Dangerous drift in Jammu and Kashmir

The situation of Jammu and Kashmir was never as bad as it is today. During my interaction with a wide cross section of people in Srinagar, for about a week, I did not come across any body who was satisfied, if not angry, with what they felt was the way Kashmiris have been treated. This time their anger was directed directly against Jammu and indirectly against India. They suspect that what happened in Jammu could not have happened without some support from some section in Delhi.

It is first time that the two regions have acted and reacted against each other in the form of massive protest. In some respects the situation in Kashmir resembles with what prevailed when militancy started in Kashmir in 1989-90. But at that time mass insurgency was helped by Kashmiri militants, who had crossed LOC and got armed and training by ISI sponsored groups and active support of the Pakistan government.

This time, on the other hand, no hand of the militants, the ISI or Pakistan government was visible. In fact during initial days of protest against the transfer of land to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board in the last days of June, the Pakistan government, press and TV were conspicuous by their complete silence. Mirwaiz Omar Farooq was disappointed over the fact that Pakistan had lost interest in Kashmir.

However, Kashmiri separatist leaders were surprised over revival of international interest in Kashmir, including that of Pakistan, following second phase of mass uprising since mid August shouting anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans as a reaction to the blockade on Jammu-Srinagar highway. New president of Pakistan announced that an all party committee would be formed to evolve a policy on Kashmir. This has, in turn encouraged the separatists.

Similarly, in every respect such an almost total involvement of the people in the massive demonstrations were never witnessed in Jammu before as the entire families, including its old, women and children courted arrests in lakhs. Jammu had never reacted to series of killings of Hindus by the militants in Kashmir as well as in Jammu, including Jammu city, its biggest temple of Raghunath mandir and its suburbs.

Though the protest movement in Jammu initially started by the BJP and its privar against what it called surrender by the government to the Kashmiris through revocation of the order for transfer of land to the Shrine Board, and perceived discrimination against Jammu region by the Kashmiri rulers who replaced Jammu based Dogra Maharajas, it was joined by most of the Congress leaders, who formed the government that had passed the revocation order. Figures of development expenditure and number of persons recruited by various departments were quoted to substantiate the fact of discrimination. Kashmiri press, on the other hand is publishing figures to prove the contrary view point. The anger in Kashmir was also aroused by what they heard about excesses on Jammu Muslims and the way security forces treated Jammu demonstrations with "velvet gloves" and contrast it with ruthless firings on Kashmiri crowds.

Above all, what forced Kashmiris to look for alternative trade route to Jammu-Srinagar highway and alternative association with a country other than India was the blockade on the existing highway and attacks on Kashmiri drivers enroute which, according to them, lasted for fifteen days. Similarly Taxi and Sumo drivers of Jammu held a protest dharna, as late as on September 12, against continued attacks on them in Kashmir. Jammu press publishes reports of harassment of government officers from the regions, some of them went on leave, and of the outside labourers who had to migrate from the valley.

One hears contrary set of versions of every event in the two regions. Even if the government publishes some actual facts, they would lack credibility. Unfortunately there are not many persons who enjoy confidence in both the regions. Jammu Sangarsh Samiti refused to meet the all party delegation, sent by the Prime Minister unless all Kashmiri leaders who belong to the mainstream parties in the valley and are on the hit list of the militants, left Jammu. They included Union Minister and the State Congress Chief Saif uddin Soz. Thus the Samiti leaders were not only against anti-India leaders but also all Kashmiri leaders.

A positive step in this polarised situation was taken by the Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, Hasseeb Drabu, who called leaders of trade and industry from Jammu to Srinagar to meet with their counterparts in Kashmir. But Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries refused to meet them. Its president who is a member of the Coordination Committee spearheading the agitation in Kashmir ruled out any chances of resuming trade relations with the business community of Jammu. He observed that common people in Kashmir were so hurt by the blockade that they themselves were demanding immediate termination of trade relations with Jammu-based traders. Traders of Kashmir have boycotted goods manufactured in Jammu. Most of them are negotiating with manufactures and wholesalers in Punjab and Delhi for supply of goods they had been getting from Jammu. It is estimated that should this face off continue, it meant a loss of around Rs 30,000 crores of annual business.

Eventually political urges of the people have to be understood and addressed. What do the people in the two regions want? According to Mirwaiz Umar Farooq when Kashmiris raise slogans for Pakistan or Nizam-e-Mustafa, they, in fact mean that they reject the present system. Otherwise they were disappointed with the political situation in Pakistan. Let separatist leaders in Kashmir, who have been forced to unite by the spontaneous uprising of the people, discuss first among themselves what status they aspire for the state. Then decide whether it is for the whole state or only for the valley. So far they have been speaking about a solution for the whole united state. How would they satisfy non-Kashmiri speaking communities, of not only Hindus and Buddhists but also Muslims? They must consider internal constitutional set up—before deciding future status of the state—that was accepted by Nehru and Abdullah in 1952 and the five tier internal constitution accepted by All parties people's Convention convened by Sheikh Abdullah and attended by besides Plebiscite Front, Jamat-e-Islami, Mirwaiz Farooq's Awami Action Committee and GM Karra's pro-Pakistan political conference.

I further elaborated the idea in my report to Farooq Abdullah's government in 1999 where in I dealt with its constitutional, cultural and economic aspects, including eight-point formula for objective and equitable allocation of funds to regions and sub-regions. Such an arrangement which recognises and satisfies regional and ethnic aspirations would strengthen secular forces in all regions.

Similarly, Jammu has expressed its dissatisfaction with the present status of the region. While Sangarsh Samiti members are talking of long term solution of the problems of the region, a dominant group therein is seeking a separate Jammu state, which has the support of some influential personalities in Delhi. They must understand that after the recent agitation, Jammu's identity has been fractured. While Muslims in Hindu majority districts supported the demand of the Samiti, and despite some aberrations the communal relations remained cordial, the agitation had a reaction in the Muslim majority districts where some communal clashes also took place. Would not it be wise for the leaders of separate Jammu state to work for restoring the regional identity and see whether region's interests are safeguarded through appropriate constitutional and institutional arrangement?

The current turmoil in the state has, above all, demonstrated once again that it was basically due to regional tensions which assumed different and divergent forms and which are inherent particularly in as diverse a state as J&K. First and foremost task in the state, in any case is to prevent growing communication gap between the two principal regions of the state and restore dialogue between different walks of life of the two regions.