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| Amnesty to stone pelters alone won't guarantee peace | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Aug 31: Angry youth clashed with the security forces in Sopore, Anantnag and Srinagar immediately after the Eid prayers ended at these places. The clashes though subdued, had a subliminal message for the State Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah.
Omar Abdullah had announced one-time amnesty for the arrested stone pelters and also confirmed that cases filed at various police stations against them would be withdrawn. The Chief Minister had shown goodwill towards the youth who from time to time had disturbed peace in the Valley during the last two years. It is not material to discuss whether the youth had the backing of the separatists or Omar's adversaries in the mainstream political camp.
What is material to the ground situation in the Valley is the fact that the youth after they have been released as a goodwill gesture do not again indulge in the same anti-social practices as they had been doing prior to their arrest by the police. The incidents of violence in Sopore, Anantnag and Srinagar city today carry a serious message for the Chief Minister and the coalition Government that he heads in the State. Releasing arrested youth is not a luxury the State Government can indulge in on a whim. The mere fact that cases filed in various police stations against these youth are being withdrawn unfortunately gives them a sense of immunity from the process of law. Added to this is the fact that separatist leader and a perceived hawk among the separatists, Syed Ali Shah Geelani had been threatening an agitation if the Government did not release these youth before the Eid and this has definitely emboldened the separatist camp, whether or not it was the intention of Omar Abdullah to embolden the separatists.
Geelani offered Eid prayers in his Sopore hometown and immediately after the prayers ended there, stone pelting youth engaged the security forces at a number of places in the town. In Anantnag town, the situation took a worse turn when protesters torched the national flag in the town after indulging in heavy stone pelting at the police and the CRPF deployed to maintain law and order there.
The fact that stone pelting is gradually returning to the Valley and is continuously picking up pace is not something the State Government can take lying down. Unless the re-surfacing menace is checked in the beginning it is quite possible the situation would again slip back to what it was during the last two years. The State Government and especially the economy of the Valley cannot afford a repeat of that volatile and frustrating occurrence.
Questions are being asked especially after today's happenings in the Valley whether the hastily taken amnesty decision of the Chief Minister has gone down well with those whom Omar Abdullah wanted to pacify.
Had the decision to afford amnesty to the stone pelters been wisely worked out, it is probable that anybody indulging in the act would think twice. Law and order deterrence does not necessarily have to be seen through the use of brute force against those who habitually break the law.
Had the State authorities taken the parents of the arrested youth into confidence by engaging them in a process of reconciliation through which the sureties of their wards' fair conduct could be obtained, it would be the parents who would police their children and not the fear infusing security personnel in full battle gear.
Omar Abdullah can be announcing another amnesty to stone pelters arrested today in Sopore, Srinagar or Anantnag or also for those likely to be arrested tomorrow and the day after without achieving what he wanted to achieve through his goodwill gesture. Unless the parents and the elders in the areas where such incidents often occur are taking into confidence by making them responsible for the fair conduct of the youth living in such areas, amnesties could be aplenty, but peace would remain in pieces. |
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