From the corridors of Prime Minister’s Office to  the brains of former generals and think tanks, a question is doing rounds here, how to retrieve the situation in Kashmir , where a turmoil has been unleashed  following a spate of killings.

There is a way out. Delhi should first clear its confusion  as to what its benchmark is, how it intends to deal with  people as people of Kashmir, not as entities  of different  makes.  It should also not allow itself to be confused by its own contradictions, or  lulling itself into a stupor when on the surface things start looking fine in Kashmir. It’s a grave problem and issue.

Its own way of  saving Dal  lake in Srinagar holds a  way out.  The de-weeding of the lake cannot be  complete without addressing the problem  as a whole. It must look  at the sources of its pollution and growth of weeds. The machines and money have never  addressed  the environmental problems, leave alone the human and political problems. 

Twice, in less than a week,  Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has visited  Delhi, met Prime Minister (once one  on one, second time on the sidelines of an NDC meet), and Home Minister P Chidambaram, with a  set of proposals to  calm the situation.  His proposals have ranged from restructuring of the state police to employment package for the Kashmiri youth  and a sustained  political dialogue .

In this sense, Omar is  reflecting on some of the points  which think tanks and others  hear it from one or the other quarter in Kashmir. This is the time when every one  has some idea and no idea at all. This is contradiction of the situation, which has developed because of the absence  of a clear thinking.

It’s like elephant for six blind men, who have varying description of the  animal. Their ideas  are  fragmented and  far removed from a holistic view  of the situation or its remedy. Needless to say that each section propounds ideas that suit them or serve their purpose. At the same time, there are vested interests scuttling few ideas, promoting  others, suiting their own interests. New Delhi is a party to  promotion of these interests, and as a counter Pakistan, too, has played its role in not allowing any consensus to emerge.

Kashmiris are caught in between the two powers who have their own  way of looking at things in  Kashmir and promoting contradictions. Even in these contradictions, there is a majority, silent though, which looks up to these ideas, senses some hope. But  before that hope travels to a finish line,  vested interests rush in  and kill that hope.  The problem with both Delhi and Islamabad is that they cannot rein  in the vested interests,. They revel in their own fantasies.

What happened in the past should  not be discarded. That’s a platform full of lessons : never take a particular situation for granted. This has been the case for so many times now, and no one can call shots permanently, howsoever powerful  the person may be, politically or militarily.

A multi-pronged approach is required . But immediate problem needs first aid, surgery can be done later, depending on the diagnosis. The youth, angry with the system,  are an independent entity. They have no  party, no leader. They act on their own. Who are they: jobless. Or,  they have a sentiment guiding them. Both prisms are correct. This time they have made stones mode of expression of their anger, frustration. They also believe that  this is a  way to achieve a goal, which time and again has been muddled by the leadership  that had claimed to be  championing their cause.

They also are fragmented, not in their approach, but in putting together their ideas. So far, the sentiment part is concerned for that they would have to build a leadership amongst themselves to  devise a way forward. There is no clarity on the issue  of leadership, and this has given reasons to various quarters to attribute their ways to different factors, anger, joblessness, instigation by the vested interests, Pakistan and so on.

Such attributions are unavoidable, because these serve  some quarters. It’s all because there is no blue print, which would convince their fellow Kashmiris first,  Delhi and Islamabad at a second stage. If they can join hands  and  bring freshness in their ideas, which would have an appeal  of their political aspirations, economic needs and educational advancement.  Let them do brainstorming sessions   and come out with a concrete way forward .

New Delhi should allow this process to grow and take a shape. It should avoid rushing on the road to Kashmir with same old ideas and asking the people to discuss those on table.  There is an urgent need for Delhi to do some introspection. It has failed leaders, it has failed ideas and it also has failed itself in the process. Its own credibility is open to question, so the ideas it  floats without honouring them, has infused a sense of betrayal among the youth.   The situation is grim. It must  fathom how grim it is. That is a must in the given situation. There are no ready made answers to all the situations. New ideas and new answers would have to be found.

The gloomy situation  should be evident the way the people  in Kashmir have gone with the sentiment.  Delhi should turn the pages of history, how its half-hearted measures did more harm than good to  Kashmir.  The public sentiment cannot be  summed up by Abdullahs, Muftis,  Azads,  Sozs, Tarigamis, Engineers  even if they happened to be beneficiary of a vote which New Delhi took as a  final verdict. Kashmiris never gave that final verdict.  Even if  for an argument sake  that was a verdict of  significance, what   did Delhi do  to respect that. A sincere introspection would reveal, nothing.

Unfortunate  as it is, Delhi has been lulled into  a make believe world  that doing nothing is the best policy, especially when the signs of normalcy  start emerging.  There are leaders in Kashmir who jump at what  Delhi tells them, they start praising the individuals, parties and the central government. They become the drum beaters of  Delhi. There are no exceptions  But when things start going wrong, the same set of politicians  start finding fault with Delhi’s approach. They confuse Delhi and worse Delhi allows  them to confuse it. Hence the muddle.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 26 Jul 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 IST