One should remember there was an escalation in violence in J&K in the days and weeks before the visit of President Bill Clinton to India in April 2000. We should expect a similar escalation in the period before the forthcoming visit of President Barack Obama to India in November.
If we had promptly acted against the initial incidents and against those members of the security forces against whom allegations of staging a false encounter had been made, the situation might not have deteriorated to the extent it has. There are now vicious winds of anger and hatred blowing across Kashmir, helped by our failure to understand that we are now facing a different kind of situation in J&K and by our reluctance to act against the members of the security forces against whom allegations of human rights violations were made.
The situation has so badly slipped out of control that one does not know how to retrieve it. Retrieve one must for restoring normalcy in J&K. Even now, the Governments of J&K and India give the impression of a total lack of lucidity in analysing and assessing the situation.
The Kashmiris are not agitating for jobs. They are not agitating against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. They are not agitating against the Army. They are not agitating against our counter-terrorism machinery, which had effectively countered Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the State. They are agitating against the State’s law and order machinery for alleged disproportionate use of force against stone-throwing mobs. They are agitating against the Government of India for not intervening to protect the human rights and the self-dignity of the Kashmiri Muslims.
The first response of the Government of India should have been to ensure respect for the human rights of the Kashmiris. Even now, despite the deterioration in the situation which has made the increasing resort to law and order methods unavoidable, our priority should be to visibly stop violations of human rights. The National Human Rights Commission should be asked to look urgently into the various complaints that have been made and convince the Kashmiris of our seriousness in guaranteeing respect for their human rights and self-dignity.
If we don’t do this and keep thinking that we can restore normalcy by creating jobs and by making statements of our willingness for a dialogue, we are in for a nasty surprise in J&K. The credibility of the Government of India in J&K is very low. It is seen as a Government which only acts under pressure. It is seen as a Government which is totally confused.
It has to show it means business — business in restoring law and order; business in respecting the human rights and self-dignity of the Kashmiris and business in preventing Pakistan and its jihadi organisations from exploiting the situation.
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