Col J P Singh
The J&K dispute has been there between India and Pakistan since partition of India. Four conventional wars failed to resolve it. Having failed in all attempts, Pakistan unleashed a proxy war. Militancy, ethnic cleansing of Pandits, suicide attacks and terrorism started after 1989 and continues unabated. Stone warfare is another addition to the series of patterns followed by the separatists to claim Azadi by creating mayhem in the valley. Stone, as a weapon of civil war, is a new discovery of Kashmiri separatists. It is almost a cult now. Masked stone pelters use it so effectively in the streets of Kashmir valley that they succeed in chasing away security forces. Sometimes grenades are hurled alongwith stones causing instant death and retaliation. In 2010, this phenomenon led to an unprecedented 110 deaths and thousands injured. This tragic incident occurred in the history of Kashmir when misguided and paid youths were unleashed to launch relentless stone warfare on security forces, security forces in return used tear gas shells, rubber bullets, lethal pellets and live bullets indiscriminately causing deaths. Thereafter whenever there is confrontation between the unlawful assembly and law enforcing agencies, stone pelting and effective retaliation has become the norm which leaves many dead and many more wounded as seen in the fall out of clashes between the two after gunning down of local HM terrorist Burhan Wani on 8 July 2016. Minimum force and unlethal methods don’t work when mobs attack.
The stone warfare cult reminds us of a pathetic scene in a popular old movie, ‘Laila-Majnu’. Stoning of Rishi Kapoor and Ranjeeta Singh’s appeal, “na pathar se maro mere diwane ko” was heart rendering. So are the current stone pelting scenes circulating in the social media. This is happening because separatists are unequivocally on a warpath with the nation state. On the drop of hat, they incite youths to attack security forces which invites retaliation followed by hartals and processions. We will have to live with it as we have been living with terror since 1989. Yet it calls for out of the box Sadhbhavna initiative such as screening ‘Laila-Majnu’ jointly by Security Forces and Deptt of Information and Publicity J&K for the public in troubled areas to project the pain of stone pelting and hatred. Showing a trailer of stone pelting scene of Laila-Majnu in all theatres in India will also have a dramatic effect on public psyche. Besides other actions, such initiatives are bound to have salutary effect on the mis-guided youths and public psyche, hence worth giving a try.
Security analysts who have studied the phenomenon of stone warfare closely are of the view that stone pelter are influenced by the radical religious indoctrination.
Seeing the present fragile situation in Kashmir, one can easily infer that ISI and ISIS have entered the Valley in a big way and are indoctrinating youths to resort to violence and seek Azadi from India and be part of new dreamland. They are using gullible separatist leaders to pursue their agenda. Carrying ISIS and Pakistan flags in processions say so. Liberal foreign funding is also cause of instability in the valley. Some however link it to the socio-economic demographics in the Valley. Calling it paid-pelting, they say it is happening because of poverty and unemployment. Both are virtually right because both factors are working in the Valley.
Jehad is being misrepresented by radicals. As a layman, Jehad in Islam, to me, is a struggle to engage peacefully in resisting oppression (Zulam). It rejects violence and prohibits disruption of social and political system causing losses of life and property (Fasad). Islam should be all about engagements and avoiding confrontation, conflict, hate and aggression because that brings deaths and destruction. Religious and political leaders must make every effort to warn Kashmiri youths of dangers of extremism. Atrocities of ISI, ISIS and Boko Haram are well known. ISIS has destroyed Iraq and Syria.
After hearing Muzaffar Hussain Beigh’s statement that the police was tracking Burhan Wani since long and could have timed his elimination on a better day after the Yatra and tourist season. He hinted at internal rivalry within police leadership for this mayhem adding that Chief Minister was not informed of Wani operation. I expected of him to also say that amnesty granted to the stone pelters and other criminals on the eve of Holy Eid Festival was also untimely since the Yatra was on and Valley was thronging with tourists. Such hypocrisy is ruining Kashmir. Every one addresses his own constituency over national interest. This is the irony of Kashmir. Applying our mind as to why Kashmir is an attractive target of Islamist terror like France, we get answers even without going into the similarities. (i) First and foremost is abhorrence to Amarnath yatra. Separatists do not want Yatra to happen. When they can’t stop it, they try to stall it by violence. Incompetence and rivalry in security forces, as revealed by Beigh Sahib, encourages terrorist to strike and separatists to encash the incidents. (ii) Fractured political mandate has made J&K coalition Govt weak and indecisive. It is ineffective and hence challenged by separatists. (iii) We blame everything on Pakistan but enemies within are left unscathed. (iv) many Muslim youths have come under the influence of Wahhabi ideology that is being freely propagated in the Valley for years. For many decades state has allowed most vicious Wahhabi propaganda from Mosques. This is accompanied with brainwashing of children in Madarsas. (v) Federal structure makes India a weak nation. When it comes to fighting terrorism, due to vote bank politics, states invariably protect their minorities. (vi) Geography has also encouraged demographic invasion from across the borders effecting population in Kashmir and Assam.
To debate what is the way forward is the need of the hour. Indian democracy is cherished world over which does not allow violation of human rights. Otherwise India can always take a leaf out of Sri Lankan way of dealing with LTTE. Sri Lankan forces decimated LTTTE without caring for human rights violations and world opinion. Alarming Halla-Gulla after that disappeared soon. Far too long Kashmir has been dealt with kids gloves. That has made matters rather worse and will fester as long as policy of appeasement continues. Time has come for harder decisions and sterner action when needed. Time to win hearts and minds is long over and in any case it will not work after the separatists have upped the ante. But do we have the political will to do any better or are willing to accept the status quo to suffer the agony of million cuts endlessly. That should be clear after all parties meeting on 21 July. Hate speeches from religious and political leaders need to be monitored. Inflammatory slogans emanating from religious institutions need to be put to media trial to expose sinister designs of clergy. Center and State must act together to eliminate the scourge that confronts them jointly and threatens peace and prosperity of India. The time for niceties is over. Still, ‘Insan ka Insan se ho Bhaichara, Yahi paigam Hamara’ should be the objective of all stake holders.
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