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Kashmir: Report from Ground Zero

Zee News Kashmir bureau chief, Naseer Ahmed, reports on the ground reality of on-the-boil situation in the Valley, root cause of the problem, the flare up, and the possible solution that may be acceptable to the people of the region.

Naseer Ahmed, Srinagar

Jammu and Kashmir is in a state of shock, and it is sending waves of worry across India, particularly in New Delhi. The sudden turn of events has brought back memories of early 1990s, while just a few months ago the state bore semblance of near-complete normalcy.The tourism sector was booming, with holiday makers from all over India and across the globe converging on to the state for the past few years after a lull in the wake of militancy. Sports was back in action with the state hosting football’s Santosh Trophy. Music bands, with one from across the border, held concerts in Kashmir, giving the people of state a taste of life in halcyon days.

However, a small dispute over transfer of 100 acres of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board erupted like a volcano, with its lava consuming all hopes of peace.

As of today, with both the Jammu region and Kashmir Valley burning, the situation resembles the one witnessed when the separatist movement was at its peak.

Ironically, the row over the Amaranth land transfer broke out at a time when the annual Holy Yatra was proceeding smoothly. In fact, a record number of pilgrims – over 5.5 lakh – visited the Holy shrine this year. It is an equally well known fact that Kashmiris have been helping Amarnath yatris ever since the pilgrimage began.

The issue itself was very small to trigger such violent and massive protests. It was solvable if the agitating parties had set aside their differences and sat together and worked out a compromise.

But being an election year, Mehbooba Mufti was hell bent – her party’s withdrawal of support from the Ghulam Nabi Azad government and the marches that the PDP chief took out triggered such strong secessionist sentiments. Like the PDP, the mainstream BJP is to be equally blamed for the crisis in Jammu and Kashmir. While Mehbooba was playing divisive politics in Kashmir, BJP had taken charge of the same in the Jammu region. The Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, which comprised several groups including the BJP and VHP, spearheaded the pro-Amarnath and anti-Kashmiri movement in Jammu.

Things began to get out of control after the start of agitation in Jammu following the revocation of the land transfer order by the state government.

The issue then took the shape which had nothing to do with the Amarnath land. The Jammu protestors imposed an economic blockade on Kashmir, blocking all essential supplies to the Valley from the Jammu-Srinagar highway.

Fifteen drivers from Kashmir, who were taking supplies to the Valley, were thrashed by agitators in Jammu. One of them has now succumbed to his injuries.

From what all was happening, the people in Kashmir were able to make out what agitators in Jammu had been trying to tell: if the ‘piece of land’ was not given, the Valley will be made to starve.

And this proved to be the last nail in the coffin: pro-independence agitation erupted in Kashmir leading to massive violent protests in which over 27 people were killed, mostly in firing by security forces. This only added fuel to the fire. That when water cannons were used in Jammu, why were bullets kept in reserve for Kashmiris.

The state administration was forced to impose a curfew across the Valley, something which had not happened in the past 13 years.

Everyone was caught unawares by the magnitude of the pro-Azadi sentiment – whether at the Centre, or in Jammu and Kashmir.

In just these few days of protests, the positive effects of all the measures that were taken by the Government of India in J&K – whether in the form of infrastructure development and economic package or peace process with Pakistan – have been completely wiped out. Even the Hurriyat is shocked by what it is seeing on the ground – the massive protests led by none of the separatists or political organization. It has become a headless movement No one is in control of the situation in the Valley; people are themselves coming out on the streets with black bands and caustic slogans.

And even the media is not being spared. With attacks on a channel’s office, and in fact even on the Zee News team.

As for Mehbooba Mufti, her experiment has backfired and whatever backing the PDP had prior to the Amarnath land issue looks completely wiped out.

Hurriyat too is a divided house, more so after hawkish leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani pronounced himself the sole Azadi leader. It is another matter that he had to apologise later.

At this moment, there’s no question of elections happening, which were due later this year. It may take months or even more before the situation becomes conducive to hold elections.

Right now, people in Kashmir are not worried about economics; what they are concerned about is their “future”. They feel more alienated than ever before. Not just the state government, but the Centre as well has failed to hear their voice. The all-party delegation led by Home Minister Shivraj Patil that visited Jammu and Srinagar to hold talks with political parties did not spare even minutes for the traders, who were suffering.

A mind-boggling seven lakh people came out on the streets to take part in Hurriyat’s recent march to the UN office in Srinagar to submit memoranda.

The only measures that may assuage the popular sentiment may be going back to the pre-1953 arrangement, or possibly even declaring Kashmir parting ways with a separate state from Jammu within the ambit of India with road links to mainland India and Muzaffarabad in PoK.