Coming back to my observation |
flexibility Kashmiris had shown . |
the decision to hang Afzal is purely |
as to why Kashmir was buried in |
From 2003 onwards the people had |
political and taken at the level of |
Tihar . The decision to hang Afzal , as |
supported the peace process be- |
Congress core committee . Accordis |
now clear , was purely political |
tween India and Pakistan , though |
ing to insiders , the top brass of Army , |
since Congress was feeling the heat |
with limited benefit to Kashmiris in |
Intelligence Bureau , and Central Reof |
Modi march to Delhi in 2014 . But |
the shape of Confidence Building |
serve Police Force have argued |
could they take a similar decision a |
Measures . But it was to show that |
against this decision apprehending |
decade back to keep BJP at bay for |
they are for peaceful settlement of |
serious trouble in Kashmir , but the |
the electoral gains . Perhaps not . It is |
the issue and want to take active part |
political weightage has over shadactually |
the confidence New Delhi |
in that process . It is ironic that Con- |
owed their “ advice ” and plunged the |
has gained over a period of time that |
gress “ apparently fell into the trap ” |
place into the crisis . |
they could take any “ risk ” in Kash- |
of Bhartiya Janta Party ' s continued |
Kashmir may revert back to normir |
. Looking closely at this decision , |
tirade and succumbed to the situa- |
malcy though nothing can be anticiit |
is an unquestionable fact that the |
tion in order to ensure that they are |
pated at this stage . But those who |
Congress led UPA government no |
back in the saddle in 2014 . But it is |
believe that it will not push into a situlonger |
looks at Kashmir through the |
BJP ' s stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
ation as it did after five years of |
prism of political exigency but |
who is seen as a peace maker in the |
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation |
purely as a law and order issue |
Front founder Maqbool Butt ' s |
|
which can be dealt with the rein- |
hanging in the same month in |
|
forcement of few thousand more |
same jail in 1984 are wrong in |
|
Para military forces . By taking |
their assessment . It may not push |
|
Afzal to gallows , Congress might |
another generation into violence , |
|
have won the “ hearts ” of Indian |
but at least the generation that has |
|
voters , but it has shut the doors of |
grown after 1990 will identify itreconciliation |
|
at least for some |
self with Guru and the rest one |
|
time . Even if Kashmiris were |
will follow . The hanging will igready |
|
to move forward on the path |
nite a sense of renewed disilluof |
|
peace and reconciliation , New |
sionment and alienation . Today ' s |
|
Delhi has shown that it does not |
generation is not as naive as it was |
|
care much about that . It has virtu- |
in 1984 . They are well educated , |
|
ally dismissed the sentiments in |
articulate and politically more con- |
|
Kashmir with contempt by going |
scious of their political rights . |
|
ahead with Afzal ' s hanging . Not |
They are unarmed and it is diffionly |
|
has the hanging a potential to |
cult to contain them through the |
|
have a long term impact on the psy- |
methods , which have been used in |
|
che of Kashmir youth as sug- |
the past . Kashmiri students agitatgested |
|
by Omar Abdullah , but the |
ing at Jantar Mantar in Delhi is |
|
way the family was denied the last |
enough to learn a lesson about |
|
|
meeting with him has hurt a common Kashmiri to the hilt .
The decision of hanging has purely come at the cost of Kashmir .
A place battered with conflict is yet to recover from the wounds inflicted on its population . Still it had shown the courage and resilience to compromise with the fact that normalcy
was an important tool to sustain the economy , though not at the cost of the political aspirations . While the
GoI was “ celebrating ” this “ normalcy ” by projecting 85 percent participation in Panchayat elections and arrival of 1.4 million tourists in
2012 , it failed to encash on this wave
|
region . His former adviser and RAW chief AS Dulat has said that if it would have been Vajpayee , there was no possibility of sending Guru to gallows . He was also disturbed at
the fact that this situation has pushed the Valley back by many years .
There was an overwhelming demand from various quarters in India , including the various human
rights groups , for commutation of
Guru ' s death sentence . In hindsight ,
had it indeed been commuted to life sentence , it could have proved a ma- jor confidence building measure for the valley .
|
how volatile the youth can be in this age . In 1984 there was none to agitate against Butt ' s hanging in
Delhi and not many even in Kashmir but this time the only option with the government to quell the strong re- sentment is to barricade the Valley and put it under long spell of curfew .
If they do not have problems with
New Delhi ' s decision vis-a-vis Kash- mir then why this long siege ? Politi- cally they did bury Kashmir in another grave in Tihar but it has a les- son for the government to learn and not just merely see it as an end of an offender who helped militants attack the parliament .
|
and rather “ misused ” this sense of |
If the sources are to be believed , |