Wahhabis in Kashmir, your moon has blood clots

Clichéd interpretations contribute little to mitigating discord; they merely reinforce traditional ideological positions, make for sensational news-bites and heart-rending narratives; ditto the Kashmir dispute. Its intractability stems not from want of effort, but from a myopic, black and white postulation that casts the Indian government as the “big bad wolf” in this real-life fairy tale and Kashmiris as hapless victims of a brutal authoritarian establishment.

This lopsided equation that throws the entire onus of conflict resolution on the Indian government, needs to be replaced with a more equitable and realistic formula. Blind empathy or an over-indulgent parent-child relationship that pardons egregious transgressions and frank, corrective input is a recipe for failure. Pointed remediation is warranted. The growing number of Wahhabis in Kashmir must be made to realise that their ostensibly pristine call for selfdetermination is a flawed concept riddled with glaring fault lines that actually corrupt their true identity, instead of enhancing it. For one it is historically incongruous, second it celebrates violence and third it condones and perpetuates the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits—attributes at odds with the traditional concept of “Kashmiriyat”. Yes, your shining “moon has blood clots” (to use the title of Rahul Pandita’s book on the Kashmiri Pandit exodus) and Kashmiris must be told that in no uncertain terms to puncture the divisive fundamentalist separatist agenda. Only then will tide of separatism ebb from the valley.

The Wahhabi cry for separatism stems from a narrow interpretation of their identity; a notion that strips away 5,000 years of a rich cultural heritage and focuses on but one facet—their current religious affiliation, a trait intrinsic to barely 700 years of their 5,000 years of recorded existence. The yearly pilgrimage of thousands of Hindus from all over India to Amarnath and the endless line of devotees flocking to Vaishno Devi is a standing testimony to the ancient and inseparable bond between Kashmir and India that the separatists wish to rupture. Ironically, the separatism that they crave for will be the death knell of the syncretic culture of Hindu Saivism and Sufi mysticism that defines Kashmiryat.

Those who cry themselves hoarse about Indian Army atrocities need to be reminded that the cycle of violence was not initiated by the Indian government. It is a quagmire of their own making: the consequence of embracing violence as a strategy. In 1990, Kashmiri Muslims tacitly endorsed militant violence that resulted in Kashmiri Pandits fleeing the Valley in droves; the Indian Army had to step in to restore law and order.

Violence continues to be the guiding mantra in the form of mobocracy that runs rampant in the valley. And the very fact that Burhan Wani, who made no bones of carrying a gun, is the poster boy for the current spate of street violence, cements this charge. On the flip side, the large number of casualties of security personnel negates the propaganda of one-sided brutality.

Lastly, Kashmiri Wahhabis are guilty of a serious ethical violation: the ethnic cleansing of over 250,000 Hindu Kashmiri Pandits; an atrocity which in itself is sufficient to damn a movement into unacceptability. Wahhabis cannot absolve themselves by pointing to militants. They are equally to blame.

Recently a Kashmiri IAS officer Shah Faesal pontificated: “……. when a state kills and maims its own citizens, it is self-injury and self-decimation of the worst sort. ”

To him I respond: “When a people maim, murder and drive away their own (Kashmiri Pandits) it is savagery at its worst.” Moreover, it denotes a collective human failure of gargantuan moral proportions that dwarfs state failure. Collective human attitudes are both the first and last frontier of state facilitated law and order, both of which have fallen in Kashmir.

To regain credibility Kashmiris must rectify this wrong. Unfortunately, attempts to relocate the Pandits have met with stiff resistance suggesting a lack of remorse.

It takes two to tango. The Indian government has been more than magnanimous; now Kashmiris need to do their bit. They need to introspect, celebrate both their past and present and graciously acknowledge Wahhabi wrongdoings— that, in short, is the panacea. The outbreak of the deadly triple epidemic in the national capital has exposed the fault-lines of our system and underlined the need of reducing, if not terminating, the multiplicity of authority in order to fix accountability for the lapses of various top functionaries.

