A thirteen year old Ifrah Jan of Pulwama, one year younger than Insha Malik, received pellets in both her eyes. Her injuries are bad and she might also end up losing both her eyes. Two other girls also received pellets on their face. This only goes on to prove the continuing cycle of repression let loose by the state government despite the protests having considerably abated. And what is more, pellet guns continue to be used unchecked despite the assurances to the contrary from the union home minister Rajnath Singh on down to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.
Across Kashmir, police has arrested more than 7000 people, around 4000 of whom are from the four districts of South Kashmir – Kulgam, Pulwama, Anantnag and Shopian. Around 483 have been booked under Public Safety Act. Besides, more than 300 employees have been identified for their alleged participation in the protest rallies or found allegedly instigating the people. Five of the booked employees are of gazetted cadre, one of them from the University of Kashmir. Forty employees alone are from the Department of Education and the others from Department of Agriculture, Srinagar Municipality, Urban Local bodies etc. Government has also sacked twelve of the employees.
As the magnitude of the crackdown reveals, it is of an unprecedented nature. Hardly ever before have the arrests been made on such a scale or so many PSAs slapped in such a short duration of time. Not even during the three successive unrests until 2010. Or for that matter in the nineties when Valley teemed with around 20,000 militants.
If anything, this shows how government has resolved to address the situation through force only. So far, the disproportionate use of force has taken an unconscionable toll: 93 deaths, around 500 blindings and 14000 injured. After the visit of the All Party Delegation in August, which ended up in a damp squib with separatist and civil society groups boycotting it, the centre has shown itself loath to start a new political outreach. The harshness of the security response betrays New Delhi’s obsessive preoccupation with the military approach to the situation in the state.
Truth is that Kashmir is at the cusp of a fateful transition and considering the ferocity of the protests, the future looks ominous. The situation calls for a sustained political process rather than an exclusively military one. This approach has been the bane of post-colonial South Asian states: dealing with insurgencies through military might and economic development rather than political engagement. This only protracts the problems rather than helping to resolve them.
Though earlier on in the current strife, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised a “permanent resolution of Kashmir within the framework of the constitution”, the subsequent developments have lent little credence to his words. In fact, there have been noises to the contrary. Soon after, BJP leader and the party’s Kashmir point man Ram Madhav favoured tough action to control the upsurge. At the same time, he made it clear that the centre doesn’t seek a political solution to Kashmir, unwilling even to consider autonomy. According to him, there was enough freedom and enough laws to help J&K. Madhav also termed the talk of a political solution to Kashmir “romantic in nature”.
However, as the unprecedented outpouring of the anger over the past three and a half months shows, a Kashmir left politically unattended by New Delhi and at the mercy of its security establishment, could very well be beyond repair. Though considering the depth of alienation now, centre was expected to extend any political hand, it has done anything but that.
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