An interlocutor’s doomed mission
Indian Express
Hilal Mir
December 20, 2017
Given the situation in Kashmir — continuing military
operations, toothless polity — Dineshwar Sharma initiative appears futile.
The Government of
India’s special representative Dineshwar Sharma’s close-door interactions with
individuals, groups and organisations in Jammu and Kashmir are certainly not an
icebreaker, a prelude to some bigger and more serious political initiative for
resolving the dispute. What, then, is the purpose of his mission?
So far, he appears to
be surveying the results of the BJP-led government’s iron-fisted policies on
Kashmir. Previous such initiatives would be rolled out in sugar-coated rhetoric
and to the accompaniment of visits by all-party delegations and confidence
building measures. Even if those initiatives were no more than time-buying
exercises, the mood used to be conciliatory.
In contrast, what
preceded Sharma’s appointment and what is happening on the ground currently is
perfectly in line with what has come to be known as the “Doval Doctrine”, which
posits that under no circumstance should the state be seen as yielding, either
tangibly or symbolically.
What preceded
Sharma’s arrival was the army chief, Biping Rawat, warning civilians of “stern
action” if they persisted in disrupting anti-militancy operations. Civilians
have not stopped coming in between militants and government forces during
encounters. Many have been shot dead and injured after Rawat’s warning. Also,
major figures in the first and second-rung separatist leadership have been arrested
in the crackdown by the National Investigation Agency. Ahead of no earlier
engagement did New Delhi imprison those who have been named “stakeholders” in
the Agenda for Alliance worked out by the PDP and BJP in the state in 2015. But
Sharma ruled out the release of political prisoners during his second visit to
the state last month.
Throughout his two
trips to the Valley, there was no cessation of the cordon-and-search
operations, which locals perceive is a euphemism for collective punishment. In
military terms, what we have currently is “the softening of the target” and
“area domination”, meaning subduing the other to an extent that one can dictate
terms to it. In the wake of last year’s protests that spanned several months,
as many as 1,100 youths have one or both their eyes impaired. About a thousand
protesters and separatist activists are in jail even after the release of more
than the 8,400 others who had been arrested during last year’s protests. A new
law criminalising damage of property during protests that makes dissent even
more difficult has been enacted.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi further truncated Sharma’s mission, even
before his first trip, by likening P. Chidambaram’s call for the restoration of
J&K’s autonomy to an “insult to the martyrs”.
Perceived to be
India’s only assets in J&K, Kashmiri mainstream politicians too have been
marginalised, so much so that they seem to be useless in effecting any change.
Earlier, the National Conference (NC) and PDP would position themselves as
facilitators, if not the drivers, of any dialogue. This time, apart from
obligatory courtesies and welcome statements, they exuded no hope.
The BJP has kept its
alliance partner, the PDP on a tight leash. On a wider plane, the Sangh has
kept the PDP in a permanent state of anxiousness by mounting an assault on
whatever is left of the autonomous character of the state through its
affiliates. Chief minister Mehbooba Mufti had to warn New Delhi that “no one will
hoist the tricolour in Kashmir” if the Article 35(A) or the Article 370 are
abrogated.
During a discussion
at The Indian Express Adda, Mehbooba pleaded for the return of power projects
J&K calls its own from the NHPC. The government of India has repeatedly
turned down the demand. Recently, the home ministry directed the state
government to withdraw cases against first-time stone throwers, a measure
apparently meant to provide Sharma’s endeavour a patina of rapprochement. But
an embarrassed Mehbooba hurried to say that her government had planned to
actually roll out the amnesty for stone-throwers in May last year. She was not
even allowed to take credit for it.
Now, for
international consumption probably, Sharma’s foray can be sold as some form of
political engagement in a conflict region, emulating the Congress’s history of
such elaborate exercises in futility.
“To understand the
legitimate aspirations of people in Jammu and Kashmir” was how Home Minister Rajnath Singh spelt out the purpose of Sharma’s brief
when he announced his appointment. History has made it abundantly clear that
only New Delhi can define what a “legitimate aspiration” is, depending upon the
situation. Thus the demand by the highest elected official in the state for
power projects is fit for the purgatory.
Noted existentialist
psychiatrist, R.D. Laing, once listed the ways in which a person can drive
another crazy. One way is to expose a person simultaneously to stimulation and
frustration. Something similar is being tried in Kashmir. The prime minister,
in a rare moment of softening, said Kashmiris need embrace, not bullets.
Recently, government forces pumped hundreds of pellets into the belly of a
16-year-old boy, damaging his internal organs. While the army has been
sponsoring cricket tournaments, a few days ago, it also carried out a survey of
the houses, marking them with numbers, a practice that has evoked sharp public
criticism in the past. Sharma’s mission, therefore, inspires no hope.
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