By now, it’s abundantly clear that what’s happening in Kashmir Valley is nothing short of an undeclared war. The fighters, sans uniform, are an army by themselves. This was demonstrated again Sunday when an all-party delegation landed there from capital Delhi with the twin objective of assuaging the feelings of the people groaning under prolonged curfew, violence and retaliatory hits by security forces, and finding ways to restore peace.
Over 200 people were reported to have been injured in fresh eruption of clashes in Shopian and some other places. That fresh provocation was the killing of a youth in police action in south Kashmir’s Qazigund. More deaths cannot be ruled out, given the unruly situation existing in the Valley.
It is easy to counsel patience or blame the security forces or the local administrative brass for what’s happening, including the blinding of people by way of pellets being fired by soldiers in the past. It’s quite another to tackle a belligerent breed of misguided and motivated youths whose fighting spirits are well on display on TV screens day after day from the very start.
Admittedly, only a section of the people does not want peace, at the same time the security forces cannot be expected to stand by and watch stone-pelting, firing and bombing with casual ease.
As had happened in the 2010 scenario — the last time there was large-scale eruption of violence — little purpose would be served by the visit of the all-party delegation to Kashmir from distant Delhi. They are there, and this is time to wish them the best, though. At the same time, it must be borne in mind that the sense of understanding and accommodation that the Indian establishment is putting on display, the more the chances of success are.
A leader of a militant outfit has already made it very clear a day ago, through a media interview from across the Line of Control, that his outfit — the Hizbul Mujahideen — would train and flood the Valley with suicide bombers to block any political resolution to the Kashmir dispute. His threat may have the backing of both the political and military establishment in Pakistan, though Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is engaged in a game of hide-and-seek.
The proxy war has been on for a long time now, and it needs to be tackled with grit and determination. This is where India, most likely, will falter.
Those who are promoting violence from within the Valley have no interest to demand peace. If battle is the way forward, what is expected of the Centre is to face the situation, head-on and seek to settle things for once-for-all. Those who sent in suicide bombers and trained youths to take up arms cannot turn back and cite human rights violations.
Paradoxically, many seem to forget that along with civilians, the armed forces personnel are also humans and they too have the right to live. The more the weak kneed response on the part of the Centre, as is demonstrated in the kind of peace initiatives that it has rolled out so late, the scenario is bound to worsen further.
Rootless political props such as A Raja or similar spineless people, hand-picked by the BJP led Union government, have no real understanding or vision of a road map to tackle the ground situation in the Valley. It is no more safe to assume or take for granted that the Indian government, with its intelligence apparatus and other sources of information, is better equipped to decide how to take things forward in the Valley. Kashmir has been a botched affair from 1947 onwards.
Damodardass Modi may blame former PM Jawaharlal Nehru for many shortcomings but he himself, as the incumbent Prime Minister, has not been able to display any remarkable qualities in matters of solving long-standing problems. A speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort by itself will not solve the Kashmir problem.
What should be a matter of great concern to India as a nation and all its citizens is the profuse bleeding of resources that Kashmir is causing to it. The government, of the past or even now, is unprepared to present a social and economic Balance of Payment (BoP) account in this matter.
Understandably, military strategy apart, the rivers emanating from Kashmir and flowing through the northern and most populous part of India, hold the key. Water is life. If India loses Kashmir, we will soon see a parched and desertified north India. The Kashmir issue is to save the Hindi heartland.
Most of India’s senior military commanders as also the politically powerful gentry almost all are from the north of India. The taxpayers and the common citizens of this country have no option but to continue suffering this Kashmir torment.
