(Lack of accountability,
lopsided governance, dishonesty and corruption in every field stem from the
basic malaise which is the perennial political uncertainty)
During last 70
years or so Kashmir has off and on faced one or the other turmoil. In fact, it
has seen four wars between its neighbours. There have been some periods of
apparent calm but the uncertainty has been always floating under a calm
surface. All these years have seen improvement in the living conditions,
economic development and a rise in the standard of living of the general
population. Apart from that it has also seen growth of a capitalist class where
some people dealing in various commercial concerns have made considerable
amount of money. Till the start of the nineties various upheavals were not so
disruptive except the one witnessed during the holy relic agitation. There
would be some turmoil and after some time the things would settle back.
However, after the violent turmoil of nineties which resulted in the death of
over 50,000 people the things have never been normal. Especially, after the
Amarnath land row, there have been violent agitations in 2008, 2010, 2012 and
the worst one was in 2016 on the killing of Burhan Wani. After the election of
2014 with the subsequent formation of a coalition government, the entire valley
has been functioning like a simmering volcano which keeps on erupting off and
on.
Kashmir has now
become a virtual prison. The
ground reality of Kashmir was described by the European Union delegation some
years back. They called it a “Beautiful Prison”! Kashmir has been given many
other names and attributes in the recent times. It is called a nuclear
flashpoint, most dangerous place on earth and a troubled paradise. It is
supposed to be South Asia’s hot spot. The most militarised place on earth. In
fact, most of the western countries advise their nationals to avoid travel to
Kashmir. They all believe that the ground situation in Kashmir is highly
combustible notwithstanding the government’s exaggerated claims of a tourism
boom ushering in normalcy. Even the propagators of tourism normalcy sometimes refer
to the volatility of the situation. One may not claim it to be a powder keg
which would blow up by the lighting of a single match yet no one can dispute
the discontent and alienation simmering under the calm surface. There is a
sense of general unease in the air itself. This is due to a situation of
perennial uncertainty. This uncertainty has given rise to the absence of
accountability in every sphere. There is a virtual free for all! Corruption at
all levels rules the roost.
Kashmir is supposed
to be the most militarised area of the world. During the last elections, Chris
Morris, the BBC correspondent had reported from Srinagar that he had never seen
so many soldiers in civilian areas in any part of the world. The number of
soldiers deployed in Kashmir was more than those deployed for elections in the
entire length and breadth of Bangladesh at the same time! No one can dispute
the fact that Kashmir is the highest militarised area in the world when one
compares the number of uniformed people to the local population. There is army,
paramilitary troops, and the local police. Even the number of local policemen
exceeds a hundred thousand. Apart from massive cantonments housing headquarters
of various corps and divisions, the entire area is dotted with army and
security camps. Even deep inside civilian areas one finds security camps,
bunkers, and check posts. It is because of this heavy security presence
that the local population especially in the rural areas has got very much
alienated.
The ground reality is
that the entire effort in Kashmir is on managing a conflict on the basic issue
rather than resolving it to the satisfaction of the people. The aim is to
somehow buy time. Prime Minister’s Group, Parliamentary Delegation,
Interlocutors and so on are all meant to manage and somehow buy time. Over the
years, a colossal administrative set up has been created for this management
which is disproportionate to the population of the area. There has been a
tendency to somehow provide government jobs almost to everyone even though
sometimes on casual or stipendiary basis. The set up comprising almost half a
million employees of all hues and shades has become thoroughly corrupt and
totally unaccountable. In fact, major chunk of state’s funds goes into the
salaries of these employees leaving very little for development. This
administrative giant created for the management of the basic conflict has a
vested interest like the mainstream politicians to maintain the status quo at
all costs. It is the stark truth that everything in Kashmir has to have a
clearance from the Union Ministries of Defence and Home Affairs! Without their
specific overt or covert clearance nothing can happen in Kashmir in any sphere
of activity. However, it would never be possible to manage the conflict by
engaging an entire generation in government jobs or some other non-governmental
activities. According to available figures, the number of educated unemployed
has already crossed half a million.
The correct attitude
for all the sides is to face the ground reality and not escape from it. Kashmir
has a problem. A deep rooted problem which is political in nature and has been
further compounded by all the wrong initiatives and measures taken to douse the
flames rather than remove the cause of the fire! Unless one directly addresses
the problem, the things are not going to improve. Unfortunately, the only
people directly in the line of fire getting singed every minute are the poor
Kashmiris. The two neighbours are only getting indirectly affected. It is a
pity that they do not understand that the fire burning deep inside is
ultimately going to engulf them also. Their mutual mistrust is worse than the
directly burning fire. It is consuming them from within! However, there is
always an approach or process for the final settlement of any problem
whatsoever. The least the two neighbours can do is to honestly and sincerely
trust Kashmiris and allow them the freedom to breathe freely. They had
initiated the so called confidence building measures but these are only
symbolic and not really substantive. Keeping security forces everywhere
breathing over the necks of Kashmiris with zero accountability through the
internationally acclaimed draconian legislations. Allowing absolutely no
freedom of expression even through peaceful protests. Allowing couple of
thousand people to travel across LOC in 10 years or so. Having stone-age barter
trade in 21st century without any communications and banking. These are not
confidence building measures. Rather these are steps to increase alienation and
reinforce the mistrust. The least the rulers on two sides could do is to allow
people on both sides to at least enjoy the same basic rights as their own
people enjoy. These measures if taken in earnest could be a good beginning to
start the process for the ultimate resolution of the problem taking away slowly
the entire sub-continent from an avoidable catastrophe!
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