Deceptive Calm

Prof A.N. Sadhu
It is thirty years now that militancy is witnessed in J&K, more particularly in Kashmir valley. The oft repeated official statements that militancy is at its last leg are only partially true and partially moral boosting statements for common men who do not understand the nitty – gitty of politics. Their occasionally may be witnessed a semblance of normalcy indicative of reduced militancy, but the fact of the matter is that militancy is there and it can strike at will in spite of large scale fortification of the sensitive areas within the UT J&K. The killing of a KP Sarpanch is a well-planned move to signal that terrorism is very much in existence and TRF is aiming at rebuilding the terror infrastructure of 1990’s. Killing of a large no of militants in the last few weeks may be indicative of effective antiterrorist drive by our security forces but we can also not ignore the fact that lot more precious lives of our security forces were also lost during this period. Because of COVID-19, the world attention is diverted towards handling the situations on health front and no adequate attention is given to terrorist and disruptive activities across the globe and more particularly in the south Asian countries. The nexus between China and Pakistan is emerging as a serious threat to peace in this part of the world
It is unfortunate that no central regime has been able to address the problems of J&K right from 1947. This debate ultimately boils down to Congress v/s BJP because Congress or Congress led arrangement ruled the country till 2014 except for the period 1999 – 2014 when BJP was in power and then BJP again since 2014. One cannot ignore the half-hearted approach of Congress in evolving a system whereby J&K would have gradually become a State like other States within the Union of India. It raises many a questions about the intentions of congress leadership and their supporters in so far as the dealing with J&K is concerned. Everything did not shape the way, it should have and even the main stream political parties allowed, weather by choice or by default, the things to drift making it more difficult so subsequently put the things right. As a result, in the last thirty years the State (now UT) has witnessed unprecedented violence and disorder.
BJP assumed power on a position of strength in 2014 and added greater strength to their return to power 5 years later in 2019. As promised to the nation that Article 370, giving special status to J&K will be abrogated once it assumes power with absolute majority, it lived to its commitment, when on August 5-6, 2019 it repealed Article 370 and 35A and brought the State at par with other States of the Union, though with a geo political restructure. This, the party did, even after strong statements of Kashmir mainstream political party leaders and their supporters, within and outside the parliament against this move. By and large, it was welcomed by the majority of the people in the country. Annulling this provision did correct several distortions it had created in the State and rendered much needed justice to several sections of population that stood discriminated politically and economically. But it certainly hurt the feelings of people who knowingly or unknowingly had perceived the provision as a measure of protection of their identity and cultural heritage which they thought was distinct, in several ways.That no strong outburst was recorded is because it was thwarted by fortification and large scale arrest of political leaders across the board. The pent-up feelings are there and semblance of peace may only be a lull before the storm, the symptoms of which are visible in the form of continuing militancy and violence.
The political maturity demands that after taking such a bold decision it should have been followed by public involvement in highlighting the benefits of such a decision. Besides greater time and effort should have been invested in (i) peace building initiatives, (ii) confidence building measures (iii) developmental activities. It would have eased the pent up anger and involved the effected people in improving the quality of life and broadening their outlook to comprehend the emerging global scenario where peace and development are at a premium. This did not happen. The govt. seemed to be in extreme haste to overhaul the existing structure, overnight. Be it labour laws, pay-scales delimitation or domicile or Panchayat elections, all at once and with loud publicity, it was pursued in undue haste without giving time to prepare the ground for it.
For an instance let us take the Domicile issue, people are still confused and fail to understand the objective the Government wants to achieve. At the face of it, Government wants to offer the Govt. jobs to outsiders as well, besides also considering them, for educational avenues. OK. The eligibility conditions for these candidates have been defined, now it is for such candidates to seek a document on production of relevant papers to make themselves eligible for a job and educational purpose. What is the logic of asking the permanent residents of UT to obtain a domicile document. It is hurting and humiliating to equate an original resident of 5000 years heritage to stand in line and seek a fresh document to the effect that he is resident of UT J&K. It will be wastage of official time, stationary and effort on the one hand and public inconvenience on the other. PRC should be equivalent to DC for all practical purposes. It will be in the interest of administration and people, both. Those holding PRC should not be required to obtain DC either for a job or for an educational purpose.
The prevalent law and order situation needs to be taken very seriously. JK can never be assessed in isolation because of its strategic location. The pandemic is causing stresses and strains which may trigger territorial conflicts capable of aggravating local law and order problems.Administration must initiate some activities of public interface towards building peace and confidence as soon as the COVID-19 position eases. The fragile calm may prove elusive and result into a turbulence of bigger magnitude. The JK UT is under constant threat from across the border and warrants strict vigil. Many things can wait and maybe perused gradually but ground realities need to be monitored strictly.
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