Eight sensible steps on Kashmir-Short but sure strides from the government. A problem for the separatists but an opportunity for Omar Abdullah25/9/10

Eight sensible steps on Kashmir

Short but sure strides from the government. A problem for the separatists but an opportunity for Omar Abdullah.

After the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) meeting earlier today, the Government of India announced the eight decisions taken [official press release] by the CCS regarding Jammu & Kashmir. At the outset, one has to commend the government for not getting distracted by the brouhaha surrounding Commonwealth Games fiasco and the impending Ayodhya verdict. It has thus prevented the dissipation of momentum created in its favour by the visit of All Party Delegation (APD) to Kashmir.
These decisions are in no way a solution to the 63-year old Kashmir problem. The APD had got a foot in the door and the CCS has managed to push the door open further by this announcement. The government has made its move; the onus has now shifted on to the separatists to respond to these announcements. Their first reaction shows that it will not be easy for them to craft a response to these measures. The continued obduracy of the separatists — such as sticking to Geelani’s Five-point plan — will rob them of their recently acquired legitimacy outside Kashmir as leaders of Kashmiri youth. Meanwhile, the pressing desire of the average Kashmiri for a return to normalcy will also push the separatists to reconsider their current modus operandi of strikes and shutdowns.
The really astute political move by the government here is its emphasis on the education sector. It has asked the state government to open the schools, conduct extra classes and get the exams conducted on time so that the students do not suffer. Moreover, it has announced a central grant of Rs 100 crore “to schools and colleges for improvements and additions to the existing infrastructure such as class rooms, auditorium, laboratory, library, play ground, toilet complex etc.” Anyone who claims to speak for the Kashmiris, whether it be Geelani or Mirwaiz, cannot afford to denounce this without losing his popularity among the average Kashmiri. It would tantamount to the separatists telling the Kashmiris that they want the Kashmiri youth to remain uneducated and illiterate. But the announcement is the first step. Vikram Sood has rightly warned that the major concern is still about the instruments of delivery and the destination. This is a challenge which Omar Abdullah will have to personally step up to. If he fails now, he is unlikely to get any more chances like this again and thus he must grab this opportunity with both hands.
As for the other announcements, the appointment of two task forces on Jammu and Ladakh is pro forma — to balance out the sensitivities of these two regions of the state. An ex-gratia relief of Rs 5 lakhs for deceased civilians during mob violence is to display the magnanimity of the Indian state — an attempt at creating a more favourable image for itself among Kashmiris. In this regard, Omar Abdullah must put the data about payments made to the NoK of victims on an official website, with images of their receipts, for everyone to see the transparency and speed in making the payments.
As far as the nomination of interlocutors is concerned, one will have to wait for the actual appointments to be made before commenting on the efficacy of the proposal. However, irresepective of the personalities, it will be essential to keep the interlocutions away from media limelight. Serious back-channel negotiations must be conducted with the stakeholders before announcing any public events in full media glare. As the negotiations with the Naga separatists have shown — and with Kashmir having a more complicated history as a intractable politico-religious problem — this is likely to be a long drawn process. The government must dispel any impressions being created in the media of an early resolution to the problem.
The other three steps announced by the government are security measures where the state government will arrive at a final decision in consultation with the Unified Command. Security inputs will be critical here and caution, rather than boldness, must be the watchword here. The security forces — the state police, the central paramilitary forces and the army — have not only borne a brunt of the mob violence in recent months, but have also been instrumental in defeating the armed insurgency in the state in the last few years. They must not get a feeling of being let down, wherein the pressure on the state government to act bold politically or look-good leads to undoing of all the good work done by them over the years. All security responses herein must be calibrated, scalable and reversible — contingent on incidents of mob violence, terror or specific intelligence reports.
Finally, these announcements are a good move by the government. They present a delicate conundrum for the separatists. But even more importantly, they present an opportunity to Omar Abdullah — to re-establish his authority and credibility as a duly-elected leader of the state of Jammu & Kashmir. This perhaps will be the last chance for him politically. He has nothing to lose now.
Now or never, Mr Abdullah! Let us see you pulling it off from here now. Good luck to you, Mr Chief Minister.

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25 Sep 2010 | Concerning Governance, India, Internal security, J&K, Paramilitary forces, Police, Politics, Terrorism