Time for roadmap on Kashmir

Time for roadmap on KashmirWhen ‘azadi’ means emancipationby Kuldip Nayar

One did not expect a miracle from the all-party parliamentary delegation which went to Srinagar and Jammu a few days ago. But I did believe that the problem that had remained frozen for so many years would begin to move. In one way it has. Some MPs, particularly from the Left, have said on their return that things cannot go on in the valley as they have been. They have suggested to the government to have a roadmap.
This is where the parliamentary delegation will get stumped. Unfortunately, the government has no roadmap. It wants to solve the problem. But it has no concrete proposal which it can place on the table. Home Minister P. Chidambaram has offered a package after visiting the valley. The important part of the package is the appointment of three interlocutors. This is welcome as far as it goes. But unless New Delhi indicated to the interlocutors the contours of a political formula, it would be a wild goose chase.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has indicated that anything within the Constitution would be acceptable to him. Still the interlocutors would be at sea to fathom the extent to which they can go. If it is up to them to strike some kind of a deal, they would be hard put to reconcile the aspirations of the Kashmiris without knowing the limit the government has in mind.
And if the interlocutors have politicians among them, as Press reports indicate, their task would be still more difficult. Politicians are people with the baggage and party affiliations. Also, the interlocutors have to be such people as enjoy credibility in Kashmir as well as the rest of India. Satisfying the government and the people at the same time may be well-nigh impossible.
However, those who are asking for “azadi” have to keep in mind that the solution has to be from within India even if it is outside the Constitution. I think the different parties in Kashmir realise this. Their postures may be different but it must be there in the heart of their hearts that separation is not possible.
What is immediately required in the valley is normalcy. This has a lot to do with the governance which Chief Minister Omar Abdullah fails to provide. He has to retrieve the people from alienation and distrust which plague them. The inhuman life which the Kashmiris have been leading for years - today it may be worse - doesn’t seem to be ending. The non-violent struggle which Yasin Malik had launched after leaving the path of insurgency did not persuade New Delhi to initiate talks with him or such other people. It lost a golden opportunity.
The youth was bound to become restive and resort to something like stone pelting as their new weapon when nothing was happening in the political field. That they have adopted a radical posture is a temporary phase because fundamentalism and Kashmiriyat do not go hand in hand. The Kashmiris are a secular people. That philosophy is bound to prevail once the dust and din of protests settles down.
That some MPs felt revolted over the excess committed by the security forces was natural. Indeed, the forces used to old methods and weapons do not know how to handle new forms of resistance. They do not differentiate between insurgency and protest. Words cannot describe the daily life of humiliation and hurt which the Kashmiris go through. Naturally, they are hardened in their attitude. Losing one person per day for the last three months because of security forces’ action develops such a frame of mind. They want to retaliate in any way which acts as catharsis. It does not know of caution or fear.
The basic question is that of a roadmap, that is the solution. The main opposition party, the BJP, is not willing to accept even Article 370 which gives special powers to Jammu and Kashmir under the Constitution. Srinagar gave New Delhi only three subjects: defence, foreign affairs and communications. If the Centre wants more it has to ask the state for it. New Delhi cannot usurp authority on its own because it violates the terms and conditions of accession. New Delhi cannot appropriate more on its own. All powers the Centre has acquired after the arrest of Shiekh Abdullah, then the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, have to be restored to Srinagar.
True, some MPs were irritated to hear the demand for “azadi”, wherever they went in Srinagar and the nearby areas. The word epitomises the Kashmiris’ expression of frustration and helplessness. They have stopped talking about the option of Kashmir joining Pakistan for a long time. What option they have except “azadi”, they argue, when they find - and believe - that they have no other way in the face of New Delhi’s “oppression.” They believe that “azadi” from both countries is the best way out. “Azadi” means emancipation, or release from misrule, not necessarily sovereignty. This is where India’s hope rests.
The interlocutors must read the memorandum given by civil society members in Srinagar. There is no word of “azadi” used, but it clearly describes what they go through. The memorandum says: “The free hand given to the armed forces to kill and maim civilians, while enjoying complete immunity, is unacceptable to the people of Jammu and Kashmir state. People’s spiritual, physical, economic and social spaces have been greatly infringed because of a massive military presence in the state.”
Civil society should, however, see that their school-going children do not sit at home in the crossfire between the government and those who goad protests. Education does not brook any break because it ultimately gets translated into certificates and degrees. The separatists, whatever their point of view, should not come in the way of children’s education.
Somewhat belatedly, the Home Ministry has done well to ask the state government to release all political prisoners, including the youngsters, arrested during the last three months. However, responsibility should be fixed for false encounters carried out on the line of control. Also, the security forces should answer for the killing of young men who were not even part of the protesters.
The setting up of a high-power commission to go into the security forces’ excesses would give confidence to the Kashmiris and may make them trust that the visit of the parliamentary delegation was not a joy ride. Once New Delhi and Srinagar have come to agree on the terms of a settlement, they should associate Islamabad with it, without which a lasting solution may not be possible.
source:The tribune