Kashmir: Back to the future

Govt must work for lasting political peace

The Union government had hoped that reading down Article 370 of the Constitution would bring peace, good business investment, and an influx of tourists into Jammu & Kashmir. However, instead of investment and tourists, Jammu & Kashmir has witnessed in recent months a wave of targeted killings of Hindus and other workers (including Muslims), which revive uncomfortable memories of the 1990s. These incidents prove that the government’s efforts to alter the narrative by scrapping its special status and bifurcating it into two Union Territories have not worked. This wave of violence suggests that the change of status, done without reference to the people of the state, has not altered the basic challenges in the region.

Instead of dialogue with all stakeholders, the government has chosen near-unilateral legislative changes, an indiscriminate crackdown on dissidents — one of the longest in recent Indian history — strenuous efforts to stoke Hindu migration to the region through special employment packages, and a delimitation exercise that transparently marginalises the Muslims. The net result of this wilful attempt at top-down transformation has been a backsliding of spectacular proportions with the radicalised youth and re-energised militants, many of them newly unemployed freelancers from the Afghan campaign, striking at will. It is no small irony that incidents of killing civilians and security forces had fallen sharply in the years preceding 2015, enabling the return of some semblance of normalcy in the state, with tourists flocking back after a long hiatus. But that graph started rising thereafter. The number of killings in 2022 so far, about three years after Article 370 was read down, is rapidly catching up with last year’s full-year numbers, and it is those civilians whose rights the government was seeking to establish who now find themselves at the receiving end of militant ire.

The current environment will not help the administration, which is seeking to end the cycle of violence and retribution that has been characteristic of the state’s politics since independence. By focusing its agenda sharply on the Kashmiri Pandits, the government has exacerbated the communal divisions. It is critical for the government to address Kashmir as a political issue where integration is projected as a universal value. The first step towards constructive engagement lies in altering the tonality and efficiency of the administration. The status of the Union Territory ruled from the Centre is at odds with the Kashmiris’ sense of identity. Linked with this is the heavy presence of the security forces, which is seen as an occupying force by many locals and affects their freedom in many ways. The leeway granted to the security forces under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act has also played a role in alienating the Kashmiris, though it’s perhaps necessary, given the security situation and terrorists coming from across the border.

The way forward for the Union government therefore is to quickly take the local leadership of Jammu & Kashmir in confidence and restart the political process. The delimitation exercise has also raised questions and is seen to be tilting the power balance towards one side. This would not help in bringing lasting political peace in the valley. It is important to have the confidence of all stakeholders and a sense of balance for any political solution to last.