Hyderabad: For a dispensation that didn’t seem too bothered about the international reactions to its August decision in Jammu and Kashmir (withdrawing the erstwhile state’s special status in the Indian constitution and dividing the state into two centrally-administered Union territories), the central government in New Delhi is subtly altering its policy, for the time being at least.
For the record, it has been over five months since the Kashmir valley has been under a security lockdown which is slowly getting lifted. Internet will soon be partially restored in Kashmir after an unprecedented five-month blackout, but only for institutions providing “essential services”. However, Social media sites will still be out of reach for the Kashmiris for the time being.
Visit of diplomats
The government of India recently organised a visit of the Delhi-based foreign Diplomats to Jammu and Kashmir to meet various sections of the Kashmiri society. Diplomats belonging to United States, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Norway, the Maldives, South Korea, Morocco, Nigeria, Argentina, the Philippines, among others were taken on a guided tour of the Union Territory.
The diplomats were allowed to interact with selected journalists, political leaders and civil society activists. As was expected, they were not allowed to meet Kashmir’s high-profile political detainees or for that matter any political prisoners. Most people they met reportedly argued that Kashmir is calm and that not a single bullet has been fired since August, arguments routinely made by New Delhi to justify its Kashmir policy.
The government of India also recently announced that some of its key ministers’ would be making a visit to Kashmir soon. They would speak to the people about the development initiatives that the Centre plans to undertake in the newly bifurcated union territories.
This is clearly a much needed initiative. In fact, both the recent visit of the Diplomats to J&K and the upcoming visit of the Ministers are part of an initiative by the government to signal that Kashmir is becoming normal again.
And yet, why is that only hand-picked diplomats are taken to meet only those that the government decides? More so, while foreign delegates are allowed to visit Kashmir, why is that Indian politicians are not allowed to visit their own country? If indeed, the objective of the government is to reach out to the people of Kashmir, why not organise an all-party delegation visit to Kashmir as it happened in 2010 during the anti-India agitations in the Valley?
These are at best half-measures by the Central government to paint a shade of normalcy, even though we know that normalcy is nowhere in the picture in Kashmir. If normalcy is what is desired, normal politics must be allowed in Kashmir.
Timing of the initiatives
Some of the steps easing the restrictions are undertaken following a supreme court ruling last week in which the court said that the indefinite suspension of internet was illegal and amounted to an abuse of power. While the judgement was littered with all the right words, there was very little relief for the Kashmiris. The court asked for a review of the restrictive measures in Kashmir by the government, instead of ordering a lifting of the restrictions in Kashmir. The problem with the court order is that the government can very well review and decide to continue with the same measures.
As part of the same judgment, the court also spoke about the need to balance freedom of speech with national security which is perhaps the wrong approach to take. The judiciary must step in to safeguard individual liberty and freedom. Invoking security to constrain individual liberty and freedom could be the beginning of the end of democratic freedoms as we know it.
Creating a new politics in the valley
Having said that, we are perhaps looking at the making of a Kashmir strategy by the Indian government today. Let’s review what look like are some baby steps in this regard.
First of all, there seems to be a slow process of lifting of restrictions in Kashmir. This is a gradual process and will take some time to materialise. The court order and the pressure from within and outside India could potentially quicken this process.
The second strategy is to wean away senior politicians from J&K’s traditional political parties such as the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party to create a new political formation in the Union Territory of J&K. This will enable a new style of politics in Kashmir, with a new bunch of leaders raising new demands and new bargains. The fact that many of the jailed leaders are not the favourites of the Kashmiris will ensure that there won’t be too much resistance against the creation of such a new political formation in the valley.
The third strategy would be to get the Kashmiri leadership to restrict their bargain with New Delhi to the question of returning J&K’s statehood. This would be a popular demand in the years to come. Once the New Delhi-Srinagar conversation is restricted around this issue, other issues could be side-lined, at least for the time being.
While, on the face of it, this seems like a sound strategy, it is going to be easier said than implemented. The Kashmiri youth, deeply disgruntled as it is, is unlikely to be enamoured by these strategies. The question is whether New Delhi will dictate the politics of Kashmir in the months and years ahead or Kashmir’s youngsters would do so.
More so, what might happen when the restrictions are lifted is anyone’s guess. All these calculations about carefully calibrating and managing the political space in Kashmir may get washed away in the fury of a popular uprising.
Thirdly, what Pakistan would do vis-à-vis Kashmir in the months ahead is something we will have to wait and watch. Once the FATF pressure eases, and the snow in Kashmir melts, Pakistan might up the ante in Kashmir. If that happens, we must, and Kashmir must, prepare for a hot summer.
(The author of this article Happymon Jacob, is an Associate Professor of Disarmament Studies at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University)
