Army firing in Shopian

THE killing of two youths in Army firing in South Kashmir’s  Shopian district on Saturday is a chilling reminder that the situation in the Valley remains fragile and volatile. It has outraged Kashmir and given a chance to the erratic and vengeful men to instigate anger and venom against the Army. The unfortunate incident, however, proves that security forces’ “Operation All-Out” against militants has worked in reverse in its objective of distancing militants and public. The people’s anger is manifested; the Kashmiri political parties have already pronounced the Army guilty. The Army’s version is not even being talked about.

Politically, the claim that the release of over 9,000 stone-throwers helped stabilise the situation, too, has proved untenable. There is no end to anger against the political executive, too, despite the PDP positioning itself as the champion of justice for the civilians killed in the Army firing. Gen Bipin Rawat’s statement that there can be “no rethink”  on the Armed Forces Special Powers Act at this stage was not absolutely necessary. This statement has given a handle to the Kashmiri political groups that already have launched a no-holds-barred tirade against the Army. This can complicate the situation as that can lay the ground for more such unfortunate incidents. The nurseries of disaffection are bound to flourish. 

The coalition partners, the PDP and the BJP, are sparring over the role of the Army. This is a bad omen for this terrorism-hit border state. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has rebuffed the BJP for suggesting that the FIR against the Army be withdrawn. Instead, she declared, “The investigation based on FIR would be taken to its logical conclusion.” She is fighting a turf war with the rival National Conference and cannot be seen as less in aggression against the Army than her political opponents. This also diminishes the prospects of the dialogue initiated through special representative Dineshwar Sharma to reach out to the people. Kashmir is in for worse days ahead, unfortunately.