Bridging the gap

PLAIN POLITICS

Winter is the only time of year there is some semblance of normalcy in Jammu and Kashmir. It is usual for infiltration to be down to virtually zero, and while the security forces are not exactly off guard as a result, they are somewhat more relaxed.

The government "" when there is one in place "" shifts to Jammu, and during the assembly session bills are passed (as is currently happening) at top speed.

This winter is arguably the best Kashmiris "" especially those in the Valley "" have had for a long time. First, loadshedding is down. Where earlier they used to have power for four to five hours a day, this year, there is power for nine to 10 hours every day.

In sub-zero temperatures, most Kashmiris still resort to traditional ways of keeping warm, but electricity does mean a more cheerful disposition all round.

Second, infiltration is down to nothing. The Army has reported that till two days ago, in December 2003, there hasn't been a single contact with militants. No interceptions were recorded along the Pir Panjal, indicating no one had tried to get in.

The ceasefire announced before Id was holding firm and because there were no fresh infusions, the militants too were keeping their heads down. This was evident from the significantly lower rate of violent incidents reported from the state. Yes, there have been a couple of grenade attacks.

But typically, these are just a way of reminding Indian authorities that the militants haven't all melted away. Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), ambushes, rocket blasts, etc are absent.

In fact, so peaceful is J&K at the moment that last week when the Army fired to trigger an avalanche near Turtuk on the LoC (a common practice in these parts, to defuse an avalanche before it gets a chance to build up), they informed Pakistan in advance that their intention was not to break the ceasefire, only to prevent a natural disaster.

How much of the credit for a new mood in J&K is due to the ceasefire, and how much to the new political leadership in the state under Mufti Mohammad Sayeed? It's hard to say. The spectacular victory of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in elections in October last year, and the Congress's decision to support the candidature of Mufti, certainly played a part.

Immediately after being elected and especially after the claimant to the Abdullah legacy, Omar Abdullah, lost the election from Gandarbal, Mufti addressed a huge post-election rally there. In his speech he said that militants did not need to exert themselves any more because they now had representation in the assembly.

The whole of last week, Mufti was in Delhi, meeting Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and others, to keep them informed about the mood in the Valley. All that the government would tell him was that his government needed to perform and take advantage of the militants' disorientation and confusion, following the ceasefire. Performance doesn't seem to be Mufti's priority, but that's another story.

For more than 50 years now, human rights groups, the Indian government, the army and security forces have been asking themselves what the Kashmiris want. What will it take to get them to feel they are Indians? Mufti feels he has the answer.

The most important task is to bridge the gap between government and people. The queues of people waiting to meet ministers at the Secretariat are long and patient now. Earlier there were no queues because ministers would simply not be available.

In June this year, the government decided to allow free passage of civilian traffic outside the assembly even as legislators were debating the state government's budget inside the complex. What would have been a simple traffic management problem in any other state has enormous law and order and political ramifications in Kashmir.

Sayeed ruled out earlier proposals that the assembly session be held at the Sher-e-Kashmir convention centre situated on the Dal lake as the complex was located away from the city on the heavily secured road to the Raj Bhawan, the governor's residence.

More public meetings have been held in the past one year in the state than there have been in the last ten years. (A turnout of 5,000 or 10,000 people in Kashmir is large. Even the National Conference which hardly ever used to hold public meetings, got 8,000 people for its last public meeting.) In April last year, a public meeting by the PM saw a turnout of 18,000 people, historic by any standards.

Kashmiris have never been known to suffer in silence. The general perception is that they milk their predicament (the state on one side and the militants on the other) to the hilt, loudly declaiming the story of the excesses that have been visited upon them. But now, they appear to feel they have people to talk to.

During this session of the Assembly, Mufti was asked about the fate of the 29 people who had gone missing while in police custody. His reply was that there hadn't been 29 but nine. This indicates some movement forward in Kashmir, an honest and upfront recognition that things have gone wrong.

But will politics win over the Kashmiris, or will development ? This is the crucial question. The state's budget has taken time to recalibrate, after years of unplanned development. But currently, as far as the people of Kashmir are concerned, work is on on one flyover in Srinagar.

Some industry conclaves have been held in the state but there is no follow up. Levels of corruption are significantly down. But if ministers don't work, how can there be corruption? A charge was made earlier this year that the Revenue minister, Hakim Yasin had made some appointments through the back door. Under pressure from the Congress, these appointments were cancelled.

We heard that tourists were thronging Kashmir. Honeymooners would be offered packages to come to Kashmir, we were told. Planeloads of diplomats were flown in to play golf at Srinagar's picturesque Royal Springs golf course. But has this helped? The figures are not yet in. The verdict is: it is an honest government but a non-performing one.