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| Is it a thaw or lull before the storm next? | | | Ahmed Ali Fayyaz
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Oct 3: Remember when the last politics-related killing took place in Kashmir? Nearly a month ago, when four civilians died in a shootout at Palhalan, on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Highway, and one more later succumbed to injuries at a hospital. Seventeen civilians died in Police and paramilitary firing on September 13th and later one more succumbed to injuries but the street violence on that eventful day is primarily attributed to a religious outrage in a distant foreign country. Alleged desecration of holy Quran by a couple of zealots in United States of America evoked a violent reaction in Muslim-dominated Kashmir. On no other single day in the last over seven years had 17 civilians died in incidents of firing or street violence in Jammu & Kashmir.
On March 23rd, 2003, unidentified gunmen, widely believed to be militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba, had massacred as many as 24 members of the resident Kashmiri Pandits at Nadimarg in Kulgam area of south Kashmir. It came exactly three years after 36 members of the minority Sikh community had been gunned down in carnage at Chittisinghpura, in south Kashmir, on March 20, 2000.
Chittisinghpura bloodbath on the eve of then US President Bill Clinton’s visit to India happened amid the militants and the government of India trading charges and holding each other responsible for the late night massacre. Over 10 years later, Kashmir continues to be in the news on arrival of President Barrack Obama---this time for 110 civilian killings spread over the last four months. Stimulus of the highest number of deaths on one particular day---September 13th---is yet again an American.
Post 9/11, India perhaps does not need any diplomacy on Kashmir. Analysts seem to be unanimous that anything from the Iranian intervention over the September 13th ‘killings’ in the Valley to the World Bank treating J&K as a “disputed territory” ---Rs 1000 Cr IWDP has been almost rejected in absence of clearance from Islamabad---would have stirred a hornets’ nest in the South Block a decade ago. Being politically conscious more than people in any other state in this country, Kashmiri Muslims have been viewing Washington D.C. and New Delhi as “natural allies” in so-called war against the terror. That is why local news agencies have failed to build any expectations with regard to Obama’s maiden visit to India notwithstanding their desk editor’s belief that Uncle Sam was coming only to liberate Kashmir from India.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah continues to be beleaguered as he used to be in July this year but men of consequence in his government sound to be relieved over the fact that no politics-related killing has happened in the Valley since the day five persons died in a shootout at Palhalan, Pattan, on September 6th.
Politicians like PDP’s Nizam-ud-din Bhat insist that current uneasy calm was deceptive as the separatists, according to them, had been consolidating their “gains” and preparing for a deadlier offensive. National Conference’s politicians, as well as Chief Minister’s incompetent brand of thintanks, are relieved over the statistics. “Curfew for days and weeks does not matter. It is good that nobody has died for political reasons in the last one month”, said one of them---completely ignoring the Kashmiris’ preoccupation with harvesting, massive pressure on Geelani not to spoil an academic year and shifting of entire media attention to Ayodhya judgment and Commonwealth Games.
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