Even the worst critics of Kashmiris admire them for theirwhole hearted support to the annual Amarnath Yatra. Whosoever be in office hasbeen praising the majority community for making Yatra a success and makingYatris feel at home, despite the fact that J&K has been facing bloodshedsince 1989. From Huriyat to Mainstream, and from a ponywala to a hotelier,every Kashmiri has proved that Kashmiris are truly secular, and believe inrespecting other religions. Whenever any untoward incident has taken place, everyonehas stood like a rock for Yatra and Yatris. No doubt state government includingsecurity agencies cannot take risks, and are dutybound to protect every singleYatri, but unfortunately by closing Jammu-Srinagar highway and abandoning railservices from Banihal to Kashmir valley, entire Kashmir has been caged andisolated from rest of the world; Banihal Srinagar highway is the only exitroute from Kashmir valley. One fails to understand how could the order to banvehicular movement on highway be justified by claiming it is being done forsmooth running of the Yatra. If government truly feels it has to preventgeneral public from travelling on the highway during Yatra period, then it isthe biggest failure, as it not only proves incompetence of the authorities toprotect Yatris but at the same time the government commits the crime ofviolating fundamental rights of anyone intending to travel on the high way.
The question is from where the Yatris are facing the threat.When the entire highway is already under complete command and control ofsecurity agencies, how is it possible that Yatris could be the target ofmilitants; though the militant outfits have time and again reiterated thatYatris are our guests. The million dollar question is what government wants toachieve by creating fear among Yatris and banning the vehicular traffic on thehighway.
New Delhi wants to kill many birds with one stone. On theone hand it wants to defame Kashmiris and project them as radicals andanti-Hindu, thus using the same perception it leaves no stone unturned topunish Kashmiris, suspend their fundamental rights and give them a sense ofdefeat. By creating threat perception against Yatris New Delhi is sendingmessage all across the world that it is fighting Islamic radicals, thus playingvictim card. It is unfortunate that whenever genuine voices have raisedquestions about environmental issues related to Yatra or have been askinggovernment to reduce the Yatra period or to limit the number of Yatris to makeit manageable for the administration, the radical elements within and outsideadministration waste not even a second to give these genuine concerns acommunal color. This all helps New Delhi to run away from talking on realpolitical issues and justify its horrible policies in Kashmir. The ban seemsclearly aimed at teaching Kashmiris a lesson and make them understand theirworth. However, those enjoying the helplessness of Kashmiris must realize thatNew Delhi is the ultimate loser in this entire game as it adds to alienation inKashmir, thus by default helps Pakistan and its well-wishers to strengthentheir narrative in the overall scheme of things. Whatsoever be the realintentions, the ban on vehicular traffic during amaranth Yatra has made neutralpolitical analysts to conclude that even after thirty years of militancy inJ&K New Delhi lacks confidence, cannot protect even Yatris, and claims ofbringing normalcy back; al this doesn’t match the realities on the ground.While the ban on vehicular traffic during Yatra period must be hurting secularand moderate Hindu voices all over India, the majority community in Kashmir isgetting the notion that they are being punished only for being Muslims andKashmiris. New Delhi needs to rethink that by repeating beaten experiments,hurting self-respect of Kashmiris and resorting to colonial measures who is ithelping, and where does this all lead in future.