JOIN USWhat went wrong in Kishtwar...
The communal clashes which broke out in Kishtwar town of Jammu and Kashmir on Eid-ul-Fitr had the potential to burn the entire state had saner elements in the society not acted in time. Though there were enough indications for the past month that trouble was brewing in the communally sensitive district, the state government all but ignored the signs. Starting from Kishtwar, it took little time for the communal contagion to spread to other parts of Jammu province, including Jammu city. Though there has been a huge loss of property belonging to both communities in many places, the government has only been able to prevent the loss of more lives after the three deaths.
But while the communal clashes were engulfing Jammu region, voices from Muslim majority Kashmir Valley were all calling for calm, peace and communal harmony.
This is a major plus, as the people of the Valley have been able to ensure that the Kishtwar fires do not reach their homes.
It would be too premature to say anything with certainty about what actually triggered the clashes and what kind of administrative lapses resulted in a flare-up across Jammu region. A probe has been ordered at the governmental level and efforts are on at civil society level in both the communities to restore confidence and order. But it is extremely important for all the sides to exhibit utmost maturity, not politicise the situation, and support efforts to restore peace.
Opposition parties like Jammu centric Bharatiya Janata Party and Kashmir centric Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) must also not undertake any adventures that would vitiate the atmosphere further. It would be highly irresponsible for any such party to try to create a situation of electoral advantage in these circumstances.
Tip of iceberg
Separatist leaders, including Hurriyat hawk Syed Ali Shah Geelani and even some mainstream leaders in Kashmir blame Village Defence Committees (VDCs) as the main cause of communal divide in Kishtwar and other Muslim majority areas of Jammu division. Their plea is that the actions of armed VDC members have created a deep divide between the communities. In recent years, there have been allegations that VDCs are responsible for vitiating communal relations. The reports of alleged rape of a minor girl from a particular community by the armed VDC members last month had echoed in every nook and corner of the state.
“The government needs to understand that Kishtwar incident is the tip of the iceberg and 26,000 VDC members armed to teeth, operating in different districts of Jammu province, are like loose cannons that can cause catastrophe of unmanageable magnitude in the state at any time,” says moderate Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
The Congress-National Conference alliance government in the state needs to realise that in view of the observations made by two Supreme Court Judges on a PIL against arming civilians and creating outfits like Salwa Judum, the government is equally responsible for any action by the VDC members.
The VDCs were armed during the central rule in the state in mid-1990s when militancy was at its peak. The idea to arm the members of a particular community was to give them a sense of security and the decision was taken after dozens of members of minority community were killed by the terrorists.
While separatists have been demanding disarming and disbanding of VDCs, the BJP has warned against any such move and claims that the situation was fast turning into one similar to 1990, when Pandits (Kashmiri Hindus) were forced to flee Kashmir Valley.
The BJP charge
State BJP chief Jugal Kishore Sharma claims that minority Hindus and their religious places are being “selectively targeted” in the state. “Those who perpetrated violence in Kishtwar came in a procession. They raised anti-India slogans and the Minister of State for Home who was present in the town on that day was inactive. There is an attempt to take the situation back to 1990,” he told Deccan Herald.
He alleged that those raising anti-India slogans enjoy protection of the administration. Sharma also rejected the allegations that VDC members were misusing their power and authority saying one or two odd incidents does not mean everybody is wrong.
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Ashok Prasad says facts and circumstances which led to the Kishtwar incident are enquired into by judicial commission and it would not be appropriate to pre-judge that finding. However, he defends the response of the district administration on August 9. “The response was appropriate in dealing with huge crowd in an agitated mood. There is a view that had the administration used force, including firing, the situation could have flared up,” he said.
The Kishtwar incident has happened at a time when tension on Line of Control is refusing to calm down. The hawks in India and Pakistan must be celebrating the unfolding of alarming situation that is apparently leading to yet another stand-off between the two South Asian neighbours. The roaring of guns along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir surely has never helped the stand or the cause of either country, yet the clashes have occurred at politically most significant times.
The LoC flare-up has charged the political atmosphere in both the countries once again, threatening a back-to-square-one situation. It is time that both state and central governments wake up from deep slumber and leave their rhetoric on Kashmir issue. If both the governments claim that militancy in the state is at its lowest ebb, what stops them from demilitarising the state as it would earn universal goodwill in Kashmir. But National Conference and Congress-led governments have caused severe erosion of its moral and political authority and the vacuum created by the marginalisation of democratic processes has been filled by the separatists.
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