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7/30/2021 Concerned Citizens’ Group: The Sixth Report | Kashmir Life
Concerned Citizens’ Group: The Sixth Report
By Kashmir Life - 5:10 am April 17, 2021
SRINAGAR: The Concerned Citizen’s Group led by Yashwant Sinha has issued its
eighth report on Kashmir on April 15, 2021. Here is its transcript:
“The Concerned Citizens’ Group visited Kashmir from March 30 to April 2, 2021.
This was its third visit after the Narendra Modi government revoked the special
status of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir and the eighth since violence
erupted in the Valley following the gunning down of a militant leader Burhan
Wani in July 2016.
The first visit of the CCG had taken place amidst the strikes, deaths and pellet
injuries to citizens young and old, in October 2016. Since then the CCG has visited
Kashmir at fairly regular intervals to ascertain the public mood by meeting with a
cross-section of public intellectuals, business leaders, human rights groups, civil
society representatives, politicians, journalists and common folk.
The CCG is a voluntary group with no official or unofficial financial sponsorship by
any government or non-government institution. Each member of the group pays
for his or her expenses to maintain the integrity of the group and its reportage. Its
primary purpose is to assess and articulate the public mood prevailing in Jammu
and Kashmir and bring to the attention of the rest of India.
The members of the group comprise Yashwant Sinha (former External Affairs
Minister of India), Sushobha Barve (Executive Secretary), Centre for Dialogue and
Reconciliation, Delhi), Wajahat Habibullah (Former Chairman of the Minorities
Commission and the first Chief Information Commissioner of India), Air Vice
Marshal (Retd.) Kapil Kak and Bharat Bhushan, former editor and independent
journalist.
The latest visit of the CCG was inordinately delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic
raging across the country. The group took the earliest opportunity it could to visit
Kashmir after domestic air travel opened up with Covid-protocol and precautions
which included the mandatory RT-PCR test before boarding the flight to Srinagar
as well a similar test on landing. Unfortunately, Yashwant Sinha could not take
the flight to Srinagar at the last moment due to health reasons. However, he urged
the rest of the group to continue with the visit without him. In the event, only
Sushobha Barve, Wajahat Habibullah, Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak and Bharat
Bhushan undertook the visit.
As in its earlier visits, the CCG met with a cross-section of representatives of civil
society groups, businessmen, politicians, newly elected members of the District
Development Councils, human rights activists, representatives of Kashmiri
Pundits, Shia leaders and political leaders, especially those who had been released
after being jailed in the wake of the developments of August 5, 2019.
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Overall Impressions:
On the face of it, Srinagar seemed peaceful. People were seen going about their
daily chores. Life seemed more ‘normal’ compared to our earlier visits: there were
fewer bunkers and roadblocks and the deployment of the police and the para-
military forces appeared slender. Thus, for example, during our three-hour up and
down road trip to Kulgam from Srinagar, we were not stopped even once by
security personnel. There were, however, short traffic stoppages — never longer
than five minutes — to allow army convoys to pass.
Lal Chowk, the heart of Srinagar on July 13, 2020 when the second phase of lock down started for containing the Covid-19.
KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
After nearly two years of virtually no business, we found that tourist arrivals had
picked up momentum. Many of the hotels and guest houses claimed that they
have had a continuous flow of tourists since this winter. Branded and star hotels
had an occupancy rate of over 75 per cent. This, we were told, was due to mostly
high-end domestic tourists making a beeline to Srinagar — they would have
normally gone to Europe or South East Asia but were unable to do so due to
Covid-related travel restrictions. However, the middle and lower-end hotels did
not have many takers. “It will take us at least three years to write off our losses of
the last two years,” a hotelier claimed. Nonetheless, the hoteliers and others
associated with the tourism industry seemed relatively happy.
Other businesses were not doing so well. “I have never seen a recession like this,”
claimed a business community leader. The new industrial policy has incentivised
new investors “but it puts existing similar businesses at a disadvantage,” claimed
a businessman.
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When asked about the apparent “sense of normality” people said that life had to
go on even after two years of the lockdown – they claimed they had to work for
their living and think of their children’s future. However, they were also quick to
point out that this should not be taken as acceptance by them of the August 5,
2019 decisions by the Narendra Modi government.
It seemed that the anger, despair and alienation of Kashmiris that we had
witnessed first-hand during our six previous visits to the Valley persisted.
However, the Centre’s virtual obliteration of the political mainstream,
nullification of Article 370, abrogation of Article 35A, bifurcation of the state and
the enactment of the new domicile laws seemed to have increased the all-
pervasive sense of fear, humiliation and hopelessness among the Kashmiri
population. People were still in shock and seemed psychologically disturbed
showing heightened anxiety and paranoia about the future.
