The recent trouble in Srinagar has in fact had its early days during the tenure of Mehebooba Mufti. She and her party have always been sitting on the fence. During her tenure, the PDP played with the idea of reaching out to the separatists in the valley, not with an intent of finding out a solution to the problem, rather to ensure a certain degree of tolerance among the extremist elements as it officially at least continued with its allegiance to Delhi.
Mehebooba and her party realised that unless and until they adopted a covertly compromising relationship with the extremist organisations in the valley, she won’t be able to ensure a rather even-free tenure. She always intended on securing her rule in the state by pursuing this policy that naturally ensured lesser street protests and casualties. This lenient approach was taken advantage of by the separatists, duly guided and financed by their masters across the border.
The cause of normalcy in the valley was not helped either with the change in government in the valley. The Congress party came to power and installed Gulam Nabi Azad as the J&K chief minister. Azad, though he hails from Kashmir, has never been a Kashmiri politician in that sense. On the contrary, he has always enjoyed his tenures in the central government and in the party in Delhi. Its well known that he had to take up the role rather unwillingly. His appointment was a further disaster. Azad was never able to appreciate the real pulse of the Aam Janata of the state. He took voluntary decisions which didn’t auger well for the state. Among them his decision to hand over land to the Amarnath Yatra Committee is significant. It worsened the already waning trust deficit and also created the cult of the so called ‘Stone Pelters’ in the streets of Srinagar. Azad failed to foresee the future and inadvertently played in the hands of planners across the border. For the first time, the resistance in the valley gained some indigenious momentum. Credit must be given to the majority of the Kashmiris, who, inspite of immense provocation, never lost faith in the democratic process in the state.
This was amply evident in the subsequent assembly election, wherein they came out in large numbers and participated in the electoral process amidst provocation and intimidation. The entire world took notice of the success of the democratic exercise in the valley. The same, expectedly didn’t go well with the ISI. They eventually realised that unless the cause of Kashmir has some degree of indigenous character, it would be difficult to sustain their agenda in Kashmir. The separatists in the valley were accordingly advised to act upon and ensure more civilian casualties in the ongoing daily skirmishes with the Indian security forces. The plan was to foment mass protests in case of any civilian casualties. This is proving to be a very effective strategy. As more and more antagonized locals protest, higher have been the casualties. The protestors resort to stone pelting, burning down government properties and so on. The generation of Stone Pelters were born in the streets of Srinagar!
It is in this back drop that the National Conference came to power after the successful 2009 assembly elections. Omar Abdullah became the chief minister. Now let’s be clear, Omar is not Sheikh Abdullah, his grandfather! The present chief minister has made several political miscalculations since coming to power. He has miserably failed to read the pulse of the common Kashmiri. The stone pelting crowd has had a quantum growth during his tenure and now the situation is such that, things are simply beyond his control. As more and more civilian casualties happen, the antagonisation process, so close to the hearts of those across the borer, seems to lead even greater turmoil.
Mehebooba and her party realised that unless and until they adopted a covertly compromising relationship with the extremist organisations in the valley, she won’t be able to ensure a rather even-free tenure. She always intended on securing her rule in the state by pursuing this policy that naturally ensured lesser street protests and casualties. This lenient approach was taken advantage of by the separatists, duly guided and financed by their masters across the border.
The cause of normalcy in the valley was not helped either with the change in government in the valley. The Congress party came to power and installed Gulam Nabi Azad as the J&K chief minister. Azad, though he hails from Kashmir, has never been a Kashmiri politician in that sense. On the contrary, he has always enjoyed his tenures in the central government and in the party in Delhi. Its well known that he had to take up the role rather unwillingly. His appointment was a further disaster. Azad was never able to appreciate the real pulse of the Aam Janata of the state. He took voluntary decisions which didn’t auger well for the state. Among them his decision to hand over land to the Amarnath Yatra Committee is significant. It worsened the already waning trust deficit and also created the cult of the so called ‘Stone Pelters’ in the streets of Srinagar. Azad failed to foresee the future and inadvertently played in the hands of planners across the border. For the first time, the resistance in the valley gained some indigenious momentum. Credit must be given to the majority of the Kashmiris, who, inspite of immense provocation, never lost faith in the democratic process in the state.
This was amply evident in the subsequent assembly election, wherein they came out in large numbers and participated in the electoral process amidst provocation and intimidation. The entire world took notice of the success of the democratic exercise in the valley. The same, expectedly didn’t go well with the ISI. They eventually realised that unless the cause of Kashmir has some degree of indigenous character, it would be difficult to sustain their agenda in Kashmir. The separatists in the valley were accordingly advised to act upon and ensure more civilian casualties in the ongoing daily skirmishes with the Indian security forces. The plan was to foment mass protests in case of any civilian casualties. This is proving to be a very effective strategy. As more and more antagonized locals protest, higher have been the casualties. The protestors resort to stone pelting, burning down government properties and so on. The generation of Stone Pelters were born in the streets of Srinagar!
It is in this back drop that the National Conference came to power after the successful 2009 assembly elections. Omar Abdullah became the chief minister. Now let’s be clear, Omar is not Sheikh Abdullah, his grandfather! The present chief minister has made several political miscalculations since coming to power. He has miserably failed to read the pulse of the common Kashmiri. The stone pelting crowd has had a quantum growth during his tenure and now the situation is such that, things are simply beyond his control. As more and more civilian casualties happen, the antagonisation process, so close to the hearts of those across the borer, seems to lead even greater turmoil.
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