Raman Bhalla
The holy shrine of Shri Amarnath Ji is in the news again. Syed Ali Shah Geelani, firebrand Kashmiri separatist, has sounded a warning to the Government about resuming mass agitations after eid-ul-azha over the ‘ongoing construction of a metalled road to the holy shrine in utter disregard to the ecological concerns in the region’. It is unclear though what forms basis of his allegations. He, however, says that he has the proof in support of what he has said. Chief minister, Omar Abdullah has rightfully intervened to offer to fly him to the region to see for himself the realities on the ground and in the same breath appealed to him not to play with the emotions of the people. There would not have been a better way to rebut him. However, the rabble-rouser he is, you can trust him to ignore the offer and instead ratchet up the growing apprehensions, bolstered by lies, to throw the valley on edge yet again.
His stakes in the social and political landscape of the region have always been limited to whipping up mass frenzy and supplanting peace with bloodletting till odds on turbulence grow too long forcing him to beat a retreat. He has done it ever so often in the past at a great human cost. His present threat, therefore, needs to be considered with great deal of caution and administrative acumen.
Once the frenzy is escalated, we have seen that the situation quickly gets out of control in the valley and administrative measures lose the usual control and containment potency. Administration finds itself as an unwilling bystander and often dreads making any meaningful intervention, fearing that it would only aggravate the already tense situation. It kind of tends towards or bets upon the unrest to run the course and exhaust itself. It is another matter though that this indulgence of policy of attrition is a dangerous prescription in view of the scale of damage to life and property that happens till this automated process comes to an end.
I think we need to pre-empt the situation, as it may well be in the process of being conceived in the shady ghettos inhabited by Geelani and his ilk, and feel that following few counter measures may well be in order. Firstly, we need to facilitate the formation of civil society groups, comprising eminent members, on either side of the jawahar tunnel, and allow them to engage with each other and the people at large on the issue. The Government could aid them in holding seminars and interactive sessions in the educational institutions, non-educational institutions of different persuasions and other places for sensitising the people about the realities around the issue. These civil society groups can also be airlifted to the places enroute to the holy shrine to witness the goingons for themselves. This would build their credibility in the eyes of those they may engage to dispel misgivings surrounding the issue. Much of the problem emanates from the lies which have been/are spread around over and over again to sway the people to listen to their baser instincts and not the body of facts trotted out by the Government in whatever measure they may have been. For all the bloodshed that this issue has led to in the past and can in future, everybody will agree that the Government has failed to puncture hole in the Geelani’s emotive campaign by mounting a truth campaign in the media on a massive scale. It would not be an overstatement, if it is said that Geelani has run our administrative machinery ragged as far as who has got the people to listen to whom more in the information campaign (shall we say disinformation campaign by Geelani) accompanying the issue is concerned. In that sense, I would say Geelani has got the Government’s number more than the Government has got his.
Secondly, the Government would be well advised to take the media on board by opening regular channels of communication with it through an array of Government spokespersons. May be a body like group of ministers (GoM) could do the trick for us. Media by and large has been a responsible stakeholder. Its role in building up opinion either way on this issue can’t be underemphasised. If we don’t develop empathy with it on the issue, we will only cause odds to lengthen against us. Therefore, the Government should share with it the recommendations of the state high powered committee set up at the instance of the apex court and its (Government) stand on these recommendations that has been recently filed in the court. Media persons can also be taken to the holy cave and other places enroute to see the veracity of allegations made by Geelani. At the same time, media can also be informed about the progressively limited role of the state Government in the matter in view of the apex court’s direct and unadulterated supervision of the issue.
Thirdly, the Government would need to gear up the law and order machinery by strengthening intel gathering and readying the force for relatively innocuous but effective police action against any potential trouble. Habitual offenders would need to be kept track of so that in the event of any mischief they are readily picked up before they could slip below the police radar so to speak. Police personnel would inevitably come up against the stone pelters in the labyrinthines of the old Srinagar city, if the agitation goes viral across the valley. Now that they have faced them on many occasions, they should know that bullet for stones policy would only occasion more of stone pelting and bad press. They would, therefore, need to have an effective and actionable plan ready for the stone pelters.
The redeeming feature in this whole affair is that this time around the state Government is hit by the limitation imposed by the apex court. The state Government can’t do anything of its motion. The whole process of setting up facilities at the holy cave and enroute for the welfare of pilgrims is under the direct monitoring of the apex court. The stand of the apex court on the environmental question wherever it has come up before it on various infrastructural development issues across the country has been one of causing minimum damage to the environment. Its approach in the matter of Shri Amarnath Ji shrine would be no different. It has an onerous task of reconciling the need of the minimalist (read appropriate) facilities for Shri Amarnath Ji bound pilgrims with the imperative of preserving the region’s fragile ecological balance so that the excessive deaths that take place regularly during pilgrimage could be minimised, if not eliminated completely. If it was arbitrary and biased, it would have simply passed on instructions to the state Government for putting in place a certain specified facilities for pilgrims. It instead chose to set up a committee of professionals to evolve an acceptable framework. This scientific approach to the problem has not satiated Geelani and his cohorts in the valley who predictably see in this central Government’s conspiracy to advance the political agenda.
Geelanis of the world love to play the game of chicken, to borrow a colloquial American phrase for brinkmanship, for they have nothing to lose. They thrive in such situations because they discover their relevance in them. Their ideologies suddenly become current. And they usurp the vast space of reason in the public discourse by overturning the mainstream and relegating it to fringes. In view of the ever present danger, the question that should engage us now is whether we can allow this to go on. Whether we can allow Geelanis of the world, who tenaciously hold to the discredited myths, to continue to do so at such great peril to one and all? If the answer to this is no, we need to insulate them from their medieval ideologies and not merely isolate them from their followers. This ideological correction of such fringe elements sadly can’t be done by the Government alone, people will also have to step up to the plate.
(The writer is a Minister for Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation in the State Government)
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