It was beyond the comprehension of ordinary Kashmiris why the Modi
government had dismantled the structure of the state and altered the relationship
between India and Jammu & Kashmir. In taking these decisions, the Kashmiris felt
that the Central government had looked upon them as ‘enemies’. Every action of
the Centre, therefore, is being viewed as diminishing the Kashmiris as political
entities and shrinking their democratic political space.
A common sentiment among all those we met from the civil society was of anger,
hurt and unhappiness. We found a society deeply wounded. Many told us that in
the past 70 years, they had not felt as hurt as after the August 5, 2019 decision. As
if that were not bad enough, the speed with which the Centre has gone about
issuing one executive order after another – ranging from the scrapping of the
Roshni Act, granting domicile certificate for non-J&K people, and the five
language policy to the delimitation of constituencies – has added to the anti-
India sentiment and increased peoples’ anger. An enraged Kashmiri lamented, “A
coloniser is going about colonising the natives of J&K.”
There is no space for any dissent or criticism of government policies and police
action on any platform – be it social media, print or electronic media. Journalism
has been virtually criminalised. No protests by civil society are allowed, nor are
rallies by political parties permitted. The police do not hesitate to summon
journalists and ordinary citizens and even lock them up under the Public Safety
Act. Fear is palpable amongst the people, including political leaders. People are
watching every move made by Delhi with deep suspicion and distrust. We had
never heard so many people expressing hatred of Delhi and the Indian state as
openly as during this visit to Kashmir. “A substantial number of Kashmiris felt no
‘pareshani’ (problem) with India. But that section of the population is non-
existent today,” claimed a Kashmiri intellectual.
However, it is not as if there is alternative leadership emerging amongst the
Kashmiris. “We do not know who to follow. We are leaderless and we do not trust
anyone any more. The people of Kashmir are not with any political party as of
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now. This is a period of shock. It may take us time to recover and think about what
to do. As of now, we have no strategy,” lamented another.
A large group of Shia youth we met saw the Centre’s policy based on takseem
(division) that served to boost resentment. Every pheren-clad Kashmiri, they
claimed, faced harassment. Muharram processions were disallowed ostensibly
citing security concerns. Many Shia youngsters asked, “If security can be provided
for the Amarnath Yatra over hundreds of kilometres, why is it denied for a
comparatively minuscule Shia procession from Dalgate to Jahangir Chowk (about
three km)?”
A leading intellectual bemoaned the unfortunate transformation of Kashmir and
the deterioration of Kashmir’s relations with the rest of India to a level where
Kashmiris have to beg Delhi for concessions. The larger question he asked was
about the transformation of India itself. “India no longer has the moral capacity
to speak as a democracy given how Kashmiris and Muslim citizens are treated.
India’s dysfunctionality is a tsunami that will sweep Kashmir along with it,” he
said.
A veteran political commentator said, “Earlier, a political module was carefully
put in place in 1953. But every change of regime since has only brought about the
degradation of the system. After 1953, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad ruled for 10
years and during this period Kashmir saw a lot of development. Yet all that was
forgotten after his ouster and the agitation over the theft of Holy relic, at
Hazaratbal. Nonetheless, there was a mechanism in place to give shape to Centre-
State relations which otherwise were only security-oriented. However, the
developments of August 5, 2019, have wiped out everything that Delhi had
achieved in Kashmir. Whatever political outlets were there have been choked.
Unlike Delhi, today there is no appetite amongst Kashmiris for politics. Despite
that, however, the constituency delimitation exercise goes on as normal. It is clear
however that all constitutional, political and psychological landmarks have been
obliterated. There is no attempt to relay the political ground, no new rule-book or
roadmaps are in existence. There are only individual orders. No one seems to
know what the overall plan for Kashmir is.”
Everything, the Kashmiris claim, is now left to the mercy of officialdom. It is not
as if the earlier dispensations operated ideally, they point out, but there was a
system in place that ensured accountability and the locals had a sense of
participation. Now, no one can express any opinion about the establishment
freely. Even instances of smallest dissent – such as a Facebook post, for example –
can lead to one’s arrest. In addition, the people are deeply dismayed at rising
unemployment, anger amongst the young and the use of anti-terror laws like the
Unlawful Activities Prevention Act against dissenters and perceived dissenters.
Just as the attitude of the people has changed towards India, so has their view of
militancy. Today, most Kashmiris openly say that violence has not helped them.
Instead, they felt, it had destroyed their society and created new fault lines. Yet
they admit that violence still held some attraction for disgruntled youth.
