The recent turmoil in Indian-held Kashmir has taken the Indian politicians, armed forces and the establishment by surprise. Most of them are not exactly clear what the real issue is; therefore, they don’t know how to tackle it. Constant rhetoric and blame-game have, as usual, taken over sensibilities. Another vital factor that encompasses the myopic outlook is the perpetual cycle of violence, which has aggravated the situation. While more than 50 people have been killed, several thousand injured and a large population under curfew for the last 17 days, the confusion and uncertainty has mounted.
Should one consider the following developments, one can understand how immature and rash Indian response has been to the Kashmir issue. Former held J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah believes that New Delhi had broken promises on issues that formed the state’s accession to India, saying it had been “dishonest with the people of Jammu and Kashmir”. He claims: “J&K acceded to India on the basis of certain conditions which is that the Union of India will be responsible for currency, communication, defence and foreign affairs everything else will be the domain of the state. On the basis of those conditions J&K would remain a part of India. J&K to this date remains a part of India, how much of those conditions have you actually fulfilled. You have gradually whittled that away to the point that autonomy is a fig leaf to what it was in 1947.”
Mr Abdullah is a politician, whose strength lies in twisting facts and obscuring truth. The Kashmiris had never decided to accede to India while the so-called Kashmiri instrument of accession is altogether missing.
Yet in another interview, Abdullah claims that he told the Indian home minister to open dialogue with all stakeholders of the state and also said that there should be a stop to excessive use of force, relaxation in curfew and also mobile internet should be restored. This is myopia at its best. Does a short term relaxation in cell phone services or in curfew will end the Kashmiris’ quest for freedom? Will all the home-grown militancy die down once the use of force is ended?
Even the Kashmiri trade bodies have grown tired of Indian occupation, perpetual violence and lies. The Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) recently snubbed the Indian home minister and decided not to meet him. The trade body officials told the media that they decided to stay away because in the past a number of such meetings had yielded no results and killings of Kashmiris have continued.
Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, president of the KCCI, talked about the security forces’ human rights violations. He said trade bodies have demanded that security officials should be made accountable for the killing of civilians and pellet guns be banned.
On the other hand, Ashraf Mir, president of the Federation of Commerce and Industry in Kashmir, stated: “Zero steps have been taken by the government in the past, especially in 2010 when more than 100 young people were killed. Even if we had met the home minister what could we have said apart from only one thing: please stop the killings.”
The Kashmiri traders are absolutely right; the Indian home minister’s visit to the held Kashmir is a routine visit and will not solve the issue of militancy aka the domestic freedom struggle that just refuses to die down.
Meanwhile, Indian Union minister Jitendra Singh has claimed the world now agrees with India that the time has come to unite in the fight against Pakistan over the Kashmir issue. “They are directly or indirectly claiming credit for (aiding and abetting) the ongoing insurgency and unrest. So, there is no need for any evidence now,” he told reporters. Singh added, “The United Nations too has said that it (Kashmir) is India’s internal matter. Now the world has come to acknowledge India’s point of view and it is time for us to be united in the fight (against Pakistan).”
The statement shows the Indian establishment and politicians have been caught with their pants down following the violence. Did the Pakistan forces kill Wani? Was he sent by Pakistan to the held Kashmir? When did the UN say the IHK is an internal Indian affair? How many countries have blamed Pakistan for the present violence in the Valley?
The Chief Minister of held Jammu and Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti, has claimed that the recent bout of violence in Kashmir was “orchestrated by vested interests with stakes in Kashmir unrest”. She believes that “whenever economic activity starts picking up in Kashmir with encouraging increase in tourist arrivals as had happened this year, several quarters with vested interests in Kashmir turmoil seem to have ganged up to orchestrate another spate of deadly violence and push the people towards further economic deprivation.”
Mufti lives in a world that is far from reality. Her approach in inherently limited and she has a skewed view of the situation.
Thus, understating or underestimating the situation, amateurish analysis, short-term measures, buying into old propaganda scam and lack of powers of comprehension and deduction will get India more violence in the valley. The situation in held Kashmir requires an honest appraisal of the roots of the problem and quick solution, not self-created Indian fallacies bristling with deceit.