#dnaEdit: Killers nailed

The court martial awarding life imprisonment to five army men for the killing of three Kashmiris in the 2010 Macchil fake encounter case has certainly come as a welcome development for a people who had lost all confidence in the Army’s internal processes to deliver justice. Earlier this year, another court martial, had cleared the accused army personnel in the 2000 Pathribal fake encounter killings citing lack of evidence despite the Supreme Court taking up the case. A colonel, a captain and three jawans have been sentenced in the Macchil case, which becomes the first in the Valley where army personnel were handed down life terms. The similarities between the Macchil, Pathribal or even the 2006 Ganderbal killings cannot be overlooked: all three were allegedly committed by persons aiming to win medals or promotions. More worrying is another category of killings that is happening simultaneously: mistaken killings. In a repeat of the 2005 Kupwara killings where three boys aged between 10 and 16 were mistaken for militants and shot dead, last week saw the killing of three teenagers travelling in a car in Budgam. 

By giving the Army discretion over holding its personnel accountable for their actions, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act sanctions the impunity behind both types of killings. The unrest  following the Macchil encounter left 110 people dead and exposed the Army to widespread public reprobation. While the major political voices across the Valley have welcomed the judgment, in the same breath many of them ask whether the other cases of disappearances and killings will be dealt with in a similar manner. There is no doubt that a perceptible change is occurring in the political scenario in the state. The BJP, even as it aims to sweep the Jammu and the Ladakh regions, has launched a major outreach towards Kashmiris, as evidenced by the meetings Prime Minister Narendra Modi had with ex-separatist leader Sajjad Lone. In the Budgam case, the Army has promised to complete its probe in 10 days and also offered Rs10 lakh as compensation to the victims’ families, something unprecedented in earlier years. The influence of the central political leadership is quite evident in the Army’s new-found responsiveness to human rights violations. However, it is unlikely that the BJP, like the Congress before it, will be able to overcome the Army’s opposition to lifting AFSPA in Jammu and Kashmir or the North-Eastern states. While the threat posed by insurgent groups has waned, the same cannot be said about Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. 

For the BJP, the short-term imperative of winning the J&K polls has been accompanied by a studied silence on its fundamental slogan of abrogating Article 370 from the Indian Constitution. The BJP, has instead, focussed on development as enshrined in PM Modi’s “sab ka saath, sab ka vikas” slogan. The devastation wrought by the September floods allows the Centre a unique window to partner the state government in the reconstruction process. But without a long-term strategy for demilitarisation of the state, any electoral gains made by the BJP could be easily frittered away by wanton killings as in Budgam or the recurring police firing on civilian protesters. If elections are considered a barometer of the normalisation of peace, the Army should take a call on whether it can de-escalate its presence in civilian areas while maintaining its vigil at border areas to prevent fresh infiltrations. Building trust is the only way to forge lasting ties with the Kashmiri population. Even as its makes fresh promises, the present central leadership should remember how past governments were complicit in actions that undermined Kashmir’s democracy.