Boys caught in a vicious cycle of violence

 Last Friday afternoon in the vicinity of Sopore, four policemen were killed by militants in an ambush. Incidentally, just a week before, following the arrest of a Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Fahadullah hailing from Multan, the top police officials claimed that the Lashkar has been wiped out from North Kashmir. Within hours of Fahadullah’s arrest, apparently on his tip-off, security forces killed a local militant Shabir, but the other most-wanted militant Hilal Mufti managed to escape.

In the ensuing crackdown, police were able to apprehend many Lashkar cadres. During the 2010 unrest, both Hilal and Shabir were active stone-pelters. In a matter of few weeks, militants have succeeded in carrying out many deadly attacks. Boys, once again turning to militancy, will certainly push Kashmir towards crossroads. But it seems that New Delhi is deliberately pursuing a hands-off approach on Kashmir. In the present circumstances, there is no other way to explain the fast evolving grim scenario; Kashmir is back to square one.

The new generation after failing to learn from the bloody experience of the last two-decades of militancy — which has brought to Kashmir nothing but death — is once again about to tread the path of destruction. In any civilised society violence has no justification. However, it needs to be analysed dispassionately why boys feel compelled to pursue a course of absolute destruction time and again.

Every generation in Kashmir has bitter memories of its own vis-a-vis New Delhi. It’s not as if the previous generation passes on as a legacy the chronicle of broken promises and failed commitments to the coming lot to accentuate the feeling of distrust. It is, in reality, political education experienced first-hand. The 1990 generation in Kashmir, besides experiencing the worst phase of soul-stifling repression, also vividly remembers the noise of ear-piercing promises of “sky is the limit” and “Insanyat ka dyra”.

Whenever Kashmir has tried to remind New Delhi of its commitments and broken promises, the people are taunted with a refrain that their state has not been able to break the shackles of history. New Delhi mandarins are quick to retort with appeals for a fresh beginning and calls to let bygones be bygones. The people of Kashmir are forced to endure this shrill discourse, as if a bitter people, driven by hatred, are caught in a time warp. Even today if Kashmir strives to bury its past, history will continue to revisit J&K as a nightmare. History is never static in our case; it keeps repeating itself with vengeance.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh is not history yet. Does he need to be reminded about what he said during the all-party meeting held in the middle of September 2010 when Kashmir was caught in deep unrest? After having failed to bring peace through multiple round-table conferences and various working groups while Kashmir was literally burning, the PM had promised that “dialogue was the only way out of the crisis, but that peace and calm had to be restored first”.

The high profile all-party delegation headed by the then home minister P Chidambaram did visit Kashmir and a so-called team of interlocutors was also appointed to suggest a political solution to the Kashmir problem. Most humbly, may we ask the prime minister what has unfolded since 2010? Wasn’t Kashmir at its most peaceful state during the last two years? Has it not played host to millions of tourists and weren’t the panchayat elections held after 33 years? Mr PM Sir, if peace and calm had been restored, then what happened to the promise of a meaningful dialogue?

It’s true that in an ongoing violent campaign, the space for moderates gets dramatically reduced and, therefore, there neither is a partner for peace, nor an atmosphere for pursuing dialogue. Yet, once the wave of violence ebbs, New Delhi loses interest in the peace process. In a matter of 2-3 years we have had a frustrating experience of the past repeating itself most demonstratively before a new generation of Kashmiris. Whether the mighty Indian state is incapable of resolving a conflict or, as most Kashmiris believe, whether New Delhi, instead of resolving the conflict through a genuine process of give and take, seeks only to manage the problem by a carrot and stick approach, the outcome is the same.             

In the aftermath of the 2008 unrest, it was assumed that after experiencing two-decades of wanton destruction, Kashmir has finally realized the futility of violence.  However, the way the security apparatus crushed the 2010 uprising with heavy jackboots, it seems in Kashmir even Gandhiji’s Satyagraha will not be acceptable now. Unless the Kashmir problem is resolved by meeting the people’s bare minimum political aspirations, popular uprisings will continue to erupt from time to time.

In a situation wherein the security establishment leaves no stone unturned to present a picture that “all is well”, it will be very difficult for the authorities to accept that Kashmir is brewing with genuine anger and has a definite set of political aspirations. By putting a lid over dissent, the ill-advised security establishment has recklessly turned Kashmir into a pressure-cooker-like situation. Unable to find a meaningful political outlet, the situation is bound to explode.

Instead of pushing the boys towards the dark alleys of violence by choking all means of freedom of expression, the security apparatus must be encouraged to show some basic democratic tolerance for non-violent means of agitation and political means of dissent.

The author, based in Srinagar, writes on contemporary issues.