When pictures of the police men injured in an assault by the Army at Gund Ganderbal were splashed across the social media and the Whatsapp groups in Valley, people who generally blame the force for the human rights excesses expressed some amusement at the state of affairs. Some of them expressed sarcasm. Others drew vicarious pleasure, a sense of some fulfilment at having their one alleged oppressor beaten by another alleged oppressor. Subdued, bandaged police men reclining on hospital beds was a spectacle which held a meaning beyond the incident itself. For a large section of the deeply alienated people in Valley, the incident yet again proved that even J&K Police was not trusted and in a way identified by the Army with the antagonistic local population. The police personnel themselves felt bitter and according to some media reports some of them did express their resentment in closed whatsapp groups.
No doubt, the cases have been registered against the erring Army personnel but that will be little consolation to a force that has been at the forefront of the fight against militancy and has lost more than 3000 personnel since nineties. The incident at Ganderbal starkly captures the unenviable situation of the J&K Police itself caught between the antagonism of their own people and a degree of ambivalence about their role on the other side. And its own personal are conscious of this reality.
In 2015 sections of media and the political opinion in India castigated the force for beating the non-Kashmiri students at the National Institute of Technology, forgetting the effort and the sacrifices the force has made in the fight against militancy. So even Hurriyat rubbed in this fact, saying in the end even police was a Kashmiri for New Delhi.
State and the Central Government which should have taken the incident seriously and initiated action against the army personnel has chosen to play down the incident. This is in sharp contrast to the incidents which are conveniently on the opposite side of the governments own narrative on the prevailing situation in the state. The issue here is not about an incident where Army has assaulted J&K Police but the troubling signals that it sends across both to police and the people at large: That the force is good as long as its actions involve the anti-militancy operations. The moment it will start enforcing law on the people and the forces which are non-Kashmiris be it the students or the Army – it will be shown its place. What is more, there were no high decibal television discussions on the incident. Imagine, if police men had beaten the Army. Army on its part has termed the incident as a minor altercation. If anything the assault symbolically highlights what is wrong with New Delhis current policy on Kashmir. This policy is not only security centric but also devoid of the nuance and complexity that is needed to tackle the multi-dimensional challenges in the state.
Follow this link to join our WhatsApp group: Join Now
Be Part of Quality Journalism |
Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast. |
| ACT NOW |
| MONTHLY | Rs 100 |  |
| YEARLY | Rs 1000 | |
| LIFETIME | Rs 10000 | |
