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| Grapes are sour for Geelani | | |
It is New Year’s good news. Chief of Hurriyat Conference (G),Syed Ali Shah Geelani,has announced that he had no plan or programme for repeating the events of last summer when normal life remained paralyzed in Kashmir on account of repeated calls for shutdowns and protest rallies. During the five summer months of 2010 as many as 112 people, most of them teenagers, were killed in the firing opened by the security forces while dealing with violence and clashes. The civilian strife had resulted in prolonged shutdowns in the educational institutions and the Banks.In fact living had become very difficult and cumbersome for the people in the valley. At one stage the survival of the ruling alliance had become undertain with reports doing the round that either Farooq Abdullah may be asked to replace his son,Omar Abdullah,has Chief Minister or some other political arrangement was to be made to quell peoples' anger against the Government in general and Omar Abdullah in particular.It was an anger against human rights violations as claimed by the separatists.
A situation had risen in which even the moderates among the separatists had no other alternative but to support the strike call given by Geelani.Geelani used to issue, in advance, his calendar for protest rallies and shutdowns. The state Government in general an the security forces in particular had to reframe their strategy for dealing with the protesters. It was after the security forces were told to observe restraint and sections of people, after being fed up with the prolonged shutdowns and incidents of violence, appealed to Geelani to give respite to people that the calender for shutdowns was changed. Instead of regular shutdowns and protest rallies Geelani gave a call for hartals and rallies once a week till he stopped giving such calls. In fact he would have not abandoned his plan and programme had he not realised the growing opposition to his calender on agitation.
Whatever may have been the reasons the value of Kashmir could enjoy peace, if not normalcy, after five months of turmoil. Recently Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, talked about his fingers being crossed over the possible turbulent summer in Kashmir in 2011.Senior functionaries of the security forces talked about the possibility of Kashmir witnessing turmoil on the pattern it registered last summer. A multi-pronged strategy was being evolved for dealing with any eventuality in case the separatists, especially the hardliners, started giving calls for shutdown and protest rallies. Police and paramilitary forces were being equipped with non-lethal weapons so that while dealing with protesters there were no casualities.One police battalion was big trained and equipped for dealing with civilian protests. And Geelani's announcement, even if it is conditional, has come as a fresh breeze from the the snow covered mountains. He has said that he has no plan on giving calls for hartals and protest rallies in case there were no killings,harrassment and arrests. But the police cannot remain passive spectators whenever and wherever teenagers attempt at derailing peace. Police authorities have said that in all 1400 agitatiors, most of them being involved in stone throwing incidents had been arrested last year and most of them had been released. This way peace is a two-way process. Police will not act if none dares to destabilise peace. It would be better for Geelani to suggest to the youth to help the process meant for combining peace with progress.(eom)
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