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Another significant change we noticed was in the attitude of Kashmiris towards
Pakistan. Earlier they used to look to Pakistan hoping that it would do something
for them in their moment of crisis. That is no longer the case. Today, the
Kashmiris feel that they cannot rely or depend on Pakistan or others, including
liberal India and mainstream Indian national political parties, to agitate on their
behalf. They feel that they are alone in their struggle and they have to take charge
of their own fate.
It was also interesting to see that Kashmiris were increasingly drawing a link
between the fate of Muslims in the rest of India and what the Central government
had done to them. “The Kashmiris see what is happening to Muslims in the rest of
India and what is being done to them. So they are naturally frightened,” said a
Kashmiri business leader.
He claimed that the Kashmiris were carefully watching communal tensions and
conflagrations in mainland India — especially how the Muslims were being viewed
and treated – to understand their own plight. Beef-related lynching, cow politics
and the so-called ‘Love Jihad’ laws being brought in the states ruled by the
Bharatiya Janata Party, police violence on the campuses of Jamia Millia Islamia
and Aligarh Muslim Universities, the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests
and the wanton use of NSA against protestors were making Kashmiris cautious
about India and Indian democracy.
People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD):
One of the aims of this visit was to see whether any nascent political processes
were taking shape in Kashmir. One of the important developments in this context
has been the formation of the Peoples’ Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD).
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PAGD president Dr Farooq Abdullah and other members addressing a press conference after the meeting on Thursday. KL
Image by Bilal Bahadur
Our group met Mehbooba Mufti, Yusuf Tarigami, and Sajad Lone. All three are
founding members of the PAGD, although Sajad Lone has left the alliance now. We
were unable to meet Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah, as they were both in
quarantine due to Covid-19 infection. In fact, Farooq Abdullah was hospitalized
on the day of our arrival.
The PAGD, it might be recalled, was formed hurriedly in the midst of the political
tsunami unleashed by the Centre on J&K State in 2019. On August 3 that year,
unprecedented cancellation of the Amarnath pilgrimage, dire warnings to tourists
to rush home (citing terrorist threat) and the airlifting of tens of thousands of
additional troops to the Kashmir Valley left the mainstream political leadership in
no doubt that a ‘shock and awe’ constitutional assault on J&K was imminent. To
formulate a pre-emptive collective strategy, the leaders representing the National
Conference (NC), Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Communist Party of India
(Marxist) or CPI (M), Peoples Conference, Peoples Movement and Awami National
Conference met under the leadership of Farooq Abdullah. Their first resolution of
August 4, 2019, termed ‘Gupkar Declaration’ was unanimously adopted by all 17
members who christened their political collective, PAGD.
In a united stand, these parties resolved to protect and defend the identity,
autonomy and special status of J&K against “all attacks and onslaughts
whatsoever” and any modification or abrogation of Articles 35 A, 370 or
unconstitutional delimitation were termed as aggression against the people of
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Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The constituents resolved to appeal to the leaders of
other (national) political parties to “safeguard the legitimate interests of the
people of the State with regard to the guarantees given to the State by the
Constitution of our country.”
The Gupkar Declaration resulted in the Centre putting all the alliance leaders
along with over five thousand others under preventive detention on August 4. The
next day, on August 5, the J&K Reorganisation Bill was introduced in Parliament.
Following the release of the Gupkar Declaration signatories after about a year, the
parties, this time including the Indian National Congress, issued a second
declaration on August 22, 2020, and reasserted that the constituents were bound
by the status quo of August 4, 2019, and that they would strive for the restoration
of Articles 370 and 35 A. Subsequent denial by the Congress of being a signatory
to PAGD proclamations, and the pull-out by Peoples’ Conference of Sajad Lone in
January 2021, were doubtless seen as a setback.
However, even before the two parties left the PAGD, the alliance had decided to
contest the upcoming district elections. Having boycotted the panchayat and
municipal elections, the PAGD decided to contest the District Development
Council (DDC) elections taking the Central government by surprise.
The DDC elections in November-December 2020 demonstrated strong support for
PAGD among the people. This was the first major direct electoral exercise along
party lines after the reorganisation of J&K. Virtually converting the DDC elections
into a referendum on the Centre’s August 5, 2019 decision, the PAGD swept the
polls in the Valley, and won 35 of the 140 seats in the Jammu region. The BJP
obtained only three of the 140 seats in the Kashmir Valley with very slender
margins.
That the common and founding objectives of PAGD resonated deeply with the
people was obvious in our group’s interaction with hundreds of people in both
Srinagar and Kulgam. The PAGD declarations seemed to reflect the peoples’
hopelessness at the loss of their identity, division of J&K into two Union
Territories, deep anger at the obliteration of the political mainstream and the
unfathomable fear of demographic change through revised domicile laws.
