Umar Manzoor Shah, June 16, 2019
Last Friday in the holy month of Ramadan, when the faithful went to offer congregational prayers at Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid, Kashmir’s most influential separatist and religious leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq went up to the mosque’s pulpit and made an unusual statement.
“The people of India overwhelmingly voted for Narendra Modi. This mandate gives Prime Minister Modi an opportunity and the power to play a decisive role in the resolution of the Kashmir issue. It is an opportune time to initiate the political processes,” the 46-years Mirwaiz said as lakhs of devotees were all ears.
In separatist circles, Modi and the Indian government are generally viewed as being most inconsiderate about the gross human rights violations and killings of civilians by the military and other security forces in Kashmir. In fact, in their anti-India ranting, separatists term Modi and the Indian government as “killers of Kashmiris” who are occupying their land using brute force.
However, a tectonic shift from this stand was found when the Mirwaiz made an open offer from the pulpit of the grand old mosque to the Indian government for the resolution of the seven-decade old conflict.
India’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a landslide victory in the country’s parliamentary elections held in April-May. Narendra Modi emerged as the country’s strongest political leader since independence from the British in 1947.
Official results of the polls came out on May 23 after eight hours of counting. It declared BJP the winner in more than 303 out of 542 parliament constituencies in the country.
In the Kashmir Valley, however, the BJP couldn’t win a single seat out of the three parliamentary constituencies. On the contrary, people voted for the regional party, the National Conference, that promised to oppose the BJP’s policies in the Indian parliament.
All out operation
Since 2014, when the BJP led by Narendra Modi came to power for the first time, it adopted a ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy towards militants and separatists fighting for the region’s independence. In fact, the government had given a free hand to the army to kill militants wherever they are found. The operation was named ‘All Out’.
After the deadliest suicide attack on Indian paramilitary troops in Pulwama in February this year, in which 40 Indian soldiers were killed, the government banned Kashmir’s oldest and largest religious organization the Jamaat-e-Islami and the separatist group Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). The government also bundled thousands of the activists into jails with many being slapped with charges that obviate the need for trial for a minimum of two years.
Now with BJP back in power in New Delhi, the inhabitants of this conflict-ridden mountainous region are worried over their future. The future is uncertain and precarious.
In its poll manifesto, the BJP had promised Indian voters that it would abolish Articles 370 and 35A of the Indian constitution, which relate to Kashmir. These special constitutional provisions confer certain special rights on the people of Kashmir since it is India’s only Muslim-majority State. It bars outsiders from purchasing property in the State. The manifesto also promised a tougher and muscular approach to separatism.
Present anxiety
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trusted lieutenant Amit Shah, who was made the country’s Home Minister in the new cabinet, held back-to-back meetings with security officials over Kashmir hours after assuming office. The closed-door confabulations hinted at the Indian government’s plans not to lessen its grip over Kashmir.
Latest figures reveal an all-time surge in anti-militancy operations and killings of ultras. As per official statistics, the first five months of the current year were the deadliest in Kashmir’s recent past. This year, 115 militants were killed — highest compared with the figures of the past decade.
Dr. Sheikh Showkat Hussian who teaches law at Kashmir’s Central University, said that the people of the State should brace up for harder days.
“Kashmir is completely alienated. People have no hope. They feel pushed to the wall. Even mainstream parties are scared and feel insecure because of the aggressive posturing of BJP and its administration,” he said.
Dr. Hussain added that practically all the measures being taken by the BJP boil down to the marginalization and subjugation of all those who are not Hindus.
“Those in power in India are in no mood to talk to us anyone,” Dr. Hussain said.
Professor Nisar Ali, a prominent economist and author, says there couldn’t be anything more muscular than what is already adopted in Kashmir. According to him, the power the army enjoys in Kashmir is maximum. No law permits it to demand more than that.
“I think what the BJP is saying now was its policy since its very inception. It promises to remove Kashmir’s special status. But the fact is that there is no special status to get rid of. Only remnants of it is visible on the ground,” Prof. Ali told South Asian Monitor.
Since the State’s accession to the Union of India after 1947, there have been 49 amendments to the statutes relating to it, thus eroding the special status completely. “There is nothing left to be destroyed,” he remarked.
However, Shakeel Qalander, a prominent civil society activist, seconds Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, stating that the window is half open.
“I believe that with this kind of majority, Modi has a lifetime chance to prove that he is a statesman and to do what his predecessors had not done for Kashmir. He is a person who we believe can resolve the issue once for all. He has the majority and his nationalism is not doubted,” Qalander said.
“The incumbent Indian Prime Minister has a chance to be remembered for all times. Instead of taking a muscular approach, he should have a look at things from a humanitarian point of view and win the hearts. We hope that he consults well-meaning people in his party and take a decision about Jammu and Kashmir,” Qalander told South Asian Monitor.
The Kashmir insurgency — which is fighting for an independent Kashmir — erupted in 1990. It has already claimed at least 100,000 lives, including civilians, militants and members of the security forces. The conflict in Kashmir dates back to 1947 when India and Pakistan become separate states after British rule ended. Both countries claim Kashmir in full and have fought at least three wars and countless skirmishes over it.