TIRING THEM OUT WILL NOT HELP

Restoration of post-paid mobile phones in Kashmir is welcome only if it is a first step in a long series to eventually return the troubled Valley to normalcy. The administration is treading so gingerly that it was clarified that the return of mobile phones would not be accompanied by the automatic provision of the short message service (SMS). Less than half the mobile phones in Kashmir are postpaid, and make it easier for the authorities to keep track of rather than those which are pre-paid. But a day after such a small concession to the locked-down people, Ajit Doval, the National Security Adviser, was reported to have remarked that but for the media things would be okay in Kashmir. In other words, it is the prying eyes of the media which deter the administration from doing certain things and from not doing certain other things. Such a remark from a person holding a key position in government is unfortunate. Indians cherish press freedom. It is their fundamental right. In a democracy no one can wish away free media. Meanwhile, two months after the changes in the status of Kashmir, we fail to see any sign of the Valley showing willingness to reconcile itself to the inevitable. However, sooner or later a way has to be found to allow a release of the pent-up anger and frustration against the Centre. What the authorities are waiting for is not known but without a controlled release of anger the people are unlikely to return to what can only be described as the pre-August 5 abnormal normal. Even before August 5 things in Kashmir were far from normal. The fear of jihadi terror always lurked round the corner. Tens of thousands of security personnel helped check the constant threat of ISI-funded and fuelled insurrection with a good section of the locals buying into the poisonous Pakistani propaganda. The realization that the deletion of Article 370 and the conversion of J and K from a full-fledged State into two separate Union Territories was bound to be a grave provocation in the Valley caused the Centre to further clamp down on civic rights of the people. For over two months ordinary Kashmiris have remained trapped in a vice-like grip, with the authorities pressing on one side and the fear of the jihadi gun on the other. Even if the people want to get on with their lives, they are mortally afraid of the terrorists who are bent on ensuring a complete disruption of life in the Valley. Select attacks on apple-growers and the few shopkeepers who courageously opened their shops has prolonged the sufferings of ordinary Kashmiris. Amidst all this, the detention of senior leaders of the established parties hardly helps. The Centre’s game-plan for a ‘naya Kashmir’ with a new leadership at the local, district and at the higher levels seems to be stillborn. Anyone who is seen to be cooperating with the authorties, lives in dread of terrorists.

Caught in such a cul-de-sac, only solution the authorities seem to have is to tire out the Kashmiris. The longer they stay as virtual prisoners in their homes, the authorities seem to believe, the more the chances of their pining for the return of normalcy. The argument is flawed, especially when jihadi terror does not countenance a return to normalcy. Meanwhile, there is a renewed pressure from the US House and Senate members for lifting the communication clamps on the Valley. Advocacy groups linked to Pakistan and hiding behind the cloak of human rights and religious freedoms are pressing Congress members to tick off India. A negative resolution by the House on the conditions in Kashmir would be embarrassing. In real terms, such a criticism may not amount to much, but in the battle of perceptions even a mildly critical resolution from the US Congress cannot be helpful. We should be ready to display the same courage we displayed while abolishing Kashmir’s special status in facing up to the consequences of such an action on the streets of Srinagar. Sooner than later, we will have to do it. Why wait and open ourselves to criticism from world capitals, some of which are otherwise well-disposed towards India.