In conversations with our group, the PAGD leadership shared its concerns,
apprehensions and experiences of harassment at the hands of the Central
investigative agencies. The denial of passports to PDP leader and former chief
minister Mehbooba Mufti and her mother is a case in point. We were informed
that there were 16,000 Kashmiris who had been refused passports. Both
Mehbooba Mufti and her mother now face questioning by the Enforcement
Directorate. Similar treatment was meted out earlier to another former chief
minister and NC leader Farooq Abdullah. Many Kashmiris believe that Mehbooba
Mufti and other PAGD leaders are being targeted by the Centre for their
intransigence. A senior leader of PDP Naeem Akhter has been imprisoned once
again after having been released earlier. He is old and also a sick man and recently
he had to be taken to hospital twice because of his deteriorating health.
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Even more sensational is the case of a young PDP leader, Wahid Parra, who was
arrested three months ago. He got bail from the High Court but was re-arrested by
NIA on charges of terrorism. Wahid Parra is not just an effective youth leader of
PDP but was valuable for Delhi as well as a prominent pro-India voice amongst
the youth. The case registered against him alleges that he distributed Rs. 100
crore to militants. However, hardly anyone in Kashmir believes the charge. A
PAGD leader who was not even from PDP asked, “If this is what they are doing to
Wahid Parra who spoke up for India, who now will side with India?”
The PAGD leaders were quite frank about their fears that the ruling party wanted
to disband and destroy the alliance by chasing away its constituents through time-
tested techniques of inducements, coercion and the threat of use of Central
investigative agencies against them. In such a situation, the PAGD leaders claimed
that they saw their unity, credibility and strength as the strongest antidote to the
government’s machinations.
We were told that due to a variety of reasons, including Covid 19 pandemic, the
PAGD constituents were neither able to meet often enough nor was their plan to
have a full-fledged PAGD Secretariat and a multi-layered structure taking shape at
the necessary pace. Both, they felt, were necessary to strengthen its foundational
objectives as well as providing multiple avenues for engaging civil society, media,
think tanks, academia and ethnicities—Buddhists, Kargilis, Sikhs, Kashmiri
Pandits—across the regions of erstwhile J&K state.
The PAGD leaders shared with us their perceived critical need for them to stay
together in these ‘politically challenging times’ marked by the Centre’s ideological
overreach and unending inducements, pressures and coercion.
District Development Councils:
Our group felt that the mandate of the PAGD reverberated with the people in J&K
and that this was evident in the DDC election results. We wanted to meet some
DDC members and hear from them how they were functioning.
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DDC members protesting over their compromised status in the protocol in Jammu in March 2021.
The group travelled to Kulgam to meet the members of the local DDC there. The
meeting was held at the Chowalgam Rest House in Kulgam on April 1, 2021. All
the DDC members of Kulgam except two were present, representing the CPI (M),
National Conference (NC), Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), and the Indian
National Congress (INC). The meeting was conducted by DDC Chairman
Mohammed Afzal Parray of CPI (M) and the Vice-Chair Shazia Jaan of the NC. The
chairman of the District Municipal Corporation and some other local community
leaders also attended the meeting.
Chairman Mohammed Afzal Parray opened his remarks by stating that what
happened on August 5, 2019, was wrong (theek nahin hua). Life had been taken
from Kashmir, before whom India’s image was shattered, he said. There had been
no development initiative since the DDC elections were held, he could see no way
forward and no way back. “What should we do?” he asked.
Elected Councillors, he claimed, were prevented by the security personnel
provided to them from meeting the public. They were all kept cooped up in a local
hotel. How were they to build public confidence in the elections, he asked? The
DDC members could offer nothing to the youth, except the prospect of jail. Many
stood arrested, amongst whom many remained untraced with Councillors given
no assistance in tracing their whereabouts. All felt unsafe. What had happened, he
concluded, was ‘worse than rape’.
DDC member Gulzar Ahmed (PDP) said he was ashamed of meeting his people
because he could do nothing for them. Officials avoided meeting Councillors, for
whom it was impossible to even get an electric transformer repaired. Mohammed
Ibrahim (NC) also felt under siege, helpless.
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DDC member Inayatullah Rather (INC) said that he was brought up believing that
India looked upon Kashmir as its crown but now that crown had been trampled
underfoot. He recounted the high-handedness of the security forces saying that in
his village a humble young milkman, nicknamed ‘Colonel’ Sattar because of his
strapping physique — he was six feet two inches tall — had been apprehended and
detained in faraway Varanasi Jail. Sattar had nothing to do with any militant or
militancy. This, he said, was the case with many other youngsters who had been
sent to faraway prisons in other states even though J&K had a number of
detention centres of its own. Councillors, he claimed, were avoided by their own
families as “informers” (Mukhbir). If J&K was not entitled to Article 370, why
could their land rights and employment not be protected as in many other states
under Article 371, he asked?
