Kashmir crisis: Delhi yet to spell out the starting point

ON THE FRONT LINE

BQ: Delhi is clueless about Kashmir, for the simple reason that it has considered it as a remote area from the core of the national thought. The mere expression that Kashmir is at the core of the Indian nation doesn’t help. If it is the core then why are there prolonged spells of slumber before the flames leap out of the Valley? Pakistan’s mischief apart, what has the Centre done to undo the distrust between Delhi and Srinagar?

ARUN JOSHI

Delhi is looking for a permanent and lasting solution to problems in Jammu and Kashmir within the framework of the Constitution. It seems to be a straightforward statement, but in reality it is full of complexities. This time, the problem is an unending cycle of violence on Kashmir’s streets, where the protesters come out with stones, defying the shutdown calls of the separatist camp and curfew imposed by the authorities.

The separatists have ignored this defiance. It may be a part of their overground or secretive strategy or sheer helplessness against the new angry generation charting its own course in the absence of a firm leadership. The situation on the ground suggests that either part of it could be true. The fact remains that stone-throwing protests, clashes and the killings and injuries are the visibly grim realities of Kashmir even after more than 50 days of unrest, which some have started calling an “uprising”, raising its degree from the protests against what happened on July 8.

Violence on the streets, and especially in the countryside enclaves – a new phenomenon in the current unrest – has left 70 dead and thousands more injured. This unfortunate status indicates that the separatist camp is complicit one way or the other in the whole bloodletting unrest, and the tragedy is that the other side --- security forces and the government --- have not been able to deal with the protesters in an expected manner. That the protesters could march in thousands, overwhelm and attack the security forces and police camps suggests that there were some fault lines which were not rectified in time.

So, the Central government will have to think from where to take the first step, especially when the whole of the mainstream has deliberately rendered itself irrelevant.

They all, ruling and opposition leaders, have knocked the doors of Delhi to rescue them – the call for a dialogue and political solution is a cover to their real objective of staying relevant. Some of them were complicit in this high-voltage trouble, others were too scared to face their own people despite having election victories in their resume.

Here, lies the difference – nobody on the streets is suggesting that the talks be held with Mehbooba Mufti or Omar Abdullah or for that matter any other “mainstream” leaders, who at times sound more secessionists than the secessionists themselves. In contrast, the occasional voices from the streets pitch for talks with the Hurriyat Conference. This is despite the countless failures of separatists in charting a course for solution. The clamour for adopting UN resolutions, plebiscite and involving Pakistan in talks has been reduced to clichés as the ground reality is known that India would never leave Kashmir, and Pakistan will not part with the territory occupied by it. Then, where is the real problem and the solution thereof.

Delhi, too, is clueless about Kashmir, for the simple reason that it has considered it as a remote area from the core of the national thought. Mere expression that Kashmir is at the core of the Indian nation doesn’t help. If it is the core then why are there prolonged spells of slumber before the flames leap out of the Valley? Pakistan’s mischief apart, what has the Centre done to undo the distrust between Delhi and Srinagar? Leaving aside the working groups’ report and that of the interlocutors, at what level has the Capital involved Kashmir? A fair cut-off year could be 1990 – 27 years have passed – but where does Kashmir sit in the country? Geographically, on top of it, it is called the crown. And, if the whole structure is upside down psychologically then where is it placed? First, there is a need to make up the mind for the geography and psychology to converge.

Legally, the state has its own constitution, separate flag, and special position in the Indian Constitution. Whatever might have been said or written at the time of the framing of the Indian Constitution, the fact is that the identity crisis of Kashmir has deepened over the decades. There were chances-cum-opportunities to build on the peace constituency, howsoever small it was, but it existed even in the dark days of the 1990s.

Today, there is darkness alone. Miracles don’t take place on their own, even for that some ground should be there. Pakistan should be dealt with in the manner – honourable or otherwise – depending on the behaviour of the neighbouring country. But “our people” need compassion. May be that is the starting point.