Jammu & Kashmir - Articles

  Although, Kashmir had witnessed politics of protest and separatism earlier also but it used to be in defence of the perceived threat to its identity and it generally manifested itself either in the form of hartals or demonstrations. Even sometime some minor militant groups were also formed but those militant groups could not survive for long as they failed to mobilize large-scale mass support. It was for the first time in the post-independence era that the Kashmiri separatist movement took recourse to violent upsurge since late 1980’s. The war like situation, which has erupted, took not only thousands of innocent lives but made many physically disabled. Besides, there was large scale destruction of property worth billions of rupees, many people particularly Kashmiri Pandits were rendered homeless. Ironically Kashmir has acquired the distinction of being the only place in India where graveyards are displaying the signboards of ‘no vacancy’.

 The eruption of militancy in Kashmir was not a sudden outburst but the cumulative result of various twists and turns in the state’s politics since long. If one wants to understand the growth of militancy in Kashmir, one has to bear in mind that it is both spontaneous as well as a result of some external planning. The Indian State’s denial of basic democratic rights like genuine electoral participation, civil liberties and federal autonomy to the people of Kashmir alienated them from the Indian nation and they finally crossed over to the other side of border. Pakistan, a traditional rival in the dispute of Kashmir, took advantage of the situation. She not only gave military training to young Kashmiri Muslims but also provided sophisticated weapons. After their return, these young men started an armed struggle in Kashmir. In order to deal with the situation, Indian security forces used military methods and this gave rise to a war like situation in Kashmir as the belligerent parties tried to score points over each other. However, due to the hard struggle of Indian security forces (which has often met a strong criticism) and particularly after the change in the domestic and international environment, the security forces began to exercise an upper edge over the militants. In view of these developments people began to think that militancy in Kashmir is vanishing. But the reality has been something different.

 Initially, the militant movement, which was mostly indigenous in nature, sought to achieve the single objective of “liberating” Kashmir from the Indian control. But soon differences cropped up on the politico-ideological considerations between different militant groups who resorted to offense against each other resulting in frequent clashes. In these inter-group clashes,  great damage was caused to the lives and property of innocent people and thus, diminished their support to the militants and their separatist cause. On the other hand the number of local Kashmiri Muslims in different militant outfits reduced largely as they lost their interest in the ongoing militant movement. Foreign militants filled up the ranks of the militant groups in Kashmir. Although, this increased the fighting power of the militants, it made the separatist movement loose its indigenous character.

 After the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America particularly when terrorism was described as a major threat to world peace, the violent ethnic movements which were going on world over got severally affected and the militant movement in Kashmir could not escape from its wrath. After the attack on Indian parliament when the tension in the region increased, Pakistan was pressurized by the international community to stop aiding and abetting Kashmiri militants. In view of this changing international environment General Pervez Musharaf, the President of Pakistan took certain categorical decisions, which were appreciated world over. Despite a severe domestic criticism he not only supported the American led coalition forces in their war against Taliban but also imposed ban on different terrorist/militant organisations, some of which were fighting in Kashmir. Besides, the arrests of some top militant leaders, the offices of different militant outfits in Pakistan were closed down and their accounts were frozen. Pakistani armed forces were asked to maintain a vigil in order to prevent the to and fro activities of militants across the border. These initiatives were appreciated everywhere and even some circles in Indian government expressed their happiness over it. It was expected that there will be some let–up in the militant related activities which will pave a way for the restoration of normalcy in Kashmir.

 As a matter of fact despite the towering claims by the government of Pakistan in imposing curbs over the activities of Kashmiri militants and Indian appreciation for the same, the ground situation in Kashmir could not show any positive signs of change. The violence is going on unabatedly. The militants are carrying on their activities smoothly and ungrudgingly. The process of death and destruction which has become order of the day since the eruption of violence in Kashmir is not showing any let up. As per some Pakistani newspaper reports thousands of Pakistani nationals are being recruited in different militant organisations to fight in Kashmir. The outgoing US envoy to India Robert Blackwill says that the infiltration from Pakistan to India is still continuing. The same situation has been revealed to this author by a former counter–insurgent leader in a conversation held recently. Therefore, in the light of these facts it can be concluded that the end of militancy in Kashmir sounds a far-fetched dream.