‘Criminal justice infra in J&K can’t handle so many cases’

DEEP IN THE VALLEY Says young Kashmiris exploited by vested interests; militancy recruits mainly from angry, frustrated stonepelters

NEW DELHI: Dineshwar Sharma, the centre's Kashmir interlocutor, is a key voice in determining New Delhi’s policy in the troubled state. He was the man behind government's decision to withdraw cases against stone-pelters. In an interview with HT’s Rajesh Ahuja, even as it becomes clear that this summer in the state could be the worst in recent years in terms of violence, Sharma defends the decision to withdraw cases, but admits that the sentiment of young people in Kashmir is negative right now. Edited Excerpts:

Do you think the government adopted a soft approach against stonepelters by taking back cases against them?

The situation in Kashmir is very complex and difficult. There is nothing like soft and hard approach. The withdrawal of cases against firsttime stone-pelters was on my recommendation. I take full responsibility for this.

In Kashmir, there are thousands of students and young people who got involved in stone-pelting cases and majority of them were involved only in one case and many of them date back to 2008. Recruitment to militancy is mainly from these stone-pelters who are frustrated and angry, having lost hope of any positive direction in their career and life.

Our criminal justice infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir is incapable of handling so many cases. The result has been continuous accumulation of cases without a final outcome. My recommendation for withdrawal of cases against first-time stone-pelters was an attempt to wean away young people from the path of violence as we cannot leave thousands of them vulnerable to exploitation by separatists and militants.

But don’t you think that the withdrawal of cases has emboldened the stonepelters?

One can argue that withdrawal of cases against first-time stone-pelters encouraged and emboldened the stone-pelters.

I have checked from J&K Police that informed me that none of the stone-pelters covered under Amnesty Scheme are involved in fresh incidents of stone-pelting, nor any of them have joined militancy.

I look at positive side of this decision that it has helped in reforming thousands.

After the decision was announced in November last year, there was visible positive sentiment in Kashmir. Winter tourism also improved. However, we could not sustain the momentum and over the last two months the sentiment again started deteriorating due to some factors.

When our young children go astray, don’t we try to bring them back on path? Some employed young people including from the army and the police and, more recently, a young professor, left their jobs to join militancy. This does not mean that we stop providing employment to Kashmiris. We have to see the problem from a different perspective.

Young people in Kashmir are caught in a very vicious cycle and are getting exploited by vested interests. We have to take them out and guide them. Without this, we cannot restore peace in Kashmir.

When a doctor treats a chronically ill patient and his one dose of medicine does not work and condition (of patient) deteriorates, it does not mean that it is due to the medicine. It means the doctor has to try other medicines.

Coming back to the question, we must be realistic that the sentiment of young people is very adverse. Their coming to encounter site with stones knowing well that they might get killed or suffer serious injuries, including permanent disabilities, is not just for the sake of fun, or in the hope that the case against him will ultimately be closed. We do withdraw cases against students/ young people in various other parts of the country keeping their sentiment and future career in mind.

In Shopian, more than 50,00 people pelted stones on security personnel after killing of five terrorists there ….. don’t you think the problem of stonepelting has increased in recent months? Yes, I am noticing increase in stone-pelting since March.

WhatsApp groups are still active in the Valley, organising stonepelters... don’t you think the organisers of these groups should be dealt with stringent laws by NIA/ police? Yes, the administrators of such WhatsApp groups mobilising young people for stone-pelting should be identified and dealt with as per law.

Why has the government not been able to formulate a consistent policy to deal with stonepelters in the Valley?

There cannot be a policy for dealing with such situations. The government’s response has to be flexible depending on situation, strength and composition of stone-pelting crowd, issues on which they are agitating, etc.

Do you agree with the demand of ceasefire with militants during Ramzan in the Valley?

It is for the government to take a call on it. I have no comments to offer.

Do you think increase in violence and incidents such as Kathua rape case and protests following that have limited your space to provide a healing touch in the Valley?

Yes, I admit that some of the recent developments have been a cause of concern to me. I am personally very saddened by death of a youth from Tamil Nadu who came as a tourist. The death of a tourist is a big setback to tourism in the state, which I hoped and wished would improve during this year and for which various steps were taken. It is time all right-thinking people of Kashmir realise the gravity of the situation and take upon themselves to guide young people.

What is the core message for people of Kashmir and for the rest country when they look at Kashmir?

I would like to request everyone, including parents and teachers, to not remain detached from the developments. They must come forward to actively guide children and young people. If they fail to perform their duties now, they may not get another opportunity and will be left only to repent.

I also urge the students and young people of Kashmir to desist from violence as it will take them nowhere. They should not allow themselves to be used by anyone. I will try my best to address their concerns if they abjure violence.

The young people of J&K have tremendous talent, be it in sports or in the academics, which they have proved at various levels including in the UPSC competitive examinations. If they use their talent and energy in a positive manner, they are capable of competing with anyone.

I request the people from the rest of the country to treat young people from Kashmir as their own children, their own brothers and sisters. They are emotionally hurt and need the parental touch of Mother India. I would like to urge people not to get deterred by the extremely sad incident of death of a young tourist in stone-pelting recently.

We must not allow the debates to become Kashmir Vs India. This will only help in our enemy achieving his objective.