September 13 was not only the bloodiest day in the ongoing turmoil in Jammu & Kashmir, it also triggered a plethora of political activity in the region, both internally and internationally. On this day, 18 persons were killed by security forces in the Valley and Mendhar area of Jammu, the apparent provocation being their acts of protest against the alleged desecration of the Quran in the United States of America.
The disproportionate police action coincided with the meeting of the union Cabinet Committee on Security, which deplored "governance deficit" in the embattled state and urged for a national consensus to explore solutions to the explosive situation. The idea of holding the September 15 all-party meeting had its seminal moment at that assemblage. It eventually resulted in the 39-member Parliamentary delegation headed by Home Minister P Chidambaram heading for Srinagar this week, an unprecedented public relations exercise which is the subject of this week's Saturday Special.
By the time the all-party delegation touched curfew-bound Srinagar on September 20, the turmoil had clocked its 100th day, with an average of one civilian falling each day to police or paramilitary bullets. The Parliamentarians visited the hospitals in the city where more than 1,500 wounded civilians have been attended to, mostly injured with firearms, bamboo-sticks, non-lethal pellets or teargas shells.
On September 23, most members of the delegation met with the Home Minister at South Block to offer feedbacks based on which the Home Minister began preparing his report on Jammu & Kashmir to submit to the Government, an exercise likely to coincide with External Affairs Minister SM Krishna's speech at the United Nations. Undoubtedly the stretching of the turmoil and continuation of avoidable civilian killings has landed New Delhi in deep embarrassment. For example, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon, despite retracting his earlier statement on Kashmir, this week re-expressed concern over the prevailing situation. Similarly, the Organisation of Islamic Conference called for resolution of Kashmir issue and expressed "disappointment over the use of force and violence against the people". Certainly, Pakistan played an important role in this. Both Houses of the Pakistani parliament passed resolutions reiterating support for the Kashmiri "freedom struggle" and vowed to continue "political, moral and diplomatic support". The resolutions were immediately turned down by India who questioned the locus of Pakistan, which itself is in "illegal occupation" of some parts of the former princely state.
The all-party delegation's visit to Kashmir ahead of the annual UN General Assembly was a communication to the world community that Kashmir is an integral part of India and New Delhi is seriously pursuing to address the grievances of the people whether political or economic. This explains why the sub-groups of the delegation took the initiative to meet separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Shabbir Shah and Yasin Malik, despite their unwillingness to interact with the delegation members. No doubt the separatists were content to put across their point of view, but Pakistan has taken it with a pinch of salt. Pakistan's foreign office statement is quite reflective of this observation. It said: "Unless India takes a fresh look at its Kashmir policy, does some introspection, stops treating Jammu & Kashmir as its integral part and stops harping on seeking a solution within the Indian Constitution, we do not believe that we can really have any meaningful or result-oriented discussions with India on this (issue)". The Indian reaction to this statement was equally hard-hitting. SM Krishna showcased the all-party delegation's visit as proof of India's consciousness of her responsibilities. "Institutional mechanism and individual mechanism will be put in place so that the genuine grievances of Kashmir and the people of Kashmir will be addressed squarely and directly," he said.
When CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yachuri emerged from South Block after briefing the Home Minister, he boasted over the change in the ground situation in Kashmir following the all-party delegation (APD) visit. There has been no major incident of violence, he said. What he did not mention was the continuation of curfew since September 12, which was relaxed intermittently for 12 hours in as many days. The entire population of the Valley is subjected to unprecedented hardship. Hardliner Geelani, who issues protest calendars, had asked the people to resume routine work on September 23 and 24 but in order to show that Geelani does not run a parallel Government in Kashmir, the authorities persisted with the curfew. The net result of this friction is more disenchantment. Worse, the publication of local newspapers stopped during this period. The authorities imposed a virtual ban on the Press without formally announcing it.
The short-term measures suggested by the APD include the release of political prisoners and youngsters accused of stone-pelting, some economic packages, area-wise withdrawal of the Armed Force (Special Powers) Act, or even the change in guard for which PDP patron Mufti Muhammad Sayeed is being actively consulted. But these measures are unlikely to change the ground situation unless long-term measures to address the political aspect of the problem are not initiated. The disappointing track record of the UPA Government on this count brings in pessimism. The Manmohan Singh Government unilaterally terminated the dialogue process with the sections of Kashmiri separatists in 2007, which they had plunged into at the cost of their security and credibility. This Government moved lackadaisically with the fifth working group assigned to find out ways and means to develop centre-state relations. Justice (retd) Saghir Ahmad's report has not been pursued ever since it was submitted to the Government.
There is complete mismatch between the narratives in Kashmir and New Delhi on the prevailing situation. Common Kashmiris are waiting as to how South Block, which has acknowledged the uniqueness and history of the Kashmir problem, would address the political aspect of the issue. For the moment fingers are crossed.
