Fear of Indian Backlash

August 15, 2010

As UN Secretary-General Ban-ki-Moon quietly toured the flood-ravaged parts of Pakistan on Sunday to boost relief efforts, one of the leading dailies said he was keeping a low profile of his visit to Pakistan due to the "fear" of a possible backlash from India.


The Nation said he UN Chief is cautious that the publicity of the visit could convey a "wrong" message to India. The paper said: It is learnt that the international body's chief does not intend to "overplay" his arrival in Pakistan in the wake of mounting tensions between the UN and India. "Low-profiling" the same visit has much to do with the latest protest lodged by the UN against India. Just three days back, the UN had strongly protested with India over the use of UN's blue-helmets by Indian forces in "Held Kashmir" to quell the protests in favour of independence.
 
Official sources cite security reasons causing uncertainty about Ban-Ki Moon's proposed schedule during Pakistan's visit. This argument, however, comes devoid of any sound rational and logical assumption. Stringent security measures of highest possible orders are always adopted ahead of the arrivals of VVIP dignitaries but their visits are well scheduled and made public beforehand. Keeping Ban's visit secret does not notify security concerns rather, it carries political motives.


Visit vital for Pak & UN


Nevertheless; the UNSG's visit is vital for Pakistan and the UN simultaneously. Given that Pakistan is worst hit by unprecedented flash floods, his arrival would not only extend an expression of solidarity for the country, it would, to a great deal, mobilise the international support for Pakistan's cause. At the same time, the UN Chief could cover the ground regarding his backtracking from his own statement on Held Kashmir.


The same statement urged the Indian forces to exercise restraint in Held Kashmir. Issues like UN Commission's Report on Benazir Bhutto's murder and previous humanitarian aid package for Pakistan under Consolidated Appeals Process (CAP) would be actively taken up during the UN Chief's visit.


Besides visiting some flood-affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Southern Punjab, Ban is scheduled to meet President Zardari, Premier Gilani and senior diplomats of US and those of 'hostile' South Asian states.


"Objective of his visit is to himself see the flood affected areas and to demonstrate the support and solidarity of UN and international community for the people and government of Pakistan," UN Pakistan's Spokesperson Ishrat Rizvi told The Nation.


Kashmir, a trilateral issue: Mirwaiz


Meanwhile, The News in a dispatch from Kashmir quoted Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chairman of moderate faction of All Party Hurriyat Conference [APHC], as asserting that Kashmir was a trilateral issue and must be resolved in its historical perspective by India, Pakistan and Kashmiris.


"No solution is acceptable to Kashmiris other than freedom. Kashmiris have not been laying their lives for so-called autonomy or economic packages. Kashmiris have taken to streets. The writing on the wall is clear and further delay in resolution of the dispute can have serious repercussions," Mirwaiz said.
The dispatch from Srinagar said, "On Aug 3, when Syed Ali Shah Geelani appealed to the Kashmir people to protest peacefully and desist from damaging public property, the hardliner sounded more moderate than he has ever been. His appeal helped calm the tempers for some time, but the battlelines between New Delhi and agitated Kashmiris were clearly drawn."
Geelani claimed the government had assured him space for peaceful protests before releasing him from custody, hence his appeal. However, New Delhi since then seems to have developed cold feet.


Geelani is again under house arrest. At least, five persons have since been killed in Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) firing, jacking up the death toll in the two-month-long agitation in Kashmir to 59. The latest victim was 30 year-old Arshad Ahmad Latoo, fired upon by Indian armed forces during a protest in Anantnag today, on Saturday. Two more were later confirmed dead on Saturday, one in south Kashmir (Islamabad) and one in central Kashmir (Narbal).


On Friday, four persons were killed in different parts of north Kashmir while two more injured in protests (before Geelani's call) succumbed to their injuries in hospital.


Geelani's call came after a two-month long fresh wave of mass agitation against India's rule in Jammu and Kashmir had claimed 48 lives and pushed Kashmir in a state of anarchy. "Our acts are only harming us and not the state. We should think over it with a cool mind...We should take forward this movement in a peaceful manner," Geelani appealed. He stressed that the protest should be peaceful: "We should march peacefully. When we are stopped, we should sit down and ask them to shoot us."


