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| DOES OMAR’S REMOVAL SOLVE THE KASHMIR CRISIS? | | | BY KRISHAN ANAND | 9/19/2010 11:16:29 PM |
| At a time when the Center is playing the blame game the opposition is gunning for Omar Abdullah’s removal. I ask- whether his removal will solve the Kashmir crisis? Does his removal give the people their so called “freedom”? Would it revoke the AFSPA? Can it end the restless rage on the streets? Could it calm down the families of those who have lost their near and dear? Can it satisfy the separatist’s agenda? I wish the solution to Kashmir was as simple as removing someone from his chair.
Does democracy come out of the barrel of a gun? Is a question haunting Kashmir, since the current spiral of agitation that began in June this year which, so far, has claimed 93 lives, including those of women and children. “You don’t answer Stones with Bullets.” Prescriptions for the future often lie in lessons of the past but over the past three months both the State and the Centre have made ‘blunder’ after ‘blunder’ that has led to the situation taking this unsightly turn. The streets of Kashmir are tainted with blood- a situation that is slipping into anarchy. Is this a result of ‘Political Deficit’?
Has the government failed to live up to the people’s expectations? Are the CM’s options narrowing now? Radicalization and religion in this volatile situation leaves very few options to any Chief Minister. Neither the AFSPA nor Omar Abdullah is the issue on the Srinagar Street. But India, yet again, has failed to address the past wrongs which have lead to the present situation. “Kashmir is not a part time job, it is a tough and sensitive job and we need to give Omar time and support” said Rahul Gandhi.
According to me it was bizarre on the part of the Centre to have raised expectations of an “EID Peace Package” and thereafter not even be able to prioritize the meeting of the CCS as per schedule. At a time where giving an EID Package -could have reassured the locals. Instead we saw an EID with tens of thousands marching towards Lal Chowk, shouting ‘Anti India’ and ‘Pro Azadi’ slogans, raising Green Flags, vandalizing public property, setting ablaze the Police Crime Branch Office, Power Development and other Government buildings. Instead of indulging in lawless activities why can't these mobs follow democratic processes to bring the guilty to justice?
The goof up by the Centre and the inadequacy of the State Government over the past three violent months has managed one thing though: uniting the separatist as never before. Once at loggerheads with each other –now speak one voice.
The All- Party Meet on the 15th of September, 2010 was attended by all. No consensus was reached on the AFSPA, no package. Without lowering the guard on the security front, the government has to be magnanimous in announcing some confidence-building measures. I hoped that the Prime Minister would intervene himself, perhaps, even go on television to talk directly to the people in the State. Our Nation's existence is in peril! Our captains are poor navigators and waters full of dangers. The Prime Minister just showed his distress about the women and children on the street and UPA President wanted to know why the youths rage. We did not need statements like these. What we needed was an out of the box solution. The All-Party Meeting in Delhi has utterly failed to address the Kashmir valley's realities. The Centre has decided to send an All- Party Delegation to the valley. Wars are won and insurrection defeated by leaders, not committees. The present Central Government seems bent on defying this logic.
Over the past 60 years delegations have come and gone, enjoyed the Kashmir weather, the wazwan, the Kashmiri hospitality and gone back. This September will be no different. To what consequence? Will ground realities improve? From a summer of discontent it has turned into an autumn of despair. Let the delegates of the All- Party Delegation walk through the stillness of curfew-torn Srinagar; let them meet the locals on the street; the civil society; the boys and girls at the University; the injured in the hospitals; relations of the people who have died in the past three months; the angry youth on the streets. Let them spend a day with the local policemen and the armed forces and see how he is crushed between the rage on the streets and the duty of his uniform. Let them look at the alarming and growing radicalization of the valley’s youth straight in the eye and ask them why are they so angry?
The volatile situation in the valley calls for urgent action from New Delhi and Srinagar. Since Independence successive Central Governments have failed to address the grievances of the Kashmiri people. The Center should understand the needs and aspirations of the locals and take prompt measures to tackle the problem. Perhaps when the delegation comprising of the Home Minister and Finance Minister comes to the valley, the distant gaze of the Center may transform into a close-up of the grim realities in the State. I hope with this visit of the delegation a breakthrough is achieved which brings normalcy and peace in Kashmir.
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Krishan Anand, St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, (koolkrishan @gmail.com)
The views expressed by the author are personal.
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