Peace in Jammu vital for Mehbooba’s survival
NEWDELHI: Minutes after the dastardly attack on Amarnath pilgrims in Kashmir on Monday, the opposition National Conference (NC) called a day-long shutdown in Jammu on Tuesday in protest against the killings.
The decision came as a surprise given that the NC with a pan-Jammu and Kashmir presence could have announced a statewide shutdown (bandh) instead of restricting the protest strike to one region only.
The competitive politics to court the political constituency in Jammu prompted the Congress, the National Panthers Party of Bhim Singh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) to support the call.
Were Kashmiris less enraged than the people from Jammu or was it that Kashmir remained indifferent to the killings of Amarnath pilgrims? Perhaps, the widespread condemnation of the attack by Kashmiris on social media and other public platforms was to the contrary.
The incident had shaken Kashmir and the spirit of Kashmiriyat. While Kashmir’s civil society orgainsed a protest sit-in in Srinagar, the separatists who otherwise promptly give strike calls merely expressed “deep sorrow and grief” over the killings.
This was the worst attack on the annual pilgrimage since 2000 when 30 pilgrims were killed.
The rush by mainstream parties to mollify Jammu also explains the tough task ahead for chief minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti. For her, the biggest challenge will be to ensure peace in Jammu, a region with substantial Hindu population.
In the past, the agitations in Jammu have also resulted in the fall of the state governments. The agitation of 1952-53 over the demand for complete integration of J&K with the rest of the country and opposition to the provision of separate flag and the post of Prime Minister eventually resulted in the dismissal and arrest of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah.
In 2008, the coalition government headed by Ghulam Nabi Azad of the Congress had to go following the 61-day agitation in Jammu over the cancellation of an order of transfer of about 39.88 hectares of forest land in Baltal (Sonamarg) and Chandanwari (Pahalgam) to the Shri Amarnath Shrine Board. The PDP had then withdrawn its support.
Perhaps, the importance of Jammu’s dynamics in state politics forced PDP founder and former CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed to go for a post-poll alliance with the BJP which bagged 25 of the 37 seats in the region. The two parties had bitterly fought the 2014 state polls which threw a hung verdict.
Political analysts, however, are of the view that the attack indicates the worsening situation in Kashmir and suggested that Mufti should push the Centre to change its present stand. “That will weaken and alienate the emerging extremist elements and restore confidence among the people not only in J&K but across India. She (Mufti) needs to win over the hearts of the people and push the BJP to give up its hardened policy on Kashmir,” said Prof Noor Ahmed Baba of Kashmir University.