Despite sharp criticism from within his own hardline faction, Geelani's appeal has had widespread impact. During one procession in Pampore, a day after Geelani's appeal, people sat on the road when challenged by the armed forces. Firing by troopers injured several of them.
 
Geelani had not led the protests earlier. In fact, he was arrested as soon as Tufail Ahmad Matoo, a 17-year-old schoolboy, was killed on June 11 when police fired a rubber bullet at him, drilling a half inch hole in his skull.
 However, the protests continued, spreading across the valley and growing in intensity. With each passing day, the number of those killed in the CRPF and police firing increased. So did the anger of the people who poured into the streets, braving bullets.


In desperation, the government released Geelani to take charge of street protests that J&K's chief minister, Omar Abdullah, had termed leaderless. But the assurances given to him saw little visibility on ground. In fact, the government has placed itself in difficult situation. As long as the killings continue, the anger will swell. Stopping the killings means letting people assemble in mass rallies behind separatists like Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chairman of the moderate faction of the APHC. The latter clearly spelled out his support for Geelani when he led the Friday prayers at Srinagar's Jamia Masjid while sticking to his own demands.


Rejecting Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's offer of dialogue on autonomy and an economic package for Jammu and Kashmir, Mirwaiz said, "We also believe in peaceful resolution of the Kashmir problem, but there can be no peace as long as innocent Kashmiris continue to be killed by the security forces. Mirwaiz said that autonomy was not a solution to the Kashmir issue as people here seek complete freedom.


Spelling out his demands to end the ongoing protests, Mirwaiz asked for an unconditional release of all political prisoners, revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Public Safety Act (PSA) and Disturbed Areas Act (DAA), withdrawal of armed forces from cities and towns besides a comprehensive political package for Jammu and Kashmir. Later, Mirwaiz led thousands of people in a rally through the old part of Srinagar.


The J&K government, sources say, had hoped that widespread protests, which have now taken the shape of a major Aazadi groundswell, would scale down in Ramazan. The killing of seven youth over the last two days has dashed these hopes.


"Those who are of the opinion that the protests will calm down during Ramazan are living in a fool's paradise. In this holy month which is full of blessings, let us resolve to intensify the movement for self-determination," Mirwaiz said, addressing people at the Jamia Masjid, where prayers were allowed after six weeks.


With the moderate faction of separatists also rejecting the call by India's prime minister, the only political intervention by the centre to control mass unrest seems ineffective. "No solution is acceptable to Kashmiris other than freedom. Kashmiris have not been laying their lives for so-called autonomy or economic packages. Kashmiris have taken to streets. The writing on the wall is clear and further delay in resolution of the dispute can have serious repercussions," Mirwaiz said. However he maintained that Kashmir was a trilateral issue and must resolved in its historical perspective by India, Pakistan and Kashmiris.

Source : http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/109101/Column:%20Window%20on%20Pak%20Press/fear-of-indian-backlash.html

100 Degrees In J&K

Inder Malhotra

Aug 04th, 2010 

THE FIRST thing to be said about Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah’s meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other members of the Union Cabinet’s Committee on Security is that it should have come much earlier. For more than five weeks the Valley has been in the grip of a vicious cycle of violence, with stone-pelting mobs and firings by security forces inevitably leading to deaths of civilians, including teenagers.

Even more virulent protests, almost always in utter defiance of curfew, then follow. This is too long a period for which to delay crucial consultations between the Centre and the sensitive state. All through it one witnessed only inaction in Srinagar and silence in New Delhi.

Secondly, Mr Abdullah, who has the Union government’s full support even while being reminded of his responsibility to control the ground situation, is entirely right in saying that Kashmir is essentially a political problem that should be tackled politically. He has also rightly added that no political initiative can be taken until the mindless violence ends and there is “a semblance of normalcy”.

