J&K needs truth & reconciliation commission now

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, while speaking in the assembly recently, suggested setting up a truth and reconciliation commission (TRC): “The people must know how militancy started in the state? Who introduced the gun culture? How many custodial killings have taken place? How many youths have disappeared? Who killed hundreds of political workers? Who engineered the migration of Kashmiri Pandits? How many allegations of custodial killings and torture are right or wrong?”

It is not for the first time that Omar Abdullah has mooted the idea of a TRC.

Some years ago, when he was in the opposition, he had advocated the formation of a reconciliation commission.  Then he was squarely criticised by the separatists, who believed that Abdullah was jumping the gun.

“TRC is best suited for a post-conflict situation; how reconciliation is possible in an ongoing conflict particularly when people continue to die?” they had asked.

Mindful of the separatists’ opposition, this time Abdullah added: “We can’t wait till the last gun is silenced or the last stone-pelter shuns confrontation” to justify his demand for a TRC before the conflict resolution.

Such commissions in other conflict situations have proven to be very effective in creating favourable conditions for forging reconciliation between the erstwhile warring parties.

During the apartheid era in South Africa, the white minority ruling class had carried out some of the worst human rights violations against the black.

The blacks were not just victims of state oppression but of excesses carried out by individuals on behalf of the apartheid regime to prolong its reign of terror.

Bringing to justice the criminals was an attractive and noble idea. Punishing individuals for their past crimes would have met the standards of justice.

Yet, it would not have brought the desired closure of the past. Even for seeking justice, sections of society would still have been poised against each other.

What was required in the new South Africa was the need of truth and reconciliation, and not merely retributive and punitive justice system.

The TRC in South Africa provided an excellent platform to both the white minority as well as the black majority to reconcile with their tormenting past.

It was the beauty of the TRC that both the tormentors and the tormented were morally empowered:  Black sufferers got rid of hate and vengeance; white perpetrators had the opportunity to realise their guilt.

The South African model of TRC helped release negative energies. Acceptance of the sincere apology and owning up to crimes eventually led to collective catharses in the society.

Only Omar Abdullah can explain what prompted him to promote the idea of ‘truth and reconciliation’ and whether he is playing politics in the name of a sane idea. But if any place on earth requires the unveiling of truth and reconciliation with its treacherous past, it has to be conflict-ravaged J&K.

The protracted conflict has dehumanised society. Kashmir at present faces many social challenges. In case bleeding sores such as Pandit migration, disappearances, custodial killings, and the worst human rights violations are left unattended, Kashmir will never be able to come out of the conflict. Until now, geopolitics gave rise to a conflict; henceforth, social tensions will precipitate many more new conflicts, endlessly.

But it seems the idea of reconciliation is yet to catch the imagination of politicised minds. Leader of the opposition Mehbooba Mufti has accused Abdullah of an aggrandising agenda; she chided him through the Kashmiri slang “Majea ne lachke te saitaras gillaf” (Mother has no scarf to cover the head and you are thinking of covering the guitar).

The BJP has gone a step further and declared it an anti national plan: “There can be no reconciliation with those who want azadi and Pakistan.”

A sizeable section of the valley’s population is driven by the sentiment of azadi; in the BJP’s view, a political engagement is not possible with this segment of the society. What is the way out?

To butcher tens of thousands or send millions across the border, exiled to Pakistan? Similarly separatists’ want the conflict to be resolved before any reconciliation can take place. Do they really mean that lakhs of Kashmiri Hindus should continue to suffer in the wilderness far away from their homes in Kashmir?

True reconciliation will help in moral empowerment; it will also hasten conflict resolution. However, politicians are incapable of building peace.

The time has come for civil society in India and Kashmir to work for true reconciliation leading to a sustainable peace. Is anybody listening?

The writer is a Srinagar-based columnist and political analyst
firdoussyed@yahoo.com