Kashmir leadership: Stand decisively against politics of terror, targeted killings
Recent civilian killings in Kashmir have, once again, highlighted the Valley’s failure to put an end to the politics of terror and armed violence, and undermined the climate for dialogue that had been slowly building up in the run-up to possible elections in the Union Territory. Token condemnations of the killings have not been accompanied by visible moves to assure those who are fleeing that they are safe and need not leave the Valley. The political leadership is operating in its self-created cocoon, rarely daring to call a spade a spade.
Who are these “unknown gunmen” — a euphemism deployed to stay out of line of fire of terrorists — behind the killings? Where did they come from? What is their interest in injecting the vicious narrative of us versus them in Kashmir? In the current spate of civilian killings, targeting non-locals — another euphemism for all those who come from other parts of the country, largely Hindus — there is a bigger design at work. The aim is to make Kashmir unsafe for non-Kashmiris, and puncture the claims that peace has returned to the Valley through development.
Since October 5, civilians of all faiths have been targeted, but what has made it truly horrific is the way labourers from Bihar have been targeted Fear has spread, and mortally frightened labourers, who were an integral part of the economy of Kashmir, have fled for their homes, vowing not to return to the Valley. The yearning for life has won over the need for livelihood. Kashmir will never be the same again for them, and their bitter memories of the place will now percolate down to the rest of the country.
But they leave a Kashmir, which, too, finds itself caught in a spiral of terror and fear. Counterterror operations and maximalist restrictions have impacted the sense of security that Kashmiris were experiencing, especially with the increasing footfall of tourists and everyday activities extending late into the evenings without any fear. But as the people become witness to brutal killings, of civilians as well as local militants in gunfights, they have turned silent. The narrative has once again shifted back from development and prosperity to saving lives. Mistrust has deepened, within communities, between communities, and between communities and the State.
Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti, while reacting to these killings, pleaded for dialogue with the people of Kashmir so that an atmosphere of confidence is built and guns are relegated to the background; she also insisted that guns from either side (that of the forces and militants) will not resolve any issue. But this narrative assumes that the culture of violence and the ongoing killings are a byproduct of the absence of confidence-building measures and dialogue — a questionable premise. Other leaders have denied that Kashmiris were involved in these killings at all, a way to perhaps distance the Valley’s residents from acts of terror. They, too, have sought dialogue.
But it is clear that violence is not the way to extract concessions, especially with this dispensation. Delhi, which has a very firm stand against terrorism, is unlikely to yield to such tactics. Political openings, if there were any, have been shut. The killings have made dialogue a more remote proposition. This will not help either side.
It is incumbent upon Kashmir to isolate the killers once and for all. For the sake of Kashmir’s image and its ethos, for the sake of peace and prosperity, for the sake of trust within the Valley and between the Valley and Jammu, and for the sake of trust between Jammu and Kashmir and the rest of India, there can be no excuses for what we have witnessed over the last fortnight.
Kashmir’s political and civil society leadership must stand decisively against the politics of terror and targeted killings. And only that can create a new basis for dialogue.