That is the obvious first step. Alas, that is where the rub seems to lie. For despite his impassioned appeal to the civil society of Kashmir to cooperate with the government in restoring peace and calm from his press conference in Delhi, the situation in the Valley has worsened rather than show any sign of abating.

It is noteworthy that until four or five days ago the protesters in Kashmir towns, including Srinagar, used to confine their violence to stone throwing and thrashing security personnel falling into their hands. Since then their activity has taken an alarming turn. They, including rather large number of women, have taken to setting ablaze police stations, railway stations, police vehicles, even ambulances, indeed, every symbol of state authority. This reprehensible pattern persists after the Delhi discussions. Kashmir is no longer on the boil; it is burning.

Mr Abdullah’s third point is that the motley mobs wreaking havoc on Kashmir streets are “leaderless”. He is right inasmuch as there is no discernable line of command in the current agitation. But it is also true that Syed Ali Shah Geelani, leader of the hardline faction of Hurriyat, and some of his cohorts (one of them in hiding) regularly issue “protest calendars”. Not only students and private citizens but also state government employees obey these, the latter neglecting their duties with impunity. Yet there is danger that the situation might spin out of even their hands.

Under the circumstances, political leaders of the state who do not share the nefarious agenda of the separatists must establish contact with the locality elders and people in general. But what is the actual position? Over the weekend, rather belatedly, Mr Abdullah formed three ministerial groups for this purpose and these teams have since visited three of the major trouble spots in the Valley. But, in this respect, shouldn’t the chief minister have taken the lead himself? Leaders of other political parties should also be doing the same, but that is far from being the case.

One can sympathise with Mr Abdullah about his difficulties vis-à-vis the main Opposition party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), led by the strident Mehbooba Mufti whose relationship with him is one of implacable hatred. The country witnessed that, despite a personal appeal by the Prime Minister, she refused to attend an all-party meeting called by the chief minister to evolve a consensus on dealing with the grim challenge facing the state. But what about senior leaders of the ruling party, the National Conference, founded by the chief minister’s grandfather, the incomparable Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, or, for that matter, the Congress Party, the NC’s partner in the ruling coalition? Sadly, the state of affairs could not have been more regrettable than it is.

There is a virtual chasm between Mr Abdullah and his senior party colleagues who are not ministers. Their complaint is that he ignores them. Obviously, the party’s and indeed the country’s collective interest is of no concern to them. As for the J&K Congress, it is a house divided against itself. Rival factions are busy fighting each other, and have no time to confront the enemies of Kashmir’s peace and stability. Ms Mufti was not the only state leader to absent herself from the chief minister’s all-party conference. Another conspicuous absentee was Tara Chand, deputy chief minister belonging to the Congress! Has anyone in the party’s national leadership called him to account?

It is also curious that all the blame for civilian deaths is being heaped on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and at one remove, on the Central government. The constitutional position is that the CRPF has no authority to act anywhere on its own. It does so only in aid of civil authority and thus under the orders of the state government. Moreover, why doesn’t the Kashmir government deploy more Kashmiri police that includes 63,000-strong armed constabulary, instead of calling the Border Security Force at the drop of a Karakuli cap? Of course, the forces are stretched because of the Amarnath yatra which explains the Centre’s prompt willingness to send more CRPF battalions to J&K.

What is required is that the reinforcements should consist of those who are better trained and better led.

Another strange facet of the situation is that the Accountability Committee of the state, which served a useful purpose because people with grievances could approach it for redress, no longer exists. Not because it has been abolished but simply because, under the law, its members have to be chosen jointly by the chief minister and the leader of the Opposition, Ms Mufti. The twain cannot agree even on the time of the day.

The present challenge in Kashmir is graver than that at the time of the Holy Relic Crisis in December 1963-January 1964, when the whole Valley seemed to hang by a thread. Jawaharlal Nehru, though ailing, immediately sent his trusted troubleshooter, Lal Bahadur Shastri, to Srinagar with instructions to stay there until the crisis was resolved. How radically the times have changed since then!

Source : http://www.asianage.com/opinion/100-degrees-jk-976