November - Panun Kashmir

Kashmir Sentinel November 2002cross-fire of terrorist violence and the often crude and hostile tactics employed by the security forces, theentire Kashmiri society is thoroughly traumatised, even though it is reasonably well off in material terms.For any policy to have an impact, this must be changed quickly. The state government and the Centrehave failed even to recognise the issue. The separatist lobbies have never paid attention to the problem.Perhaps that is one reason why they are short on internal support. As for elections, people don't seem tocare too much for the political preferences of the separatists. A few bombs or assassinations will keepvoters indoors anywhere in the world. It's up to the authorities to keep the environment secure.But a relatively low voter turn-out will not negate the 'sea-change' in Kashmir. Policy makers need to bearthis in mind, now and after the polls, rather than proceed from any preconceived notion. Elections may bethe right time for political leaders, even those not having stakes in the Valley, to visit Kashmir, if only togain a fresh perspective that will hopefully inform policy in the near future. If nothing else, they couldspeak about the 'idea of India', to use Sunil Khilnan" splendidly evocative expression.As for the Hurriyat, its stock doesn't seem to be high. It was a dramatic moment when I saw outside itsoffice in Srinagar (where a pathetic demonstration was in progress) an elderly woman running across theroad, screaming out something in Kashmiri as she angrily jabbed the air, all the while pointing to theHurriyat headquarters. Laughing shopkeepers translated merrily, "The ministers and these people are all'daku' (robbers)." All that it might take is withdrawal of western affections to knock the bottom out of theHurriyat.It is a collective failure of the media that Kashmir's changing reality has been allowed to gounrepresented, leaving observers with overwhelming biases. Kashmir has suffered as a result. The urgentproblems of its people, such as full-blown educated unemployment and the pain of thousands of displacedand psychologically dislocated households that have known murder and worse, are not sufficientlyappreciated outside. All of this concerns domestic policy - not international roulette.13-26 Panun Kashmir PublicationPDF created with FinePrint pdfFactory Pro trial version www.pdffactory.com