Restoring trust in J&K
The Kashmir
issue has an internal and an external dimension. Sheikh Abdullah’s movement
against the Maharaja to get justice for the people of Kashmir
in the early 1930s gave rise to the internal dimension. In 1947 when Sheikh
took over as the Prime Minister of J&K (as the chief minister of J&K
was called in those days) this was addressed and the external dimension with Pakistan Pakistan
Pakistani machinations to stoke trouble in the
Valley would just not work when the Sheikh was in charge of the state. The
whole Valley was in grief when Sheikh Abdullah passed away. In mid-1984, when
Farooq Abdullah, who had succeeded his father as chief minister, was dismissed
by the central government, and his unpopular brother-in-law G M Shah installed
in his place with Congress support and after engineering defections in the
ruling National Conference, Farooq became even more popular in the Valley.
After a couple of years, Farooq Abdullah was re-installed as the chief
minister, but by then had lost most of the sheen, having compromised with the
Congress and got into an alliance with them.
This was a time when the Afghan jihad was gaining
momentum, and the Pakistani dictator, the wily General Zia-ul-Haq was planning
the Kashmir jihad using the Jamaat-e-Islami
and the ISI. Pakistani academics and journalists have now come out with
accounts of Zia’s plans for Kashmir using
disgruntled youth from our part of the state. The alleged rigging in some of
the constituencies during the Assembly elections in 1987 followed by alleged
ill-treatment of some of the Muslim United Front candidates led to
disenchantment among the youth in the Valley, some of who crossed over to Pakistan
An insurgency spearheaded by the
independence-loving Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front was, by Pakistani design,
gradually converted into a jihad to establish Islamic rule in Kashmir,
initially through the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the militant wing of the
Jamaat-e-Islami of our part of Kashmir , and
later by inducting hardcore jihadis of the Afghan jihad. Later Kashmir-specific
jihadi groups nurtured by Pakistan ,
like the Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad were inducted into Kashmir leading to violence and mayhem on an
unprecedented scale. Kashmir the Happy
Valley , became Kashmir the Miserable Valley
While the so-called jihad is controlled by
outside forces, the people in the state are tired of violence, and would love
to go back to their simple, happy lives. While economic development of this
backward state will certainly help the youth with employment and other benefits
for the people, Kashmir is basically a
political problem. There is lack of trust between Delhi
and Srinagar Delhi
Two Indian prime ministers have at different
times, broadly laid down the limits that India
The time has come for the government to make a
major political move to tackle the internal dimension of the Kashmir
issue. The three interlocutors nominated by the Centre have given their report
after meeting a wide cross-section of the people of all the three regions of
the state. The separatists stayed away, though some individuals among them did
meet the interlocutors. While efforts can be made to get them to participate in
future discussions, there are the Geelanis among them who are irreconcilable.
They should not be allowed to block this process. There is no single leader
this time, like Sheikh Abdullah, with whom the Centre can initiate a dialogue.
The Centre will therefore have to talk to leaders
of all the mainstream parties and separatists who are willing to participate in
talks and others from the three regions, and work out a political deal. The
earlier Indira-Sheikh Accord recognised that the Centre-State relations would
be governed by Article 370 of the Constitution. This can be the basis for
further discussions.
Radhavinod
Raju is a former director general of the National Investigation Agency.
E-mail: radhavinodraju@gmail.com
New Indian Express
14th October 2011
