Back to the brink

Kashmir Times

Ominous signs of reverting back to the suicidal strong-arm policy

Paradoxically, while Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been asking the Union government to resume dialogue with the separatist leaders to  resolve the prolonged crisis , offering to act as a facilitator, his government appears to be re-embarking on a course of confrontation.
There are ominous signs of reverting back to the suicidal policy of strong-arm methods to deal with the alienated sections of he
population , suppress their urges and aspirations and silence every voice of dissent. The policy of “healing touch” initiated
by the PDP-Congress coalition in 2002, which paid some dividends in creating a relaxed atmosphere and bridging to some extent the
prevailing trust-deficit , despite its half-hearted implementation, seems to have been abandoned in favour of a policy of repression and
political vendetta, which in the past had proved counter-productive. Instead of taking further steps to build bridges of understandings
with the separatist leaders for resuming a meaningful dialogue to find a peaceful solution to the problem, the State administration is
sparing no efforts to rub salt on the past wounds instead of applying any healing touch. The arrests of a number of separatist leaders
under the infamous Public Safety Act without any rhyme and reason, refusal to set them free despite the courts quashing their detentions
, putting senior Hurriet leaders like Ali Shah Geelani frequently under house arrest or denying free movements to other leaders like
Yasin Malik and their right to hold rallies, make it obvious that the State government is bent upon closing all the doors for
negotiations and pushing the separatist leaders to the walls. The latest case in this regard is the remanding of the senior Hurriet and
Democratic Freedom Party leader Shabir Shah to CIK custody in a 19 year old case on the basis of an FIR in which Shah along with Syed
Ali Geelani, Prof Abdul Ghani Bhat and late Abdul Ghani Lone were accused of ” instigating youth to take arms training across the
Line of Control ” in 1991. Shah , who had earlier been ordered to be released by the High Court , quashing his detention under PSA,
has been in jail for the past several months . Instead of setting him free , in compliance of the court verdict, the State authorities ,
as a matter of political vengeance and lack of faith in democratic norms, have now invoked an obsolete and absurd FIR to keep him behind
bars. This despite the fact that Shah was incarcerated in Jodhpur jail from 1989 ( when he was arrested) to 1994 , making the FIR lodged
against him 1991 as baseless .

Tragically, at a time when there was need to pursue the policy of healing touch more vigorously for creating a climate of trust, needed
for resuming the desired dialogue process, the state rulers are embarking on a path of confrontation . A large number of separatist
leaders and activists are involved in a number of such cases filed against them since the launching of their violent struggle for azadi
. Inexplicably, even after their release from prisons these cases against them have not been withdrawn. They have to frequently appear
before the courts outside Kashmir valley causing them avoidable inconvenience nad hardships which naturally adds to their bitterness .
Withdrawal of all these cases along with the release of all other political prisoners languishing in jails for years, could have been a
major confidence building measure. There were several other ways for creating a climate of trust necessary for pursuing any meaningful
process of dialogue to find a peaceful solution to the Kashmir problem. There has been no let up on the human rights front with the
authorities failing to strengthen institutional mechanism for bringing the culprits to book. At a time when there was a need to heal the
past wounds for overcoming trust-deficit those at the helm have embarked upon a course of confrontation not only with the separatists
but also with the mainstream opposition and other critics of the government policies and actions. The present government has even backed
out from its commitment made while assuming office like the removal of troops from the civilian areas, repeal of draconian Armed Forces
Special Powers Act (AFSPA) and restoration of people’s civil liberties. The State Government has not even bothered to implement some
of the recommendations made by the group constituted by the Prime Minister on the Confidence Building Measures and Human Rights headed
by M.H.Ansari, presently Vice President of India . The present policy of confrontation can only obstruct rather than facilitating the
process of dialogue so necessary for breaking the logjam.