‘Hope amidst disbelief’ is the right phrase to describe political mood in the State. There is a lot of noise about ‘withdrawing’ of troops and New Delhi holding ‘quite talks’ with some Kashmir leaders but what could be called as people’s enthusiasm about these developments is largely missing. The Home Minister, P Chidambaram, replying a debate on internal security in the Rajya Sabha    on Wednesday said the process of withdrawing troops from Jammu and Kashmir had commenced after holding “quiet talks” with the ‘separatist groups’. Though he did not identify the group, groups, person or persons with whom New Delhi is engaged in the state but he was categorical that these initiatives were being taken in view of the improved security situation. The Home Minister did not quantify the number of the troops that were being withdrawn from the state. However, he stated the number would be ‘significant.’  There are no authentic figures about the number of troops Jammu and Kashmir. The unofficial organizations have been putting it at seven hundred thousand. Many international human rights organizations have been describing the state as highly ‘militarized zone’ in the world. If the Home Minister statement about ‘withdrawing’ of troops in the upper house is translated into reality it would be a step in the right direction and a big Confidence Building Measure (CBM) for making the ‘dialogue’ meaningful. From the statement of Mr. Chidambaram it emanates that a good ground has already been covered in the ‘on-going’ quite talks and a solution is expected to emerge. He also informed the House that “At the appropriate stage, the contours of the settlement that may emerge would be shared with the parliament”. The Home Minister by stating that the state government and the central government were ‘on the same page’ on the decision of initiating dialogue provided authenticity to the statements relating the Kashmir problem made by Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah in the recent past.  There have been moves for ending uncertainty in the state earlier also but they suffered because of the trust deficit. It would not be wrong to say that the trust deficit not only permeates but moves like banning of prepaid mobile services and depriving thousands of young men of their employment further strengthen them.  Any moves aimed at ending ‘political uncertainty’ in the state and bringing in  lasting peace to South Asia need to welcome by all irrespective of their party affiliations and political beliefs but what is needed for making these moves successful is winning the people’s confidence.  To win the trust of the people for finding an amicable solution to the problem there is need for taking some bold decisions by the political leadership in New Delhi. It will have to take decisions outside the bureaucratic mind set about Kashmir in South and North Blocks. The state has been suffering under awful laws like the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), the Disturbed Areas Act and the Public Safety Act for the past twenty years now. Besides human rights organization in India and outside there is hardly any political organization or group in the state that has not been demanding repealing of these laws. Even the Prime Ministers and Home Ministers have held out promises for doing away of these laws but so far not even a clause of these dreadful laws has been changed. It is true that with fall in the militant related activities in the state there has been an improvement in the human rights situation in the state. Notwithstanding reports about human rights violations from the rural as well as urban areas continuing to reach the media offices, the situation is not as grim as it was couple of years back but the scars of the wounds inflicted on Kashmir society continue to pain and ooze.  On Wednesday the International Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice claimed to found 2700 unmarked and mass graves. The “buried evidence” as the report has been named has taken off the lid from the macabre that has been enacted in the state. The Tribunal had handed over the report to Chief Minister. The report needs to take cognizance of those guilty of committing the crime and criminals must brought to Justice. The Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah about a year back had advocated setting up of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. With a view to make up the trust deficit amongst the people for the success of new initiatives taken by New Delhi, he needs to go ahead with the setting up of the Commission.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 4 Dec 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 4 Dec 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 5 Dec 2009 00:00:00 IST