100 degrees in J&K

THE FIRST thing to be said about Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah’s meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other members of the Union Cabinet’s Committee on Security is that it should have come much earlier. For more than five weeks the Valley has been in the grip of a vicious cycle of violence, with stone-pelting mobs and firings by security forces inevitably leading to deaths of civilians, including teenagers.
Even more virulent protests, almost always in utter defiance of curfew, then follow. This is too long a period for which to delay crucial consultations between the Centre and the sensitive state. All through it one witnessed only inaction in Srinagar and silence in New Delhi.
Secondly, Mr Abdullah, who has the Union government’s full support even while being reminded of his responsibility to control the ground situation, is entirely right in saying that Kashmir is essentially a political problem that should be tackled politically. He has also rightly added that no political initiative can be taken until the mindless violence ends and there is “a semblance of normalcy”. That is the obvious first step. Alas, that is where the rub seems to lie. For despite his impassioned appeal to the civil society of Kashmir to cooperate with the government in restoring peace and calm from his press conference in Delhi, the situation in the Valley has worsened rather than show any sign of abating.
It is noteworthy that until four or five days ago the protesters in Kashmir towns, including Srinagar, used to confine their violence to stone throwing and thrashing security personnel falling into their hands. Since then their activity has taken an alarming turn. They, including rather large number of women, have taken to setting ablaze police stations, railway stations, police vehicles, even ambulances, indeed, every symbol of state authority. This reprehensible pattern persists after the Delhi discussions. Kashmir is no longer on the boil; it is burning.
Mr Abdullah’s third point is that the motley mobs wreaking havoc on Kashmir streets are “leaderless”. He is right inasmuch as there is no discernable line of command in the current agitation. But it is also true that Syed Ali Shah Geelani, leader of the hardline faction of Hurriyat, and some of his cohorts (one of them in hiding) regularly issue “protest calendars”. Not only students and private citizens but also state government employees obey these, the latter neglecting their duties with impunity. Yet there is danger that the situation might spin out of even their hands.
Under the circumstances, political leaders of the state who do not share the nefarious agenda of the separatists must establish contact with the locality elders and people in general. But what is the actual position? Over the weekend, rather belatedly, Mr Abdullah formed three ministerial groups for this purpose and these teams have since visited three of the major trouble spots in the Valley. But, in this respect, shouldn’t the chief minister have taken the lead himself? Leaders of other political parties should also be doing the same, but that is far from being the case.
One can sympathise with Mr Abdullah about his difficulties vis-à-vis the main Opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), led by the strident Mehbooba Mufti whose relationship with him is one of implacable hatred. The country witnessed that, despite a personal appeal by the Prime Minister, she refused to attend an all-party meeting called by the chief minister to evolve a consensus on dealing with the grim challenge facing the state. But what about senior leaders of the ruling party, the National Conference, founded by the chief minister’s grandfather, the incomparable Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, or, for that matter, the Congress Party, the NC’s partner in the ruling coalition? Sadly, the state of affairs could not have been more regrettable than it is.
There is a virtual chasm between Mr Abdullah and his senior party colleagues who are not ministers. Their complaint is that he ignores them. Obviously, the party’s and indeed the country’s collective interest is of no concern to them. As for the J&K Congress, it is a house divided against itself. Rival factions are busy fighting each other, and have no time to confront the enemies of Kashmir’s peace and stability. Ms Mufti was not the only state leader to absent herself from the chief minister’s all-party conference. Another conspicuous absentee was Tara Chand, deputy chief minister belonging to the Congress! Has anyone in the party’s national leadership called him to account?
It is also curious that all the blame for civilian deaths is being heaped on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and at one remove, on the Central government. The constitutional position is that the CRPF has no authority to act anywhere on its own. It does so only in aid of civil authority and thus under the orders of the state government. Moreover, why doesn’t the Kashmir government deploy more Kashmiri police that includes 63,000-strong armed constabulary, instead of calling the Border Security Force at the drop of a Karakuli cap? Of course, the forces are stretched because of the Amarnath yatra which explains the Centre’s prompt willingness to send more CRPF battalions to J&K.
What is required is that the reinforcements should consist of those who are better trained and better led.
Another strange facet of the situation is that the Accountability Committee of the state, which served a useful purpose because people with grievances could approach it for redress, no longer exists. Not because it has been abolished but simply because, under the law, its members have to be chosen jointly by the chief minister and the leader of the Opposition, Ms Mufti. The twain cannot agree even on the time of the day.
The present challenge in Kashmir is graver than that at the time of the Holy Relic Crisis in December 1963-January 1964, when the whole Valley seemed to hang by a thread. Jawaharlal Nehru, though ailing, immediately sent his trusted troubleshooter, Lal Bahadur Shastri, to Srinagar with instructions to stay there until the crisis was resolved. How radically the times have changed since then!