Omar fails the test

Though Kashmiri youth have preferred stones to vent their desperation till now, it may not take them too long to take a different recourse if the democratic space continues to shrink
Iftikhar Gilani Delhi

Rafiabad region bordering volatile Sopore in north-Kashmir had voted overwhelmingly in November-December 2008 assembly elections (80 per cent turnout) braving guns and boycott calls. Though Kashmir watchers had been warning of a burst of violence in absence of a lack of political initiatives and pausing of dialogue process with Pakistan, they could hardly fathom that a new wave of resentment will start from this region, celebrated by analysts a year-and-half ago for rejecting separatism. 

In the last week of April, army informers had lured three village boys in this region to join as porters in the Rajputana Rifles, a regiment deployed at Macchil sector in northern-most Kupwara district. In order to win laurels and medals for checking infiltration and battling so called Laskhar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists, senior army officers posed these hapless porters as infiltrating terrorists and killed them in a fake encounter. "We never expected body bags to be returned to us in lieu of promises of employment and development," said Engineer Rashid, MLA from the nearby Langet assembly segment. 

As the hardliner leader Syed Ali Geelani called for protests against these killings, an unending spiral of violence led to 11 deaths in 19 days, mostly of people in the age group of 14-19 years. The moderate face of separatism, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, believes that the yearning for freedom has transferred to the new generation. "They are restless, impatient and will not settle for just promises and incremental progress," he told Hardnews. 

The pictures of jean-clad young boys opening their shirts and daring security personnel to shoot at them are alarming. In Sopore, where security forces were returning after killing two militants holed up in a house, they were booed by local youth on June 25. Eyewitnesses told Hardnews that tensions that consumed four lives in the town started with an argument between the youth and troopers whose vehicle had got stuck in a pothole. 

"They were teased for killing militants by using excessive force, and blasting the house with canons from a distance, instead of daring an equal and hand-on-hand battle. In response, the troopers opened fire, killing a youth on spot and injuring many," said a local youth, Raza (name changed). 

Analysts and psychologists describe it as a disturbing trend both for India as well as Pakistan, already on the edge. Any delay in a political initiative to find a widely acceptable solution to the Kashmir problem is a recipe for disaster and an open invitation to generate more "suicide bombers".  

Though the Kashmiri youth have preferred stones to vent their desperation till now, it may not take them too long to take a different recourse, if a "political and democratic" space continues to elude them. 

In Kashmir, an alliance of local National Conference (NC) and the national Congress has always proved to be politically a lethal cocktail. The Rajiv Gandhi-Farooq Abdullah accord of 1986 followed by mass rigging in 1987 elections gave birth to militancy. 
Many in Kashmir believe that people have still not forgiven the NC for the tie-up with a national party that has bestowed upon them two decades of harassment by the central forces and the militants. "The Abdullahs are trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds," says a senior NC leader. 

At the beginning of 2009, young chief minister Omar Abdullah rode to power amid hope and optimism as he was starting his innings on a clean slate. He, himself, went on roof tops to convey that his appointment was not a referendum in favour of India or a defeat of separatism, but an arrangement to provide an administration which will be sensitive to local sentiments and needs. His party men even believed he was let down by central government propaganda, which termed his anointing as a rebuttal to separatists as well as Islamabad.   

Almost one-year-and-a-half down the line, hopes have turned into despair.  The biggest question in Srinagar is whether the young chief minister can deliver for full six years. His below average performance to tackle the multiple crises and apparently a wily bureaucracy are out to prove him a failed administrator. 

At the outset, his government started on a bad omen in January 2009. Soon after he took over, the first cabinet meeting that he presided over was called to declare state mourning and condolence over the death of his uncle and former chief minister GM Shah. 
Two days after, troops shot a deaf and dumb villager in his neighbourhood. Troops said the slain Abdul Rashid Rishi, 45, was planning a 'fidayeen' attack. The allegations were found to be unfounded. The last time Omar generated some good will was when he ordered the shifting of Bomai (Sopore) Rashtriya Rifles camp. 

He also earned a certain moral high ground by his sudden resignation on the floor of assembly after the senior opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Muzaffar Hussain Beg accused him of being involved in the infamous sex scam.  

But his inability to punish the troopers of the Bomai camp who murdered two local youth let gaping holes in his image. Call it short sightedness, political immaturity or New Delhi's heavy grip, Abdullah's two populist slogans of withdrawal of troops and revocation of the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) met a dead-end. The army has made it clear that it will not reduce troop strength in Kashmir even if incidents of violence came down. 

The AFSPA revocation was also vehemently opposed by everyone ranging from the army to BJP. Ultimately, New Delhi had to abandon any plans to amend AFSPA, leave alone revoking it. On phased withdrawal of CRPF, Abdullah himself seemed to backtrack presumably under New Delhi's pressure. His assurances for securing withdrawal ended with a statement that overnight replacement of CRPF by police was not possible. More worrisome for the chief minister is that the grand old party of Kashmir, the NC, is fast loosing grip while attempting to appease its coalition partner - the Congress. 

During the assembly as well as Lok Sabha polls, NC was less popular than its rival PDP. During Lok Sabha polls, Congress resisted fielding any candidate from the Kashmir valley and instead sought safer constituencies in Jammu and Leach, dealing a dual blow to NC. Indeed, the task of competing with the PDP in its stronghold has been left for National Conference; and a party that boasts of a wider appeal and regional projection has been deprived of an opportunity to portray itself as a representative of all the three regions. 

"New Delhi wants confinement of the (Kashmir) dispute to the valley as they did in Assam and northeast which was divided in seven states to kill the separatist sentiment there," says Dr Sheikh Showkat Hussain of Kashmir University's Law Department. "It is New Delhi's will to localise the political parties in this state which, unfortunately, the politicians of the valley accept wholeheartedly." 

Congress is now openly questioning the functioning of chief minister. The party's in-charge of Jammu and Kashmir and Union minister Prithviraj Chavan, said that the chief minister's frequent trips to Delhi and elsewhere have upset the party. "We are concerned that he does not sit in his office and perform his duties as expected. Omar must change his style of functioning," he said. Senior Congress leaders say that they are concerned at the childish and sentimental attitude of junior Abdullah. 

They point out about his Ladakh trip with his family when Srinagar was on fire. And from Ladakh, instead of returning to Srinagar, he drove with his family to Kulu-Manali. They even talk about the state helicopter making nine sorties to airlift relatives of Payal Singh, wife of the chief minister, to visit the Ladakh monasteries.

Omar may be an ideal nationalist and secular Muslim show boy for India, because he is born to an English mother and is married to a Sikh. His sister is married to a Hindu, Sachin Pilot, a Union minister. In Kashmir, murmurs within his own party are getting louder day by day, as the chief minister also functions as a the custodian of various Muslim shrines including Hazratbal, as chief of the Waqf Board. Even after 10 years in politics, he is still to speak fluent Kashmiri to communicate with his cadres and local people. 

Congress circles also feel that Omar's requisition for calling in army without consulting the coalition partner was highly uncalled for. Just a day ahead he and his law minister had criticised the CRPF. Despite these procrastinations, the Congress high command does not favour taking over the reins directly in Srinagar. 

The Congress president does not want to get involved in Kashmir affairs. Manmohan Singh apparently believes a wily local partnership power with Congress would be act as a "buffer" between Srinagar and New Delhi. The party still believes that the Amarnath shrine controversy raked by Congress government that was led by Ghulam Nabi Azad in 2008 dented the party's image and helped the BJP to recover in the Jammu region while creating ruckus and ruptures elsewhere.