Jammu & Kashmir simmers

It is summer simmer in Jammu and Kashmir again. In 2008, there were protests on the Amarnath shrine land issue. In 2009, it was the rape and death of Shopian sisters.

Now, the killing of seven youth by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) when it opened fire at protesters pelting stones in Srinagar, Sopore and Baramulla. The angry protesters, led mainly by the separatist Hurriyat Conference of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, are once again raising slogans of freedom.

The other political parties, including the ruling National Conference, blame it all on the CRPF and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. The state government finds itself in a tight spot. It is quite clear that Mehbooba Mufti’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) wants to use this to nail chief minister Omar Abdullah’s inept government, while Hurriyat wants to fan the dying embers of separatism. The situation is both prickly and tricky.

One of the ways of proving that the state is back to normalcy is to let the political opposition vent its fury through protests as long as they are peaceful. It seems that the presence of Central security forces like the CRPF is a provocation in itself and the protesters run amok. Some would argue that the better way of dealing with the situation is to withdraw the forces to barracks as far as it is possible.

It makes sense but it seems that the state police is not yet confident of dealing with the situation on its own. Secondly, both the Opposition and the separatists — there are enough lines to demarcate the two — may not be willing to accept the protocols of peaceful protests. The situation is not special to J&K. Political opposition everywhere in the country has a tendency to push the government to the brink. When it happens in J&K, it rings alarm bells.

The other argument that not enough development is happening does not carry much weight but the fact that general protests in the state have a way of turning into a crisis is a matter of concern. In this context, home secretary GK Pillai’s statement that the protesters were not innocent civilians but determined provocateurs who violate curfew and attack security posts and use innocents as scapegoats may be true but it is not the kind of statement that will help restore order or soothe frayed nerves.

This is not the time for rationalisation of any kind. What is needed is deft handling of the situation, where anticipatory measures would preempt violent protests.