Fuelling fears in Kashmir

The Centre’s decision last week to send 10,000 paramilitary jawans to the Kashmir Valley has understandably raised fears of a greater crackdown as the political situation in the state remains wholly uncertain.

While alienation has possibly deepened in Kashmir since the Narendra Modi government came to power over five years ago, the security situation has actually been stable for some months. Ordinarily, this should not require any additional force deployment.

This has also fuelled apprehension that the Centre is about to tinker with Article 370 of the Constitution or Article 35A, which deals with J&K’s autonomy, and has brought in the forces anticipating large-scale trouble at the street level.

We hope that the fears of the people, and of Kashmiri politicians, regarding J&K’s autonomy are unfounded. We hope the forces are being brought in as a larger number is being de-inducted for reasons of training, as has reportedly been suggested by senior police sources.

However, if provisions relating to autonomy are tampered with, Kashmir is likely to become politically unstable. Pakistan alone can benefit in such a scenario. India suffers when the populace in the sensitive state is disaffected. We hope the Centre is mindful of this.

The recent public remarks of governor Satya Pal Malik urging terrorists not to kill policemen but to attack politicians and bureaucrats who have “looted” Kashmir, have also served to make the internal situation unstable.

The message is that the BJP government is not only tightening the screws on the Hurriyat leadership by investigating and arresting several of them, but is also attempting to corral mainstream regional politicians. The induction of troops in this atmosphere deepens the sense of uncertainty.