[Reader-list] Solving Amarnath: New Hope in Kashmir

Wed Jul 2 18:13:08 IST 2008

Inder,
Yes, of course, and then we can all ponder in leisure why BJP is making a communal issue of what is essentially environmental vigilantism;and also hope that BJP's communal politics will be diffused by calling it "real threat" and its politics "fraudulent" etc..
You have my best wishes.

--- On Wed, 7/2/08, inder salim <indersalim at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: inder salim <indersalim at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Solving Amarnath: New Hope in Kashmir
> To: reader-list at sarai.net
> Date: Wednesday, July 2, 2008, 4:48 PM
> now, the real threat is BJP
> which is trying its best to manufacture Ayodhya like crises
> for a
> fradulent return to
> power
> 
> 
> 
> On 7/2/08, Kashmir Affairs <kashaffairs at yahoo.co.uk>
> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Solving
> > Amarnath: A New Hope in Kashmir
> >
> >
> > Murtaza
> > Shibli
> >
> >
> > [www.kashmiraffairs.org]
> >
> >
> >
> > The bold decision of the Congress government
> > led by Ghulam Nabi Azad in Srinagar must be commended.
> By revoking the land
> > order to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB) that
> was illegal at the first
> > place, Azad has not only shown great courage and
> decision making skills to deal
> > with a crisis that was spiralling out of control, a la
> 1990, but also taken
> > both the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the
> fledgling separatist movement of
> > the Hurriyat Conference off the guard, who were using
> the land issue to
> > manipulate public mind. Though the order came late; it
> has, however, not only
> > diffused the crisis, but also shown for the first time
> in recent decades, that a
> > crisis in Kashmir could be solved through bold and
> timely political action. It
> > also demonstrates to the Kashmiris that by resorting
> to non-violent action,
> > there is a room for manoeuvre and things can be
> changed through peaceful means.
> > Baring few incidents of stone pelting and burning of
> tyres, the massive
> > demonstrations were totally peaceful, without any
> involvement of the militant
> > groups, and without any communal flavour despite
> propaganda by various quarters
> > including mainstream Indian media. Sadly, the state
> response was not that peaceful;
> > five innocent lives were lost during the ten day
> demonstrations. However, by
> > Kashmiri standards, it could be classified as measured
> and therefore a change
> > from previous years, when the paramilitary forces
> would kill dozens on small or
> > no provocations. Incidentally, this is first such
> massive crisis in the last
> > two decades that has been solved peacefully and
> decisively, in public favour, taking
> > everyone by surprise.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Another very positive aspect that emerged
> > from this stand-off is that the Pakistani government
> maintained a studied
> > silence on the issue, thus not only keeping the spirit
> of reconciliation
> > between the two countries alive, but also showing
> maturity by not succumbing to
> > the pressure from the traditional hawkish elements
> within the establishment when
> > the temptation was real.  This also
> > prevented any wild claims within the Indian government
> or Hindu militants to
> > blame Pakistan for a role in the crisis. Though, the
> Pakistani silence
> > irritated the United Jihad Council chief Syed
> Salahudin, who called it as 'surprising',
> > it was in the right spirit of peace that the two
> countries have embarked upon.
> > Successful dealing of the crisis demonstrated that if
> the right and positive
> > decisions are taken, keeping in view the aspirations
> of the Kashmiri people, it
> > is possible to deal with crises without involving
> Pakistan. It also bought
> > another stark point to the fore – that Pakistan is
> not always involved in all
> > the crisis in Kashmir; a paranoia that has swept
> across the Indian
> > establishment and offers an alibi to the politicians
> and security establishment
> > for their systemic or judgemental failures or biases.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > The peaceful outcome also shows that if the
> > promises and commitments are followed in the right
> spirit, there is a room for
> > massive improvement in the situation without employing
> more than half a million
> > troops and two dozen secret agencies.  If
> > the promises like 'zero tolerance for human rights
> violations' made by the
> > Prime Minister Manmohan Singh more than two years ago
> would have been observed,
> > the Kashmiri population would not have felt so
> distanced or disconnected from
> > the peace process that is now running in the fifth
> year. In addition, the economic
> > development of the Kashmir valley suffers massively
> either due to the massive
> > presence of the Army and paramilitary forces or the
> unspent millions that lye
> > wasted in the government coffers mainly due to the
> political rivalry between
> > the coalition partners – People's Democratic
> Party (PDP) and Congress; the
> > tussle added vitriol to fire caused by the current
> crisis, as the PDP tried to
> > capitalise on it despite being an equal partner in
> 'crime'.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > In a classic act of political opportunism, the
> > PDP that was part of the cabinet decision that allowed
> the illegal transfer of
> > land to the SASB, decided to withdraw the support and
> blame its coalition
> > partner Congress for the whole issue. Only days ago,
> Kashmir's Forest Minister,
> > Qazi Mohammad Afzal, who belongs to the PDP openly
> boasted about his role in
> > effecting the land transfer. But when the public
> reaction grew, the PDP not
> > only withdrew support, but also issued public
> statements that sounded like
> > racial epithets designed to inflame the public opinion
> and hence provoke and enlarge
> > the constituency of protests and violence.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > The use of religion for political ends is not
> > new in south Asia. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the patron
> of PDP, has previously also
> > been accused of creating communal tensions for his
> electoral gains. In 1986,
> > during his time as Congress chief of Jammu and
> Kashmir, Mufti Sayeed allegedly engineered
> > communal riots against the Kashmiri Pandits in
> Anantnag district in which half
> > a dozen temples and homes of Hindus were damaged. This
> afforded Congress a
> > plausible reason to withdraw support from fledgling
> Ghulam Mohammad Shah government,
> > which was manufactured through defections from the
> National Conference at the
> > first place courtesy of Mufti Sayeed. Later, in 1990,
> when the massive public demonstrations
> > engulfed the Kashmir Valley, Mufti, as the Home
> Minister in the VP Singh government
> > deliberately sent Jagmohan as governor makingit
> difficult for Farooq Abdullah
> > government to function. Farooq resigned and Jagmohan
> got a free ride employing state
> > terror that gave rise to massive militancy – a
> phenomenon that still costs
> > lives in Kashmir. Perhaps Mufti Sayeed was wishing to
> witness the repeat of
> > 1990 to feed his insatiable desire for power, but the
> timely action by the Azad
> > government diffused the situation successfully,
> leaving him lost and vulnerable.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Buoyed by the success and free from the
> > fetters of PDP conditionality, the Azad government has
> a huge task ahead. The
> > winter capital of the state, Jammu, has been virtually
> taken over by the Hindu militant
> > groups who have been attacking the government
> buildings, offices of the
> > political parties and threatening economic blockade of
> the Kashmiri Valley. The
> > government should not only deal with situation wisely,
> but also make sure that
> > no anti-Kashmiri rhetoric or action is allowed that
> will feed into the agenda
> > of extremist vision of a civilisational clash. It is
> hoped that all the political
> > parties will discard electoral opportunism and mount
> joint efforts to initiate
> > serious peace efforts. The successful handling of
> Kashmir's current crisis
> > offers a hope and a chance for the Congress government
> at the Centre to build
> > on this bold decision and work towards a final and
> durable solution of the
> > problem.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > The writer is a security analyst based
> > in London. He is also editor of quarterly journal
> Kashmir Affairs and
> > webportal www.kashmiraffairs.org
> >
> >
> >     
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> 
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