The All-Party Hurriyat Conference has given a call for a day-long bandh in the Kashmir Valley on May 21, the death anniversary, 12 years apart, of two of its leaders, Moulvi Mohammad Farooq in 1990 and Abdul Ghani Lone in 2002. Both were believed to have been assassinated on the orders of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The security situation in Kashmir Valley has improved since then. Yet Kashmiri Pandits (KPs) today fear for their lives after the daylight murder of Rahul Bhat in Budgam district. Bhat, a KP, had been employed under the special employment package for Kashmiri migrants. To establish confidence among Amarnath pilgrims, the Union Home Ministry has this year decided to give each pilgrim a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag – earlier given only to vehicles – to track their location, besides Rs 5 lakh insurance.
One might well ask then, how safe are other pro-India elements in Kashmir today, especially its political leaders?
Can the government say with any confidence that the security situation has improved for leaders who have dared to uphold the tricolour, despite differences with the Centre on the special status of the erstwhile state of J&K? After a security review conducted in January this year, the Union Territory (UT) government has decided to downsize the Special Security Group protecting former Chief Minister of J&K Mehbooba Mufti, Omar Abdullah, Farooq Abdullah and Ghulam Nabi Azad.
However, it is likely that circumstances developing since the Centre's Kashmir policy changed on August 5, 2019, have made mainstream political leaders in Kashmir more vulnerable. The militants and sections of the population blame their "blind support for India" for the present denouement of J&K. Both the big parties of J&K, the National Conference (NC) and the Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP), have had alliances with the BJP either at the Centre or in the (erstwhile) state. The PDP's alliance with the BJP is seen by some as what made it possible for the Hindutva party to assume power in J&K. Former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah recently told a group of visiting civil society activists, "If Kashmiri Pandits are unsafe, do you think pro-India politicians are safe? I think we would be the first target in the line of fire of militants here."
Both Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti stand for the composite culture of Kashmir and have condemned the killing of Rahul Bhat in no uncertain terms. Farooq Abdullah said that "every attack on our Pandit brothers is an out and out attack on the very soul of Kashmir" and that he looks forward to the times "when both Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits live side by side." Mehbooba, while condemning the killing as a "gruesome act …. Another life ended, and another family devastated. My heart goes out to the bereaved family in this hour of grief" and added that the killing "belies the false claims of normalcy in Kashmir." These are not sentiments of 'anti-India' leaders.
However, the national news media, especially television channels, has tended to abuse the Abdullahs and the Muftis each time Kashmir is discussed as being anti-India. One TV channel even ran hashtags such as #MehboobaAttacksBharat and #ArrestMehbooba, dubbing her pro-Pakistan. This no-holds-barred narrative takes its lead from the BJP government at the Centre, where its leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has led the attack against 'dynastic' rule in J&K, claiming the "Abdullahs and Muftis have destroyed three generations of J&K", and dubbed them corrupt.
One must understand, however, the danger of such a narrative. The killing of a KP youth, Rahul Bhat, a clerk in the tehsil office, was a warning by the militants to demonstrate the ease with which the government's security can be breached by militants. It was a warning not only to other KPs but also to people they see as pro-India.
As polarisation increases, even if it helps the BJP electorally in the rest of India, the fear of KPs employed in the Valley is bound to increase. It is quite possible that there will be more Pandits who may be targeted. This time, however, unlike in the 1990 migration, their colleagues, friends and neighbours – the local Kashmiri Muslims - would not be able to protect them in the face of militants.
Under the prevailing circumstances, it is unrealistic to hope that the KPs can be safely 'rehabilitated' in the Valley by turning the seven transit camps for employees of PM's Package for Kashmiri Migrants into high-security fortresses. The latest suggestion is to transfer them from "vulnerable areas" to towns and district headquarters and reduce the travel distance to their places of work. It is unlikely that this will make them more secure. If the renowned and much-loved Pandit Chemist Makhan Lal Bindroo could be killed in Srinagar, how difficult would it be for militants to strike others in towns and district headquarters?
It is not the security forces but the majority community that is likely to be the best guarantor of the minority's safety. So, it is imperative that all Kashmiri Muslims are not tarred with the communal brush. To do so endangers the lives of Pandits and other minorities in the Valley.
Equally, the narrative about three families ruining J&K and vilifying all Kashmiri Muslims as anti-Hindu must be dropped. In today's circumstances, the ISI may not order the assassination of mainstream political leaders, where such acts would be easy to trace back. Nor is it easier said that the new breed of militants in Kashmir is controlled by Pakistan. Rahul Bhat had not wronged anyone. Nor have the mainstream political parties which have carried the tricolour aloft. That is why today, more than ever, those in the Valley who are with India, need to be protected irrespective of their faith or political affiliation.
(Bharat Bhushan is a journalist based in Delhi)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
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