Mr Modi's turnaround on Kashmir

Words are useful but ultimately the prime minister will be judged by results and actions

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day comments on Jammu and Kashmir were startling. Especially to those who assumed that the following was the Indian government’s policy: 

First, that this was an issue of jihadists and separatists. Second, that all Kashmiri protesters were separatists or jihadists. Third, that they should be put down when in protest. Fourth, they should be ignored otherwise, and talks with them were useless. Fifth, that the pandits would be used as a prop while hammering down criticism of the state’s disproportionate use of force. Sixth, that the Pakistan linkage, rather than internal discord, would be the mainstay of the narrative from our side.

Into this mix, the prime minister threw the following lines from the Red Fort: “Na gaali se samasya sulajhne waali hai, na goli se... samasya suljhegi har Kashmiri ko gale laga kar...” He repeated the formulation so there can be no doubt that he meant that bullets and abuse (from us) could not resolve the Kashmir’s issue; what was required was for us to embrace them. I am being cautious because being away I had not heard the speech and on seeing the “bullets, abuse” bit I assumed initially he meant those coming at us from the other side. 

He said, and nobody should find this exceptionable, that terrorism would be dealt with firmly while he continued with his unexpected riff on Kashmir to add: “We are committed to restoring the state to its former glory so as to experience the paradise that it was, once again.”

Now that it’s all clear, let’s examine what we can do to achieve this. We should start by accepting that the existing policy of “shoot them off the streets and shut them up” is not achieving the intended results. That is visible to anyone who has been following the chaos in Kashmir. New thinking is required, but where to start? 

Those who have been working on the matter for long will prescribe two things through which Mr Modi can go about achieving his goal of restoring Kashmir to its “former glory”. The resolution of the dispute is far away; the starting step would be to bring down the levels of violence both on the streets and in the television studios, which have done damage in forming public perception. Accepting that the Kashmir problem is not understood fully, or has been internalised in a prejudiced fashion would be a start.

Illustration by Ajay Mohanty

Indians should be told that this is not a problem of recent manufacture. There is a long history to the chipping away of autonomy under Article 370 (most of the mischief there being done by the nationalism of Jawaharlal Nehru and his daughter). Kashmiris cannot have a reasonable conversation with Indians who see their plight purely through the current lens of jihad and violent separatism. 

The second thing is to locate the violence in Kashmir and accord it its proper place. Of the three conflict areas in India, the most violent of the last 12 years (7,533 deaths) has been the Adivasi-Naxalite belt. The second most violent (6,401 deaths) has been from separatism in the Northeast. Jammu and Kashmir (6,227) is third. However, it is, by far, the first when it comes to attention from both the state and its organs and the media. Merely accepting the fact would do a great deal. 

The third thing would be to also acknowledge that Kashmir is 20 times less violent today than it was at the turn of the 21st century. Jihadist violence peaked under General Pervez Musharraf (4,507 deaths in 2001) and then plummeted. Violence has fallen consistently to under 3,000 (in 2003), under 2,000 (in 2004), under 1,000 (in 2007), under 500 (2009) and under 200 (in 2011). The coming of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the hard strategy employed has brought violence up by a bit but not much. Kashmir is normalising quickly on the side of terrorism and we should recognise that.

Fourth, we should stop using lethal force, of the sort we use nowhere else in India, for crowd control in Kashmir. The pump action shotgun that sprays lead birdshot into the faces and bodies of Kashmiris is a barbaric weapon. It has torn out the eyes of over a thousand children, women and men. Again, the state is entitled the legitimate use of force and there is no quibbling against that. But the shotgun should be taken out of the hands of the paramilitaries to be replaced with other means (water cannon, teargas) that are used elsewhere in India for the same reason. 

Fifth, the state government, of which the BJP is part, should not be allowed to use the Public Safety Act which seeks preventive detention (meaning locking someone up without a crime having been committed). The Jammu and Kashmir government has become addicted to the use of such laws, illegally locking away people, even children and not being punished for doing so.

Sixth, the government must offer justice to those Indians whose cases are awaiting decision from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Defence. Chargesheets filed by J&K police against armed forces personnel for murder, kidnap and torture have not been responded to by Delhi since 1989, an Amnesty India (of which I am part) research report has shown. This is unacceptable and no healing can begin without justice. This is a legacy issue, as the year 1989 indicates, and not a BJP problem alone. 

Seventh, the state should stop the rewarding of criminal acts by the army. I refer to the kidnap and humiliation for hours of an Indian citizen tied to the front of a military vehicle (apologists who claim this was merely for a moment of danger are ignorant of facts). Till these things happen, the larger process cannot move forward, we must be honest with ourselves. 

Unfortunately, going through the list above, it becomes obvious that to achieve his objective the prime minister must halt and reverse his current policies. There is no indication of that happening. We are expecting change to come from the other side alone. That’s unfair and it’s not going to happen. Words are useful but ultimately Mr Modi will be judged by results and action. 

If he chooses to not change his course, he will join the list of other Indian leaders who made fine noises about peace but then kicked the Kashmir can down the road for the next leader.