Councillors, he said, were repeatedly humiliated by officials even in providing
facilities like transport and security, which they were assured was to be provided
by the Police Control Room (PCR). The public including Councillors were expected
to pay the full fee for electricity connections, although supply was uncertain and
erratic. A Delimitation Commission had been established but functioned out of
Delhi, limiting access to the residents of J&K, Inayat Rather said.
Another DDC member, 35-year-old Abbas Rather (CPI-M), disputed India’s claim
to being secular. Riaz Ahmad, a progressive young man of the INC representing
the hilly constituency Devsar, complained of rising unemployment and quoted
figures to support his complaint of what he saw as de-industrialisation across the
UT. He described how Ladakh had been provided self-government through Hill
Development Councils, but complained that even the PSOs provided to the
Councillors were spies keeping the PCR informed of their activities.
Ghulam Mohammed (CPI-M) cited Kashmir’s pluralist tradition of Lal Ded and
Sheikhul ‘Alam. Councillor Ruby Jaan (CPI-M) complained that education,
employment, industry and internet connectivity had come to a halt. Aqib Ahmad
Zargar (CPI-M) pleaded that all he had aspired to be a free citizen of a free country
but this had proved elusive. “Why are we treated as second-class citizens when we
go to study or work outside Kashmir?” he asked. The abbreviation DDC was
translated by Mohammad Arif Zargar (NC), Chairman of the District Municipal
Committee, quite cynically as ‘dumb, driven cattle’.
A Kashmiri Pandit present at the meeting, Ramesh Kumar Bhat, had been a
migrant, who had returned to Kulgam in 1995. Thereafter, he had been elected as
Chairman of the Municipal Committee, which he had served for a full term of five
years. He obviously commanded the confidence of his political peers in the DDC,
even though he was not a member of the DDC.
En route to Srinagar, we stopped at village Seerat Jagir within the jurisdiction of
the Kulgam DDC. A number of village residents present there included retired
government officials and teachers, shopkeepers, farmers and a number of young
men — but no women at all. They described in the presence of Councillors
accompanying us, including Chairman Parray, their disillusion with the inactivity
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of the DDCs despite having turned out in good number to vote. The hope
generated that elections would ensure a return to popular government had been
supplanted by mistrust, they said.
One of the CCG members, Wajahat Habibullah, had as Deputy Commissioner,
Poonch (1974-77) been party to the setting up of the institution of District
Development Boards, the government nominated bodies of public representatives
intended to oversee the preparation and implementation of district development
plans, the institutions that preceded the present institution of DDC. As the
Government of India’s first Secretary of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, he had
advised the Mufti Government on converting the District Development Boards
into the DDC, as they were expected under Part IX of the Constitution of India, to
function as institutions of self-government. Article 243(d) reads ‘Panchayat
means an institution (by whatever name called) of self-government constituted
under article 243B, for the rural areas’.
Habibullah told the villagers and the DDC chairman that the 11th Schedule lists
the functions to be assigned to Panchayati Raj Institutions, over which their
authority was mandated to be final, with the bureaucracy simply serving as a
functionary. Their election had won them the right to be seconded funds,
functions and functionaries to enable them to implement their constitutional
mandate. The DDC members, he said, ought to be giving instructions to the
bureaucracy rather than playing a subordinate role to it.
By an order of March 30, the UT government had assigned to Chairmen of DDC the
status of Mayors of Jammu and Srinagar, and to the VCs that of secretaries to the
UT government and Divisional commissioners. The Lieutenant Governor of J&K in
a meeting with Chairmen of DDCs at the Raj Bhawan in Jammu on March 12 is
reported to have claimed that the three-tier Panchayati Raj system was
established to empower the grass-root democracy.
We hope that this account should clarify for him as well as J&K citizens, that
assigning status is of little consequence without the backup of authority as
mandated by the Constitution of India.
All-Party Hurriyat Conference:
Our group went to call on Hurriyat leader and Chief Cleric of Kashmir, Mirwaiz
Umar Farooq to his residence but was not allowed to enter his residence by the
police. We stood outside the gate for about 20 minutes while the police officer-in-
charge of guarding his house insisted that he was not under house arrest but we
could not meet him because of some ‘special circumstances’. He kept calling his
bosses on his mobile phone, only to tell us in the end that there was no
permission to allow any visitors. We spoke to the Mirwaiz on the phone from
outside his residence. He was upset and told us that after being under house arrest
for almost two years, he had been freed. His first visit outside the house was to be
to Jamia Masjid to deliver the Friday sermon. A huge crowd was waiting for him
there both inside and outside the mosque. However, in the end the Mirwaiz was
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not allowed to address the flock and he was confined to his residence once again
without formally being put under house arrest. The Chief Cleric of Kashmir, for 90
consecutive Fridays, has not been allowed to go to Jamia Masjid to deliver his
weekly sermons.
