Kashmir is on the boil again. For the past two months, the state has been rocked by widespread unrest. The killing of the Hizb Mujahedeen commander Burhan Wani triggered unprecedented protests with tens of thousands attending his funeral. Wani became an instant hero with the youth of Kashmir. His death has made him a martyr. He had taken the Kashmiri youth by storm. Most areas are under curfew for over 70 days. Schools and govt offices closed. It’s like a war zone.
Two factors contributed to this. He was young, charismatic and one of their own. Secondly, the youth of Kashmir were looking for someone who could give them hope. The Modi government promised much but failed to deliver. The coalition government in the state led by Mehbooba Mufti is struggling to get its feet on the ground. The government has not been able to put it’s hand on the people’s pulse. It is still groping in the dark as the situation goes rapidly out of control. The PDP/BJP alliance has been an opportunist one. It was contrived to acquire power. There could not be two more diametrically opposites than the PDP and the BJP. While the former harps on Kashmir’s autonomy, the latter professes Hindutva nationalism. Two strange bedfellows united by lust for power, principles be damned!
The Modi government had a great opportunity to win the hearts of the youth of Kashmir but squandered it. It got embroiled in ideology when pragmatism was the need of the hour. Responding to the protests by brute force has only served to aggravate the already volatile situation in the valley. By allowing the military to use pellet guns, it has only served to alienate the youth further. Hundreds of youth, some just out of their teens are going blind and this will only help to drive more of the youth into the arms of militants. Over eighty civilians, many of them teenagers have been killed in firings by security forces in the current unrest.
While cross border terrorism should be dealt with a firm hand, the Centre should be flexible in dealing with the local youth. Dialogue is the need of the hour. While lecturing Pakistan about troubles in its own backyard of Baluchistan may earn some brownie points, we must not lose sight of the fact that we have to set our own house in order. We cannot wish away the fact that there is a strong sense of alienation in Kashmir particularly among the youth. This has afforded Pakistan an opportunity to fish in troubled waters.
But isn’t it ironic that while Kashmiris in territory under Pakistan occupation and the people of Baluchistan are looking to India for support in their struggle against Pakistan, many Kashmiris in Indian Kashmir are expressing their disenchantment with India? Surprisingly, while we have jumped at the opportunity to fish in Pakistan’s troubled waters in Baluchistan, we seem to be oblivious of the troubles in our own backyard.
