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| Don't ignore Muslim anger | | Can Indian forces win Kashmiris' hearts? | | From B L KAK
NEW DELHI, July 2: Quite a difficult situation has, once again, arisen in the troubled Valley of Kashmir. Law enforcing agencies have a right to maintain law and order in the region. But they need not use their authority in a manner as to trigger public wrath, thereby giving readily available ammuniton to the enemy within and beyond the Kashmir frontier--that is, in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).
This time the agitated Kashmiri Muslims seem dead set against the very presence in Kashmir of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel. Masive protests were sparked in the vicinity of Srinagar by the alleged killing of a bakery shop owner. Indian and foreign media have run stories of how 28-year-old Inayatullah Bhat was done to death after closing his bakery shop in Srinagar's Munwarabad locality.
There are conflicting reports about who fired at Inayatullah. Local police? Or CRPF jawans? In a situation like this, the truth generally gets buried, though not for ever. Meanwhile, the situation did take a turn for the worse after surging crowds took to the streets with Inayatullah's dead body. Angry Muslim demonstrators chanted anti-India and pro-freedom slogans.
Thousands of mourners attended Inayatullah's funeral. And the funeral prayer, significantly, was led by fire-brand separatist hardliner, Syed Ali Shah Geelani. He injected a new element into the already critical situation by publicly accusing India of givng its security forces a fre hand to genocide the Kashmiri people. His ultimatum: "Struggle to liberate Kashmir from Indian control shall continue".
About a year ago, a similar situation had developed resulting in a jolt to Chief of Army Staf, Gen. J.J. Singh's people-friendly plan. In no way he was to blame for the alleged violation of human riughts in the sensitive border district of Kupwara. That he did not take gladly to the killing of thre teenagers by the Army personnel was borne out by the Army Headquarters intervention in the situation by way of ordering an inquiry into the tragic incident.
The expression of large-scale anger and deep resentment not only in the Kupwara district but also elsewhere in the Valley, including the capital city of Srinagar, was not unexpected then. This time, too, following the alleged killing of Inayatullah Bhat in Srinagar by the CRPF jawans, Muslim resentment is on expected lines.
Worse still, a section of the populace in the Kashmir is involved in the circulation of statements against the presence and role of the Indian security forces, including the Army. Secondly, some Kashmir Opposition leaders have threatened to boycott the peace negotiations with New Delhi, if the human rights violations remained unchecked. Thirdly, both factions of the Hurriyat Conference--one led by Maulvi Umar Farooq and another by Syed Ali Shah Geelani--have chosen to take the killing of Inayatullah Bhat and abrupt surge in alleged human rights violations by the security forces to the public.
It can be stoutly argued that those in charge of security, be it in Jammu and Kashmir or elsewhere in the world, cannot afford to allow kne-jerk responses to be a substitute for high alert, efective and visible policing. The policing rules, it has been established beyond doubt, do not permit killing the innocent people.
The Congress-led coalition government in J&K will have to ensure that shoot-to-kill orders do not go wrong. More importantly, both Union government and the authorites in the restive Valley of Kashmir must ensure that such tragedies never occur in the future.
True, Indian security forces have a decisive role to play in the troubled State of Jammu and Kashmir. It is also a fact that in spite of law and order being a State subject, the Centre has a specific role to play in a territory afflicted by militancy, insurgency and terrorism. But care and caution need not be thrown to winds by any soldier or polic eman while maintaining law and order. |
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