Non-Migrant Kashmiri Pandit Community
The group also met a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits who had not migrated from
the Valley. They claimed that while Kashmiri Pandits had been designated as
“True Indians” by the ruling dispensation in Delhi, they do not get any respect or
response from the administration. On the other hand, Kashmiris apparently blame
the Pandits for the developments of August 5, 2019, claiming that they were a
‘Trojan horse’ of Delhi and the abrogation of Article 370 was their doing. The non-
migrant Kashmiri Pandits particularly blamed the Union Ministry of Home Affairs
for their woes.
Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS) President Sanjay Tickoo is on a fast-unto-death at the historic Ganpatyar temple in
old Srinagar city for the rights of the non-migrant Pandit community of Kashmir.
They claimed that according to the 2011 census, there were 808 Kashmiri Pandit
and Dogra Hindu families in the Valley. Out of these, 554 were Kashmiri Pandit
families and even out of these 64 families had left since 2011, leaving only 490
non-migrant Pandit families in the Valley now. In addition, there were 3,900
migrant Kashmiri Pandits in camps who had been brought in from Jammu and
elsewhere by offering them government employment.
The Valley’s non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits, they claimed, were being
continuously ignored in the plans of the government for the economic
rehabilitation of the community. Last year, the president and several members of
the Valley’s Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti went on a fast unto death twice
demanding implementation of various government orders concerning their
welfare and the J&K High Court’s order to give 500 jobs to their unemployed
eligible youth. On both occasions, they pointed out, they had called off their fast
at the request of the Chief Secretary with a promise to discuss the issue regarding
jobs and implementing the High Court Order. However, several months had
passed, they pointed out, but there was no forward movement, except for one
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meeting that was held between the Lt. Governor’s Advisor Bashir Khan and the
Kashmiri Pandit group.
Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha has repeatedly claimed that the government has a
“special package for Kashmiri Pandits which goes beyond their imagination”. “He
has said so thrice this year already. But we don’t know what he means,” one of
them said.
Meanwhile, they pointed out that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has formed
yet another organisation of Kashmiri Pandits, this time amongst the Diaspora.
Christened “Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora” (GKPD), it is meant to lobby
international forums, especially in the USA, for a Kashmir Pandit homeland
within Kashmir Valley. “What Panun Kashmir could not do is sought to be done
with the creation of the GKPD. The RSS was disappointed with Panun Kashmir as
they could not even open and office in the Kashmir Valley,” he pointed out.
Blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party for their woes, the Kashmiri Pandit
representative said that it used the plight of the Pandits in every election,
including in the ongoing West Bengal legislative assembly election. However, it
does nothing for them, especially for those who never migrated out of the Valley
even in the worst of times.
With the spate of several killings of Hindus in the Valley the minuscule KP
community feels vulnerable, said one of them. Another rued that the Pandits were
getting increasingly radicalised (referring to those in Jammu] with thousands
joining the RSS. Even their segregation in camps had not helped, he said. On the
other hand, he said, the few thousand who never migrated from Kashmir, have
become very insecure in the last few years and fear they could be targets of a false
flag operation before the next general election in India. Many alluded to the all-
pervasive role of the intelligence agencies in the Valley with access to every
militant group through what they called “embedded militants”.
A valley resident said that there was trouble brewing in the Valley already. Under
the Centre’s Smart City project, several Hindu temples were being renovated on
river banks. The Raghunath Temple in Srinagar’s Fateh Kadal area is one of the
temples being renovated. In all this renovation activity, there was no involvement
of Kashmiri Pandits. In fact, the security forces had been given a role in
identifying temples to be renovated. Last year, the Rashtriya Rifles had carried out
a survey of temples in South Kashmir. “This is a dangerous thing. It makes the
non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley vulnerable,” a non-migrant Pandit
said.
Youth:
The people in Kashmir are afraid of the seething anger in the youth and the
increasing lure of the gun. Despite ‘encounters’ and a large number of militants
getting killed, the number of active militants seems to have remained the same in
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the Kashmir Valley for the past two years. The support for militancy is growing not
only in the rural areas but also in urban areas, including Srinagar.
Kashmiri youth take part in written test for the post of constable in Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial
Security Force (CISF) during a recruitment (in rally Mode) at BSF Frontier HQ, Humhama in Srinagar, on Sunday 18 October
2020. Youth from 22 districts of Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh took part in the first open rally by BSF
since creation of Union Territories . KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
A major cause of anger against the security forces and for support for militancy
seems to be the policy of blowing up houses where militants take shelter.
