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

[rashneek kher]

Inder Salim lives in what Anandvardhana the great Kashmiri Scholar,on his
treatise on Rasa Sutra called
The Wilfull Susupension of Disbelief...



On 7/2/08, inder salim <indersalim at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 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 making it 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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>
> --
>
> http://indersalim.livejournal.com
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-- 
Rashneek Kher
Wandhama Massacre-The Forgotten Human Tragedy
http://www.kashmiris-in-exile.blogspot.com
http://www.nietzschereborn.blogspot.com