Peace gets a chance
Indian Express
May 17, 2018
The cycle
of violence in the Valley needs to be broken. The ceasefire could be a precious
beginning.
As a citizen of the trouble-torn state of Jammu and
Kashmir, I am finally at peace. I have felt the pain of every mother who lost a
child and each son who has been orphaned across Kashmir. Every coffin takes us
away from hope. But optimism has returned, and hope revived. The unilateral
ceasefire announced by the Government of India in Jammu and Kashmir is the
biggest Confidence Building Measure (CBM) since Atal Bihari
Vajpayee’s initiatives for peace and reconciliation.
The situation in Kashmir has not presented an
encouraging picture. Crowds are growing at the funerals of slain militants.
Pictures and videos of gun-wielding youth in army fatigues on social media have
become a common trend. The “last call” audio messages by the militants to their
families present a depressing picture of how Kashmir youth are choosing the
path of “dying in battle”. They no more long for “azadi”, which most know
cannot be achieved. They want to “fight and die in honour”.
A simple internet search about the number of
militants killed in Kashmir during 2018 leads to “Operation All Out” — a
special page created on Wikipedia. The operation has been summarised as “a
joint offensive launched by Indian security forces in 2017 to flush out
militants and terrorists in Kashmir until there is complete peace in the
state”. With regard to the current year, the free online encyclopedia (created
and edited by volunteers) claimed that a total of 70 militants and 15 security
personnel have been killed in operations till May 6, 2018. This is in addition
to around 30 civilians who have lost their lives in incidents of cross-firing,
stone pelting and other violent incidents across the Valley in 2018.
What is of note here is that some of the militants
killed over the last two years were from affluent families and well educated,
including an assistant professor from Kashmir University who died a day after
joining an armed group in Shopian district earlier this month. If the official
figures are to be taken into account, around 90 per cent of the militants
killed in these encounters were locals. The state government had, during the
budget session, informed the Assembly that around 280 youth have joined the
ranks of militants in Kashmir in the last three years, with 126 last year
alone, the highest since 2010.
The figures, be they of killings or youth picking
up guns, are alarming for any democratic country. They present a gloomy picture
where the gun, on both sides, is being used to settle a political issue. It may
give sleepless nights to anyone at the helm of affairs, in New Delhi or
Srinagar. The youth joining militancy or resorting to stone pelting are in the
age group of 13 to 30 — it is the generation which has witnessed peace only in brief
intervals, especially between 2002 and 2008.
The demand for a unilateral ceasefire put forth by
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti following an all-party meeting should not thus be
seen in isolation. The head of a democratically-elected state government was
making an appeal to the Union government — to give her government an
opportunity to restore the trust and confidence of people in the democratic
set-up; to tell them that their issues and grievances can be heard without them
restoring to violence.
The experiment, as the CM has said, is not new. A similar exercise was done in 2000 when Vajpayee was heading the NDA government at the Centre. The ceasefire lasted for five months and there is no evidence to show that during this period, militants had a greater opportunity to regroup or the security apparatus was disturbed.
The CM has made frequent appeals to militants to
return, urged parents to intervene, asked religious scholars to desist from
provocation and even extended “azadi” to separatists if they help in the
restoration of peace. She has been subjected to severe criticism at home for
“speaking truth”, while at the national level every attempt has been made to
project her as a “soft separatist”. She struggled to persuade PDP ally, the
BJP, to be on the same page with regard to the peace process.
Every time she suggested, sought and demanded
anything from the Union government, her political rivals — including the
National Conference and Congress — projected her as “power hungry”. The
suggestion of the first woman chief minister of the trouble torn-state has
finally been accepted. Her understanding of the ground situation has been
honoured. The announcement by the central government, asking the armed forces
to suspend all operations during the holy month of Ramzan, has been made amid
criticism that Mufti was facing, even from her ally in the state.
Peace is a paramount requirement for any political
engagement or reconciliation process. Those within the BJP who challenged the
idea of peace were actually confronting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. During his
Independence Day speech last year, he said: “Na goli se, na gaali se, Kashmir
ki samasya suljhegi gale lagaane se” (Kashmir’s problems can be solved only by
embracing the people of Kashmir, not with bullets or abuses”).
Vajpayee too had underlined the necessity of
dialogue. “I assured the people of Jammu and Kashmir that we wish to resolve
all issues — both domestic and external — through talks. I stressed that the
gun can solve no problem; brotherhood can. Issues can be resolved if we move
forward guided by the three principles of Insaaniyat (humanism), Jamhooriyat
(democracy) and Kashmiriyat (Kashmir’s age-old legacy of amity)”, Vajpayee had
told Parliament on April 23, 2003, after his return from the state.
The time has come for us to seize the opportunity
to “cease the fire”. The efforts of the state and Union governments must be
reciprocated by every individual and organisation, irrespective of their
ideology and political affiliation. Let’s not spill more blood in the name of
regionalism or nationalism. Let’s give peace a chance. The initiative will be
criticised, questions asked, fingers raised and every attempt will be made from
across the border and within the state to create hurdles. Kashmiriyat and
Jamhooriyat will be put to the test. But let’s hope we can steer ourselves to
an era of peace.
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