KASHMIR SITUATION
Arun Joshi on Fear and Hope in the Valley
Hopes compete with fears in today's Kashmir after seven long years of Central rule until the beginning of October, 1996
What gives hope is a yearning for peace among the people. Play-grounds are full of football and cricket playing children. There are many parents, who have allowed their children for the first time in eight years to venture out of the confines of their homes.
The children playing has encouraged their entertainment-starved elders to revive their love for picnicking. They make it to the Mughal Gardens in Srinagar on Sundays. With stereos playing the latest Hindi movie numbers and an occasional dance by the children, while love-birds coo under the shade of the mighty Chinar tree the spirit of seeking a revival of the mood of the 80s in Kashmir is amply visible.
It is also revived the business of the photographers, who capture on film the visitors in Kashmiri dresses. The tourists move with less fear in the gardens than ever before, allowing themselves to be wooed. There is always the omnipresent gardener with a flower in his hand looking for bakhshish from the tourists. The domestic tourists are back in a large number.
The educational institutions have returned to their regular routines and as the markets remain open until late in the evening. the visitors too feel the visible change. For them, the re-appearance of crowds at the Boulevard was a pleasant surprise. For Kashmir observers, it is a matter of intense debate whether this change .. visible on the streets of Srinagar, was the result of the situation that has emerged after the elections in September last year, or was it following its natural course. There are few who believe that the elections in itself were a hope generating phenomenon.
The fatigue that had dawned on the people due to the cult of violence and the passage of time were two "major inputs that have brought about the change in the urban areas", observed a bank employee. "If elections were to bring a change, that should have been universal throughout the Valley and not restricted to a few urban areas, particularly Srinagar, he asks.
There is also a third view on the changing scenario. "It is the over-deployment of security forces and frequent crackdowns that have brought to a halt the acts of violence". All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) leader Abdul Ghani Lone gives credence to such thinking and expressions. "The common man in Kashmir is mortally scared of the men in uniform".
(Atrocities) still recur in the countryside. In many cases these go unreported. A signal by the man in uniform is the ultimate for the villagers, who have been hapless against the foreign militants or local militants or local militants as well.
There is yet another category of oppressors in the countryside. They are the surrendered militants or pro-government or friendlies or counter-insurgents. "We are being pressed from all sides and no one listens to us", Sonaullah, a government employee disclosed. This is no change. We weather crackdowns, militants take food and stay in our homes and surrendered militants extort money", he said.
The fears are persisting. The Valley is changing. Diametrically opposite views are expressed. Life, however, continues amidst these contradictions.
Kashmir offers a classic study of a tussle between the politicians and the bureaucracy. More often than not both sides are seen and heard running down each other. Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah asked his Ministers to "learn to ride horse and take work from the bureaucracy or quit otherwise"
The tug of war between politicians and bureaucrats has been going on. This war of attrition is not confined to the complaints by political leaders alone.
The bureaucrats too have their tale of woe to narrate. "There is so much of political interference that merit becomes a casualty. If we object, they charge us with disobeying them", a head of the department told The Hindustan Times.
(In) this war of words ... the public alone suffers which often makes observers to comment that the administration was "non-functional and the political leadership was without a will or capacity to deliver".
The Chief Minister pleaded with his officers and later with the Press to "save future of our children. Let there be a zero per cent result but I wouldn't allow copying in the examination centres".
There was resentment and street demonstrations when the police assisted invigilators in curbing the practice of copying which had become a common phenomenon in the past few years owing to the turbulent situation in the Valley.
The absence of perceptions on Kashmir coupled with prejudices and the tendency to check facts by a section of media, the Minister said "have done more harm", "If all political leaders are not angles, there are rogues in the bureaucracy too. That is present everywhere. But in Kashmir, certain things twisted mischievously, can spell disaster, that is what many outside the State do not realise", the Minister observed.
There are other Ministers who feel that the things were "moving".
One of the charges against the National Conference government is that it has restricted its political activities to the civil secretariat after it shifted to its summer capital on May 12 last.
In the first week, the Government was faced with the problem of strike by its employees in response to the call by All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and its constituents.
Adopting an unconventional method of "talk and act tough", the Farooq Abdullah Government succeeded in ensuring the attendance of employees in the office despite the strike call, the very next week. This was yet another reflection of "results coming forth if there is a seriousness of purpose", said observers.
The political observers feel that the genuine political activity alone could set in motion; the political process initiated with the conduct of Assembly elections.
The Public meetings by junior leaders prompted the seniors to move around faster. Dr. Sheikh Mustafa Kamal, Health and Medical Education Minister, who has earned for himself the reputation of being an able administrator, maintained his links with his constituency Tangmarg in Baramullah district and spends his weekends there.
However, these political activities were still at a very low ebb Mufti Sayeed has stolen the show, when he held a series of Congress worker's convention in the Kashmir Valley. He moved in almost all parts of the Valley Although he repeatedly asserted that the "job of governance was not a bed of roses for Farooq Abdullah", yet he would not hesitate to list the failures of the government. "Human rights excesses are on rise, the unemployed are frustrated and the people disillusioned", he would count on his fingers while addressing the workers' convention.
The Janata Dal did not stay behind. It launched its own political activities. Farooq Andrabi one of the few political leaders who stayed on here during all these years of turmoil, held village-level meetings and then took Union Minister of State for Home Mohd. Maqbool Dar and other visiting leaders of the party to several places in the Valley. CPI-M leader Mohammad Yusuf Tarigani also stayed in touch with his people.
While the pro-India political groups continued to organise rallies, the APHC focus remained on congregations in the mosque. it attempted to come out and hold rally in Iqbal Park. But this did not go beyond wordy duel between Hurriyat leadership and the Government.
(Source: The Hindustan Times, 1-3 July, 1997)
J&K: TADA Detentions
None of the nearly 32,000 persons, picked up by the security forces and other government agencies for their alleged involvement in militant activities during the last seven years in Jammu and Kashmir, has so far been convicted under the provisions of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act.
Instead, majority of those have been released from custody either by the state government or by the courts. At present, there are about 1,600 persons lodged in various jails under TADA within and outside the state.
4 senior official said that of the persons picked up in militancy related activities in the past seven years, 17,000 were released after preliminary inquiries. The state government's screening committee reviewed the cases of about 18,000 persons and released 4,500 of them during the period. The courts granted bail to nearly 1,700 persons and nearly 3,000 were also released on parole. Pointing out that there were 1,300 cases pending disposal before the two designed courts under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act most of the accused in these cases were already enlarged on bail due to the failure of police to present challans against them within the stipulated period of 180 days.
The prosecution has sought extension of judicial remand in only one or two per cent of the TADA cases so far. Most of the accused have managed to seek bail on ground of non-filing of the challan within the stipulated period of 180 days.
Significantly, none of the militants held for the killing of important political personalities has been punished so far. Of the 17 militants arrested in connection with the killing of VIPs in the valley, seven have been released on bail. Of the remaining 10, nine are in judicial custody in the state and one in the Tihar jail.
Sources said that some of these militants were allegedly involved in the killing of Mirwaiz Molvi Farooq . Maulana Masoodi, Qazi Nissar, a prominent Kashmir leader and Mir Mustafa, former MLA, Mushirul Haq, HMT's H.L. Khera, BJP's Tikka Lal Taploo, Srinagar Doordarshan's Lassa Koul.
(Source: The Indian Express, 25 May, 1997)
OIC: Special Islamic Summit: Special Declaration on J&K, 23 March, 1997
We, the Sovereigns, Heads of States and Governments of the Member States of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, gathered in Islamabad, Islamic Republic of Pakistan for the Extra-ordinary Session of the Islamic Summit Conference on 14 Dhul Qi'dah 1417H (23 March, 1997).
Deeply concerned over the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, especially the suffering of the Kashmiri people and the consequent tensions in the region.
Reaffirming all OIC Summit and Ministerial resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
Declare:
1. Our commitment to promote a just and peaceful solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations resolutions.
2. Our support to the fundamental human rights of the Kashmiri people including their right of self-determination;
3. Our condemnation of the oppression and massive violations of the human rights of the Kashmiri people;
4. Our support for the efforts of the government of Pakistan to resolve through a substantive and meaningful dialogue the Jammu and Kashmir dispute which is the basic cause of the tensions between India and Pakistan.
APHC: Letter to Secretary General, United Nations, 12 May, 1997 (Extracts)
The human rights issue is directly and in-escapable linked with the dispute on Jammu and Kashmir; and that unless the core issue is addressed, the situation may not improve substantially. However, the situation assuming, as it does, monstrous dimensions in regard to violence against mothers, sisters and daughters, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference decided ... to launch a sustained campaign against the heinous violations of human rights in Jammu and Kashmir. The fast (hunger strike) for an indefinite period of time undertaken by (the) Hurriyat leader Mr. Mohammad Yasin Malik should be viewed in a perspective (Our) demands, among other things, include:-
a) that the Government of India make a categorical statement to the effect that violence against women, genocide, custodial killings and blasting of houses is stopped forthwith;
b) that the officers and men involved in such crimes be tried as war criminals
We are the victims of the State terrorism (which) requires an immediate UN intervention. The flagrant violation of Human Rights Commission's declaration, the Geneva Convention and the principles of justice by the Indian forces deployed in extra-ordinary bulk throughout. Jammu and Kashmir, may not only endanger peace and South Asia but also result in the extinction of a whole generation of young men. We, therefore, seek your intervention in the larger interests of peace and justice.
Joint Statement on Yaseen Malik's Fast
The fast unto death undertaken by Yaseen Malik of the All Party Hurriyat Conference is cause for great concern and distress, especially in view of his medical history. His allegation of 167 custodial killings by Indian security forces between October 1996 and April 1997 is a matter of great concern. In addition, he and the All Party Hurriyat Conference allege that there have been several instances of rape and torture in recent months by the armed forces in Kashmir. If reports of these atrocities are true, as citizens committed to a democratic polity, we find them condemnable and unacceptable.
We think it vital that these charges be investigated and verified by an independent and impartial committee of concerned citizens. We commit ourselves to sending an enquiry team to Kashmir for this purpose. We urge Mr. Yaseen Malik and APHC to provide us with the full particulars of these alleged atrocities (and) to end his fast on the basis of our assurance that if these allegations are found to be substantially correct. we will apply all (possible) pressure: on the government to demand that all such atrocities end, and that the guilty are brought to trial.
Rajendra Sachar Rajni Kothari
Nithya Ramakrishnan Madhu Kishwar and others