However, most often it is not just a particular house where militants have taken
shelter that is blown up by the security forces but several adjoining houses are
also damaged in the process. Even in the severest of Kashmir’s winters this year,
the policy of blowing up houses where the militants were hiding, was
implemented. The houses are also blown up where the militant had taken shelter,
as a punishment to the house owners. A Kashmiri man asked, “After such
encounters which make people homeless, why would an entire village not support
militancy?”
A civil society member lamented that today’s gun wielders were the stone-
throwers of 2008 and that this process will go on. A Kashmiri journalist told us
that Maqbool Butt and Afzal Guru were hanged and buried in Tihar jail, far away
from their home and relatives but now this had become a daily occurrence as
young Kashmiri militants are buried far away from their homes. He said that
people boil over in rage and grief when their wards are buried under State
arrangements at a central location, far away from home. “Even mourning stands
criminalised,” he lamented.
Locals point out that the youth are angry and hate India — they have witnessed
violent protests on the streets repeatedly for the past decade and also brutal
action by police and security forces. When they see no options, they are willing to
take up the gun. Even if they do not have access to guns as of now, locals point
out, they have militancy on their mind.
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In an attempt to win over the youth, sports events are being organised. However,
they have not worked in the past and are unlikely to be effective even now. In
Anantnag, during 1990s there was a football club. All its members became
militants. After the 2010 uprising, the youth focus of the civic administration
comprised organizing cricket matches. The largest cricket matches were held in
Pulwama. Those who played in these matches were later found to be a part of the
anti-government protests in 2016. The government and the security
establishment are making the same mistake again, by focusing only on sports and
a few cultural events. Unless the turmoil in the hearts of the youth is addressed,
they are given space to vent their feelings and they are actively engaged, state-
organised sports events alone will not prevent them from getting radicalized.
Increasingly, many youngsters consider the Indian flag atop every government
building, on Shankaracharya Hill in Srinagar and hanging from every lamp-post
on the Boulevard along the Dal Lake in Srinagar, as a provocation. A young man
remarked, “You brought down our flag, we will bring down yours and burn down
these buildings one day.”
Attacks on Kashmiri students in the rest of India have shown that the propaganda
against Kashmiris can lead to violence against innocents. In the recent past,
Kashmiri parents were comfortable sending their children to study or find jobs in
the rest of India. Today they are fearful of sending them away from home. If they
have to send their children away, they say, they would rather send them abroad.
Drug Addiction:
Drug addiction seems rampant in Kashmir, as it would perhaps be expected in a
conflict zone. Medical experts claim that youth who earlier took to guns are
increasingly taking recourse to drugs, starting with inhalation of chemicals but
ending after a few years with heroin injections. Instances of 15-year-olds going
straight to heroin injections are not uncommon now, they point out. Mercifully,
addicts are not into criminal activities due to family support. Earlier, cannabis was
cultivated but in the absence of a market, farmers have switched to poppy
cultivation for making opium.
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There are reports that with many apple orchards suffering losses due to adverse
weather conditions two years ago, people are shifting to growing opium. We heard
about a father telling his son, “Preserve apple trees.” But the son apparently
replied, “Burn them down and grow poppy for opium and we will wipe out our
debts.”
It would seem that joblessness and a sense of hopelessness are driving Kashmiri
youth to drug addiction. Mental health, medical professionals told us, is taking a
huge toll on Kashmiri society.
Corruption and outsiders:
The Central government has often accused the National Conference and PDP
leaders of looting Kashmir. But in Srinagar today, one often heard people talk
about corruption having reached its peak. They accuse government employees of
demanding huge amounts of money at the slightest pretext. They give examples
of how the different government employees have amassed properties in Srinagar
and elsewhere.
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Earlier there was some restraint on bureaucrats in terms of how much they could
squeeze out of the citizens because they too came from the same society and
community. This local community connect had some restraint on the Kashmiri
civil servants as they knew they too had to live among the people after retirement.
However, people complained that now Kashmiri civil and police officers are being
side-lined and are being replaced by non-Kashmiri civil servants in the running
the administration in the 10 districts of Kashmir. Some of them are novices who
have come from outside and are not part of the Kashmir civil service cadre with
almost no knowledge of local context and circumstances. They do what they like,
people complained. These non-Kashmiri officers have no connect with the local
communities.
The ceasefire along the LOC:
Reacting to the ceasefire along the Line of Control (LoC), some Kashmiris felt that
Pakistan’s current position may well change in the future if the peace process
does not move forward. This, they believe, would most likely happen not because
of the internal or external pressures on Pakistan but because of New Delhi’s
provocations on Kashmir. However, most welcomed the ceasefire and expressed a
desire for peace and wished for a forward movement in the India-Pakistan
dialogue process.
