the bogey of amending or lifting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) raised? Whatever may be bandied about the Army’s presence in the Valley, its large-scale civic assistance programme, Sadbhavna is a great hit, including setting up of schools, orphanages, solar cells for electricity, sports events and most popular of all, annual tours to various parts of the country for school children. There are 40 of them on such a tour presently.
Speaking to this newspaper, BJP leader Arun Jaitley reiterated what he expressed in the Rajya Sabha on his return — that the government should act tough with separatists, win over the common man on to its side and strengthen the presence of the security forces, in order to firmly deal with the situation. He said that separatists thrive on confrontation by creating unrest and that “if they are pandered to after all the stone throwing, then indeed azadi may just be a stone’s throw away”. He added that in dealing with the separatists, the government must remain determined and resolute and felt that it was time for the government create a strong public opinion and reach out to the common man.
Mr Jaitley felt that in its bid to appease the separatists, the Centre should not weaken the security forces and that Cabinet Committee on Security to loud thinking on denotifying four districts to partially revoke or dilute the AFSPA was meaningless and specified that AFSPA covers not just the Army but all Central paramilitary forces and that security forces cannot deal with the situation without special powers.
Pointing out that Pakistan had changed its modus to instigating mob violence, by pushing women and children into it and with the Army anyway virtually out of urban areas and mainly in rural areas and on the Line of Control, Mr Jaitley felt that the demand for further reducing the Army’s presence was not justified. Quite similar to what two former J&K governors, Mr Jagmohan and Lt. Gen. S.K. Sinha (Retd), expressed in this newspaper earlier, he too described the present situation in the Valley as a logical culmination of various historical blunders, adding that the separate status given to J&K has led to separatism rather than integration and that the greatest failure of secularism in 63 years was in the Valley where Kashmiri Pandits were forced out of their homes and hearths.
In deciding the “package” for Kashmir , the Central government must be very clear about a very basic necessity like rules of engagement. No package is going to bring peace to the Valley and keep it integrated until anti-national elements/separatists/organisers of violence are not rounded up and placed in jails outside the state. With development, the message about integrity should be very clear. As far as Pakistani terrorists are present there, it should be borne in mind that the best terrorist is a dead one.
Anil Bhat, a retired Army officer, is a defence and security analyst based in New Delhi