As of now more than 30 people have died of various diseases including chikungunya, dengue and malaria and instead of focusing on bringing relief to the citizens, political parties are accusing each other of being both callous and apathetic in their approach. The fact of the matter is that the BJP and the Congress are as much to blame as the present AAP government for gross negligence. The AAP has been in power in the capital for a year and half and since Delhi lacks infrastructure in dealing with a crisis situation like the present one, the two principal parties by no means can absolve themselves. However, this does not imply that at every juncture the AAP should throw up its arms as a show of helplessness. On the contrary, its leaders should pull up their socks, roll up their sleeves and go down to the trenches.

There have only been two occasions in the past three decades where leaders acted strongly while dealing with a similar mess. The first instance was when in July, 1988, the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi took the stern measure of dismissing the Lt Governor, H.K.L. Kapur for the failure of the government to contain the outbreak of cholera and gastroenteritis. Gandhi, who on that particular morning returned from Moscow, visited the three worst affected re-settlement colonies of Nand Nagri, Sunder Nagri and Gokulpuri in the trans-Yamuna area, accompanied by his wife, Sonia, after party strongman H.K.L. Bhagat complained to him about the lax attitude of the authorities. The Prime Minister saw for himself the deplorable hygienic conditions in the three colonies and dismally inadequate preparedness at the GTB hospital. He held a meeting at his residence post the visit and issued the marching orders to the Lt. Governor, H.K.L. Kapur, Chief Secretary K.K. Mathur, Municipal Commissioner P.P. Chauhan and DDA vice chairman Om Kumar. He also ordered the suspension of three chief engineers of the civic bodies.

The unprecedented action by the Prime Minister sent a clear message down the line and the bureaucracy thereafter remained on its toes to ensure that cholera and gastroenteritis never hit the city with as much savagery. The civic bodies learnt a lesson and every year took the requisite preventive steps.

Madan Lal Khurana, considered by many as the finest Chief Minister Delhi had, also led from the front when a plague epidemic hit the capital in August-September 1994. Khurana, who carved the BJP victory in November, 1993, rose to the occasion and personally supervised the cleanliness work. Along with Subhash Sharma, the municipal commissioner, he visited the garbage dumps and ordered officials to sanitise the environment. He also ensured that medicines were freely available in government hospitals and monitored the situation on an hourly basis. Khurana’s committed zeal literally saved the capital.

Sheila Dikshit was clueless about Delhi when she took over as the CM in December, 1998. Although she now boasts of what she did in the 15 years in office, she was fortunate for the first six years to have Vijai Kapoor as the Lt Governor. Kapoor was easily the most accomplished LG the city had, since he was conversant with various drawbacks, having served in various capacities. He had been the municipal commissioner, the head of the Delhi Electric Supply Undertaking (DESU) and the chief secretary and knew Delhi like the back of his hand. He was a man with proven administrative abilities and as a consequence Dikshit’s inexperience never came to fore. Dikshit was also lucky to have her archrival in the party, the late Ram Babu Sharma who controlled the municipal corporation from 2002 to 2007. He was most competent and ensured that the civic body performed all its required duties. He was one of the most powerful politicians of his time, having done his political apprenticeship under H.K.L. Bhagat. One of the contributory factors that led to the trifurcation of the municipal corporation subsequently was that Dikshit never wanted anyone stronger than her on the political stage. She thus subsequently initiated the move to trifurcate the corporation, a reason why the civic authorities have failed during the present crisis. The present BJP leaders have been left groping in the dark and the cash strapped East Delhi Municipal Corporation has been worst hit. That does not denote that the North Delhi and South Delhi Municipal Corporations have been discharging their duties diligently.

The AAP has a lot to answer for this situation. It has not acquitted itself while pointing fingers at others and needs to identify its own weaknesses before looking for solutions. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal could easily have postponed his throat surgery to be present in the capital. Yes, it is true, that medical services in the city are run by the Centre, Delhi government and the municipal corporation. However, this does not purport that the government should not have acted adequately along with concerned agencies to combat the epidemic. The Lt. Governor, the chief secretary, the health secretary and municipal commissioners are equally responsible for this predicament. Between us.