The state response to the recent civilian Killings in Kashmir was inhuman and ruthless. It exposed the employment of double standards and discriminatory approach of the powers that be, to the situation in the valley. While the Union Home Secretary, Mr. Pillai, after his three day whirlwind tour of Chhattisgarh, categorically refused to deploy the army in Maoist infected areas, where red army has played havoc with security forces, he did not waste a second in deploying the same in Kashmir where people were mourning the death of their loved ones. To this was added the crippling curfew, which converted the living people into dead for want of medical aid and the dead prevented from burial.

By the way, I do not fathom as to how deployment of army would have solved the problem. After all they do not have a bullet of any larger size to frighten the Kashmiris. Their deployment was akin to treating the disease of indigestion with intake of more food rather than curtailing it. Only a naïve and incompetent doctor would prescribe such a course of action.

The inept handling of the situation by local administration was galore in all respects and at all stages. The administration looked clueless as how to restore law and order.

 Press was muzzled like never before. In fact a national news Channel and its local representative were booked for a heinous crime of “waging War against the State” for airing wrong news of death of one person due to inadvertent mistake. The cameras and other professional equipment of press personnel was damaged. And while those reporting honestly were hounded and harassed, those toeing the administration line were patronized. The ability  of  a bespectacled National news channel anchor sitting in Delhi, to see more than met the eyes of we lesser  mortals, sitting on ground Zero, was pathetic, to say the least. 

 Frantic calls were made to New-Delhi to come to the rescue of Government which prescribed a long list of medicines like CM to meet the families of victims, MLAs to contact people in their respective constituencies, and above all to convene an  All party meeting. It was clear that the State Government  had ceded all its authority to New-Delhi and its Babus. The Chief Minister, himself conceded, in an interview to Times of India that he is a lousy politician unable to market  himself. It remains to be seen whether his non-marketability is due to bad salesmanship or bad quality of goods or a mixture of both.

The heart-rending scene of a person carrying the dead body of his infant son in a cardboard box, awaiting burial, must have touched the conscience of  many persons  across the length and breadth of India. It was a matter of some solace and comfort  that the Indian civil society, was alive to the sufferings and problems faced by Kashmiris. ANHAD (Act now for Harmony and Democracy), a civil society group,  held a Dharna in New-Delhi condemning the use of brutal force against local Populace. Similarly Prominent Indian Citizens issued an appeal warning the Govt. against using repressive measures. It was  heartening to note the comments of a person in response  to a news item titled “ Maximum crackdown on miscreants in Kashmir: Cabinet” (Indian Express of 7th July 2010) which I reproduce below for the benefit of readers.“Unless you have been to Kashmir and interacted with the locals, you won't get it. It's convenient to believe that this is a problem created by a vocal minority of separatists, or that development will solve the issue. The desire for independence from India is widespread in Kashmir, and if we are honest with ourselves, we will realize that the Kashmiri struggle is not very different from the Tibetan struggle or the Palestinian struggle. Simply because India is too powerful for Kashmir to succeed doesn't make the people, who want independence into terrorists - in their minds they are still freedom fighters. We can make them stay in their houses by imposing a curfew, but we cannot put a curfew on their thoughts.

And that is where we lose the battle. It is not like the Khalistan struggle, which was purely external sponsored. It is very much a people's movement in Kashmir. We must accept this reality. I am an Indian, Hindu and patriotic. I am just not blind to an inconvenient truth.”

As I prepare to write the last lines of this article, All Party meeting must have already Commenced. Peoples Democratic Party, the leading opposition Party has refused to participate in it. While the political ramifications of this move cannot be assessed as of now, but its president Mehbooba Mufti has  gained in stature and increased her credibility. At least there exists  a person among us, who can even snub the Prime Minister of India.

(The author is a practicing Chartered Accountant and  can be contacted for feed back at amzargar1@indiatimes.com)

Lastupdate on : Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 13 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST