Parveen Swami in The Frontline
Whether an official dialogue with the APHC has already started or is only being considered, its initiation would serve several interests. For one, officials in New Delhi, as well as a spectrum of politicians, make no secret of their belief that Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah's three-year reign has undermined the gains made in 1996. There is unanimity here about the poor administration and the corruption, but as an alternative, no viable Opposition is in sight. Starting a dialogue with elements within the APHC would, at least, open the prospect of some secessionist leaders joining mainstream politics. This should enable the NDA Government to meet U.S. pressure by proclaiming that dialogue has been opened with representative leaders of Kashmir.
But it is far from clear whether a formal dialogue with the APHC could in fact come into being. Most APHC leaders have historically shown little inclination to seek confrontation with terrorist groups, who are certain to be incensed by any bilateral dialogue. In September, Umar Farooq condemned Hizbul-Mujahideen demands for the termination of all cable television services in Srinagar, suggesting cautiously that educational and news broadcasts were not un-Islamic. The Hizbul-Mujahideen promptly issued press releases virtually asking the religious leader to mind his own business. Subsequently, Umar Farooq failed to condemn the murders of at least four cable network operators in Srinagar city More important, it is near certain that major Pakistan- based terrorist organisations such as the Lashkar-e-Taiyba and Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami would in fact ignore calls by the APHC for an end to violence, an important component of any dialogue. Nor is it clear whether Hindu chauvinists within the BJP, and the party's rank and file in Jammu, would allow any kind of autonomy negotiations with the PHC to proceed ..
Alternative deals appear more probable. The State government's plans to partition J&K into a series of provinces along communal lines, as Balraj Puri has suggested, could dovetail with its demands for greater State autonomy. "You might see," Puri said, " the Union Government granting autonomy to the Kashmir valley, Rajouri, Poonch, Doda and Kargil in return for a greater integration into the Union of the predominantly non-Muslim areas of Jammu, Leh and Udhampur. Such a deal could be packaged as meeting t he separate aspirations of religious communities throughout the State." Such an autonomy deal would not only meet U.S. demands for progress in the Kashmir Valley, it would also allow the BJP to keep Hindu hardliners quiet.
The proposition is not as bizarre as it seems. Politics in J&K is built around three forces, each legitimising the existence of the other. Should a partition of the State come through, the BJP would secure its ranks in Jammu, the N.C. could proclaim victory for its core Kashmiri Muslim constituency, and the APHC could continue with its anti- India platform undisturbed ...
The new political processes set in play inside or outside J&K have ensured that ... no one is certain just where events might go from here ... (Source: The Frontline, 24 December, 1999)
Greater Kashmir Srinagar's Report On Human Rights Violations in J&K
Despite the return of 'popular rule' in October 1996, human rights abuses in Kashmir are unabated. The data collected by various agencies indicate the violations registered an increase ever since Dr. Farooq Abdullah took over the reigns. The past three years witnessed an alarming increase in rapes, molestation, property destruction, extra-judicial executions, fake encounters and enforced disappearances.
As many as 6406 persons were killed during the past three years ... The Constitution of the State Human Rights Commission not bring any hapless people punish the only punishment security forces only rendered it containing violations but (SHRC) did relief to the (as) it cannot guilty. It can recommend against the This has not ineffective in rights also encouraged the personnel of the armed forces to resort to extra-judicial means. The three years that passed witnessed death in custody even of 65-year old Hamidullah Shah of Pulwama and cold blooded murder of 4-year old Sanobar Amin in Kupwara, conveying thereby that the security forces kill innocent people regardless of their age and gender that too without any accountability.
.. 167 other rape victims during the past three years in different parts of the Valley ... mock at the tall claims of the Government ... The security forces blasted 18 year old Gulzar Ahmad of Saderkote Bala in Baramulla district into pieces on February 3, 1999 ... The police have not registered an FIR till date. The villagers have identified the persons involved in the gruesome murder.,. The security forces dismiss these allegations as propaganda carried out "at the behest of militants to malign the image of the security forces" ... The government could take suo moto cognizance of published reports and launch legal proceedings against the perpetrators ... Dr. Farooq Abdullah could, at least, for the sake of record, institute ... probe into the countless rights violations on the basis of the plethora of reports available with his government. (Source: Zahir-u-Din in The Greater Kashmir, 24 December. 1999)
