Carrot after stick for Kashmir

Eight things India must do immediately to usher in peace in the Valley

Chris Patten, the last governor general of Hong Kong, apparently endeared himself to his subjects on arrival in the colony. He did this by not wearing a pith helmet, also called sola topi in our parts, which was part of the imperialist’s uniform. He came instead dressed in a suit, acknowledging subtly that the past needed to be addressed and corrected.

The Indian government’s latest representative to the troubled land of Kashmir arrived this week to make peace with the natives. Having given them three years of unrelenting stick since taking office, this was apparently Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s carrot. One is assuming, of course, that the Centre has a strategy in Kashmir. Let us be generous and assume it has, though, like our Pakistan policy, it has not specifically been articulated, nor can one perceive its contours.

The representative is former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma. He is reported to be a “dove” and a “moderate”, which is to his credit. Former RAW chief A S Dulat says Mr Sharma is “humble, talks little, understands and feels for Kashmir, and has infinite patience.” All of which is terrific.

One wonders, however, whether this, the picking of a policeman instead of a politician, is a terrible idea or a brilliant one. If we wanted to send someone across to show our openness of mind, is a retired IB chief the sort of person who is appropriate? That needs to be thought through and one hopes the government did think it through.

On landing, Mr Sharma met some delegations. These included the Gujjar-Bakkarwal community (who wanted reservations), the fruit growers’ association, the Youth Sports Forum of Qamarwari, and the Youth Sports Fraternity. The Hindu reported that the groups were the same set of people who had been paraded in front of Home Minister Rajnath Singh on his recent visits.

On Day 2, Mr Sharma met more groups, including the “Rahul Gandhi Fans Association” (one wonders what the burden of their song was). On Day 3, the political parties including the CPI-M and the National Conference’s Omar Abdullah. On reading the list over the three days, it became obvious that this trip was a waste of time.

Illustration by Binay Sinha

These leaders Mr Sharma met, as Mr Abdullah has himself said, were always available for talks. It is the Hurriyat and the separatists then that Delhi must engage. This is not a new observation. It is quite bizarre for commentators to be writing these same words every year for over two decades, but such is our fate.

Anyway, to me the matter to be addressed urgently is the people of Kashmir, not the separatists or the Hurriryat. India’s government needs to show goodwill and good faith, which we have not. And we don’t need any talks or an interlocutor but action. It is actually quite simple. At a bare minimum this is what we must immediately do:

First, the Indian government must sanction the trials of those soldiers against whom charge sheets have been filed by Jammu and Kashmir police. Not a single file has been approved by Delhi since 1989. The army’s internal accountability mechanism, as those who have followed recent developments in the Pathribal and Machil cases, is a farce and cannot be trusted.

In any case, courts martial should be limited to issues of military discipline. Crimes against the state like murder and torture and rape must be prosecuted in civilian courts. There can be no objection to Indians being prosecuted in an Indian court by an Indian judge.

Second, DNA tests must be ordered and the corpses exhumed from Kashmir’s mass graves. Thousands are missing. It would give families relief to know their fate.

Third, we must announce we will stop rewarding criminal behaviour by soldiers. And that we will prosecute it. Tying up civilians and parading them for hours and then rewarding the soldier doing this excites the Hindutva constituency but it is criminal behaviour. Rewarding it is astonishingly callous, even by our standards.

Fourth, we must stop using the 12 gauge shotgun firing cartridges loaded with birdshot that has torn out the eyes of over 1,000 Kashmiris, including children. This is an inherently dangerous weapon that has wounded even the security forces personnel using it. This gun is not used on any other Indian protester except the Kashmiri.

Fifth, compensate those who have been brutalised by the state. Even the victims of the gun named above have not been properly compensated or rehabilitated after having their lives destroyed. 

Sixth, immediately stop the illegal detention of juveniles under the Public Safety Act, one of the many lawless laws on preventive detention that India uses. This is something the state government abuses but the Centre would do well to ask him to desist.

Seventh, try and hold our tongues on the issue of Article 370. A most balanced, moderate and logical statement by P Chidambaram on this (he said “the demand in the Kashmir valley is to respect the letter and spirit of, Article 370, that means they want greater autonomy”) was attacked by the prime minister in the most intemperate language. What Mr Chidambaram said is constitutional and correct. 

Eighth, engage with the Kashmiri media. Nobody from “our” side, including those of us, like this columnist, who pretend to be sympathetic or neutral, may be seen in that light by Kashmiris. They have evolved an independent, regional and non-national media that they respect. The rest are stooges. 

Earlier, this year, the organisation I work in held a press conference in Srinagar on the issue of the shotguns. I noticed my friends from Republic TV and Times Now were missing. Where were they, I asked. They would not dare show themselves here, the reporters replied. We need to understand that our narrative does not work on the people we are mistreating.

Patten’s Britain was a colonial power, which accepted its time was over and exited. Such is not the case in Kashmir, of course. We do not like to think of ourselves as being an occupying power in Kashmir. Fine. Let us stop behaving like one. Kashmiris want peace also. The rest will fall into place sooner than we think.