Monday played out as yet another exceptionally bloody day for Kashmir and for two contradictory reasons. In Pulwama a top militant Sameer Tiger was killed along with his colleague Aqib Khan. And in Baramulla, three youth were shot dead by unidentified gunmen at a market. They were later identified as Asif Sheikh, Haseeb Ahmad Khan and Muhammad Asghar. No one has claimed the responsibility for the latter killing. And both the mainstream and separatist groups including the militant organizations have condemned the killings. The burials of the two militants attracted thousands of mourners. Several rounds of funerals prayers were held for both. On the contrary, the funeral of the Baramulla youth was attended by hundreds of people.
The killings have highlighted how Kashmiris are dying every day and frequently under different labels. And how there seems no way out of this or end to it. Situation looks set to go on regardless in the foreseeable future. Some killings like the one in Baramulla don’t have even a formal label. Nobody would ever know who killed them after all the agencies and the groups who could be seen as possible suspects have denied having anything to do with the murders.
The killings of all kinds have now become a new normal in Kashmir. There is little outrage let alone any steps being taken to prevent their occurrence. The government looks at the situation in law and order terms. This rationalizes the killings of the civilians who are said to disrupt encounter sites. On the other hand, there is no name for the killings by unidentified gunmen. And together both kind of killings reveal the extent of deterioration in the situation. The recurrent public protests near the encounter sites are the latest manifestation of a much larger and a long festering problem. While it is nobodys case to expect the state government to take steps to resolve the problem as this is far beyond its remit, this realization needs to inform and nuance its response to the deteriorating security situation in the state. Far from playing politically correct blame games, which detract from the inherent tragedy of the situation, there is an urgent need to display seriousness about the state of affairs. But that this is not being done speaks to the routinization of the civilian killings in Kashmir.
The governments, both in J&K and in New Delhi, are happy to rationalize the situation in terms of the law and order. This is a sad state of affairs and explains why more things change in Kashmir, more they remain the same. In fact, the governments by resorting to an exclusively security driven approach have only worsened the situation. Let alone dialogue or a political engagement, even the leadership has been largely absent. If a turnaround is to be expected, the government needs to move beyond the use of force as the remedy. This has only perpetuated the cycle of death and destruction.
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