Rekha Chowdhary
Politically speaking the year 2016 was full of pitfalls for the state of J&K. It started with the death of Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and the resultant political vacuum. Even when the state was being efficiently administered by Governor, N N Vohra, there were political uncertainties all around. As the hesitation of Ms Mehbooba Mufti to come out of the mourning and take the leadership of the government took more and more time, there were speculations of all kind – about the future of alliance between the PDP and BJP; about alternative formations and even about the internal politics of the PDP. The uncertainties were ended finally with Ms Mufti taking the oath as first woman Chief Minister of the state in early April. Things seemed to be settling down with Ms Mufti showing the promise of a gender friendly administration.
However, barely three months had passed when the state was faced with a renewed crisis. Following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant, Burhaan Wani, the Valley of Kashmir erupted in an unprecedented manner. Almost for next five months the political life was totally disrupted. The shut down that was imposed for this long period affected not only the political life of Kashmir, but also the governance of the whole state. With Kashmir burning during this period, the process of governance was fully stalled. What was worse, the economy of the state was completely shattered. Though it was the valley of Kashmir which was mainly impacted by the loss of precious economic days, the impact was not limited to Kashmir only and much of Jammu’s business was also affected. The worst part of the loss of normalcy during these five months, however, was borne by the students as no educational institution was able to work during this period and the summer break of the schools virtually lasted upto the winter.
The year was also peculiar for having seen the aggravation of hostilities at the borders. This was one of the worst years in the recent period in India-Pakistan relations. The state had to take the maximum brunt of these hostilities. Militancy was intensified and the frequency of the terrorist attacks against the security forces was increased. Apart from various other attacks in which precious lives of security personnel were lost, there were two major terrorist attacks on Security camps in Uri and Nagrota. While nineteen members of the security forces were killed in Uri, seven were killed in Nagrota. On the whole, a total of 87 security personnel were killed in 2016. This was more than the double the number of security forces killed in 2015.
Apart from the terrorist attacks, the state witnessed intensified border clashes. Not only the frequency and intensity of these clashes was much higher this year, compared to other years in the recent period, but there was a new dimension to these clashes as the civilian areas were targeted in the repeated ceasefire violations. As per the information provided to the Rajya Sabha in November this year, there were 216 ceasefire violations by Pakistan on LoC and 214 violations on IB between November 2015 and November 2016.
Much of the burnt of the ceasefire violations was felt by the border residents of the state, mostly in Jammu region. Living close to border, they were placed in a war-like situation with firing and shelling reaching their houses. There was consequently a large number of casualties of civilians in the border areas. In one of the major incidents that took place in November this year eight people were killed and 22 injured as a result of heavy shelling by Pakistan both in LoC and IB in Jammu, Samba, Poonch, Rajouri districts.
People living in the border area were affected in number of ways. With continuous use of mortar bombs, shelling and firing, it was difficult for people to continue with their normal lives and had to be evacuated in large numbers. As per the information provided to Rajya Sabha, by November this year a total of 27,449 people had to be evacuated from villages in Jammu division after the surgical strike. Displacement in itself caused much discomfort to the people but it also meant the economic loss as the harvesting was halted quite early. Education meanwhile was impacted not only in the areas where shelling was taking places but also in nearby areas where schools became the base camps for the border migrants.
With so much negative baggage of the year 2016, one may end by citing some positives of the year. One can take a sigh of relief that the state is jumping back to the normal life. With the shift of the base of the government from Srinagar to Jammu, the government is now functioning in a normal manner and taking the decisions which were stalled during the long summer months of Kashmir unrest. Life in Kashmir is also back on normal trail. The impasse was broken by the decision of the Government to go ahead with State board examination for class X and Class XII and since then the education has taken its normal form. The economic activities are also picking up. Even when much of the tourist season has been lost, few tourists have started trickling for winter sports.
One can also point out that on the inter-regional and inter-community front, it was quite a peaceful year. Despite the political divergence between the two major regions of the state and despite the lack of approval in Jammu region for the Kashmiri political response, there was no manifest tension between the two region. On the contrary, it was year of silent recognition of mutual support at the inter-regional level. In their times of turbulence, Kashmiris have been finding Jammu as a great place where they can come in search of normalcy. They have felt comfortable in this region with their alternate homes – own or rented; educational institutions – whether for regular studies or for purposes of coaching and so on. Despite the political acrimony that one can see at the ideological levels – it is amazing to see the confidence that the people of the two regions have in each other at the social levels. It is also amazing to see how Jammu transforms in November with Kashmiris owning its malls, bazars and multiplexes.
However, this piece ends with a note of caution about the coming year. Hopefully the baggage of 2016 would not spill over in 2017 and the state would be blessed with a peaceful, productive and vibrant year. There is lot of rethinking in Kashmir and despite the continued assertion of the separatist leadership, the critical voices referring to the futility of the 2016 agitation have started being raised. However, the tensions that have started building around the issue of domicile certificates for West Pakistan Refugees – is not a good omen. It is a potential point of trouble at many levels. This issue may be used by Kashmiri separatists to flare up the agitational mood in Kashmir and it may also become an issue which may lead to regional and communal polarisation. It is time that we take lessons from year 2016 and tread towards 2017 in a spirit of peaceful cooperation.
(Feedback welcome at rekchowdhary@gmail.com)
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