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This is the Kishen Ganga (Neelum) rivulet that acts as the Line of Control between the two halves of Kashmir. Image
Mahmood Ahmad
“We have received a very deep wound. We will of course welcome India-Pakistan
talks and whatever relief that brings to us. But the wound that has been inflicted
will remain and we will continue to demand the restoration of our identity and
our state. We feel vulnerable and want to survive for achieving our larger goal,” a
Kashmiri said.
Although there was large support for militancy, some considered it to be a
temporary phase. However, people also said, that if space was created for another
process through an India-Pakistan dialogue to resolve their situation, then the
Kashmiris would support it. But a Kashmiri felt that BJP would not want to resolve
the Kashmir issue as it helps the party win elections. If however, there is further
“choking of political space in Kashmir” in next three years, some Kashmiris
predict that a call to arms may be given irrespective of internal or external
constraints.
Conclusion
Kashmir has continued to remain disturbed since August 5, 2019. Unlike the rest
of India, it went into a double lockdown – one imposed after removing the special
status of the state and the other due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The former dove-
tailed into the second.
People believe that the Covid-19 pandemic will eventually pass and that it has not
created any Kashmir-specific problems. The problem specific to Kashmir in their
mind originates from the decisions of Modi government. Since August 2019 there
have been changes in the administrative structure of the bifurcated Jammu and
Kashmir, old political parties are sought to be dismantled and the formation of
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new ones is being facilitated by Delhi. It is not clear whether Kashmir will resist
the changes being imposed on it or accept them with resignation. The local
political leadership is either silent or being forced into silence for fear of the
Indian state.
Although there is a feeling that saner voices in India ought to speak up and help
de-escalate the situation in Kashmir, there is also an overwhelming sense of
despondency and acknowledgement of the reality that there are no significant
voices in the rest of India who can speak up for them or offer resistance to what
has happened to them. They also seem to recognise the power differential
between those who have brought about the change in J&K and the subjects of
those changes, the Kashmiris themselves. And they feel powerless.
They bemoan the fact that they have been left alone by the rest of India. They are
wary of joining or even publicly commenting on larger protests taking place across
the country against the BJP government in Delhi such as the farmers’ agitation or
the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests because they feel that their issues
will get drowned in the larger ones encompassing India. Yet there are questions
being asked about how long the Kashmiris can isolate themselves and resist the
BJP government in Delhi alone. “We don’t have leaders just as India does not have
leaders who have a well thought out critique of the RSS and the BJP and who can
lead the people against their designs,” a Kashmiri public intellectual summed up
the dilemma.
It was clear to the group that for bringing about peace and restoring the identity
and honour of the people of J&K, the Central government would have to restore
the statehood of J&K and start a dialogue for a fresh distribution of powers
between the Centre and the State, keeping in mind the special history of J&K’s
accession to India. However, it is not easy to see this process starting under the
present regime in Delhi.
Under these circumstances, short of restoring status quo ante, it is very difficult to
recommend a course of action to fundamentally change the situation in which the
Kashmiris find themselves. We therefore limit ourselves to suggestions that are
akin to applying balm on a wound to relieve the immediate pain.
We, therefore, suggest the following course of action to the state actors and the
political parties in India:
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1. Address the sense of defeat and anger amongst the Kashmiris by opening up the
democratic space for people to express themselves.
2. Restore the earlier policy of restraint and preventing ‘collateral damage’ during
counter-insurgency operations by the security forces.
3. Do not blow-up the homes of hapless villagers which are occupied forcibly by
the militants for shelter or for using them tactically against the security forces.
4. Allow civil society organisations to function by holding meetings, seminars,
and discussions which would allow the people to vent their emotions and
relieve the psychological pressure on them.
5. Do not criminalise journalism and allow journalists and media persons to freely
report from the ground – even the state might be better informed if the press is
free.
6. Give special attention to the physical safety and economic well-being of the
minorities in Kashmir, especially the non-migrant Kashmiri Pandits, Sikhs and
Shias who have lived in peace in the Valley for centuries.
7. Do not impose artificial political processes on the Kashmiris which seem
democratic outwardly but are bereft of any democratic muscle.
8. Allow the DDC members to visit their constituencies instead of creating hurdles
in their way and make the bureaucracy in the districts accountable to the DDC.
9. Shift the offices of the Delimitation Commission for J&K to the UT from Delhi
so that the exercise is accountable and transparent.
10. Allow the national Opposition political parties to visit Kashmir, move around
freely and meet local political leaders and civil society actors.
Wajahat Habibullah Kapil Kak
Sushobha Barve Bharat Bhushan
Yashwant Sinha (Endorsed)
Kashmir Life
https://kashmirlife.net
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