Change Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh should expect in next decade - By Suba Chandran P40
FORGOTTEN HISTORY Rakesh Ankit on how British Army helped Pakistan in 1947 against India in Kashmir
How “Peace, Dialogue” became keywords in last decade - By Rekha Chowdhary P34
Epilogue Exclusive P46
Epilogue J & K ’ S M O N T H LY M A G A Z I N E
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In terms of form and content, Epilogue is a model of its kind. It would be wonderful if it could find imitators, so that every state of India could have its own informed journal showcasing its politics and culture. RAMCHANDRA GUHA Author if India After Gandhi
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Story of Change Half of State Goes Mobile
Second Option PDP : New Regional Alternate
Brief Intervention 2½ Year Storm of Azad
Change by Vote Honesty Returns to Democracy
Militancy Killings Down From 4 Digits to 3 Digits New Offer for Kashmir Self Rule : Autonomy Plus, Azadi Minus
Mother of all CBMs LoC Becoming Line of Contacts, Trade Jammu v/s Kashmir Deepening Regional Divides Changing Paradigms Softening Separatism, Hardening Mainstreams Great Public Deceit
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1
Epilogue because there is more to know
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CONTENTS
Editor Zafar Iqbal Choudhary Publisher Yogesh Pandoh Consulting Editor D. Suba Chandran
Contributors to this Issue Prologue Letters
2 3 4
Exclusive Stories The Defiant Douglas
46
Rakesh Ankit
Features Put in Kashmir in your Dream...
Associate Editors Irm Amin Baig Tsewang Rigzin
49
Manisha Shobarjani
Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2010
General Manager Kartavya Pandoh
IN FOCUS
Manager Adarsh Rattan Bali (Marketing & Advertisement) Art Editor Keshav Sharma Research Officer Raman Sharma Phones & email Office : +91 191 2493136 subscriptions : +91 99060 27136 Editorial: +91 94191 80762 Administration: +91 94191 82518 editor@epilogue.in subscription@epilogue.in Printed and Published by Yogesh Pandoh for Epilogue NewsCraft from Ibadat House, Madrasa Lane, Near Graveyard, Bathindi Top, Jammu, J&K - 180012 and Printed at : DEE DEE Reprographix, 3 Aikta Ashram, New Rehari Jammu (J&K)
The Decade in Review
8
The Decade that Changed Jammu and Kashmir for Ever Zafar Choudhary
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Rethinking Political Paradigms in J&K Nyla Ali Khan
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9/11 Changed the Way World Would Look at Kashmir M Ashraf
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Key Words of the Decade : Reconciliation Dialogue, Peace Rekha Chowdhary
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Terrorism has Decline, But Peace is Still Miles Away M Shamsur Rabb Khan
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The Decade of Ahead Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh D Suba Chandran
Disputes, if any, subject to jurisdiction of courts and competitive tribunals in Jammu only. RNI : JKENJ/2007/26070 ISN : 00974-5653 Price : Rs 30 www.epilogue.in
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CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE
Ankit, Rakesh; (Recent History, p46) is a young historian from Bihar. As a Rhodes Scholar recently he studied various missing links in the making of Kashmir conflict. Based on his first hand study, he is contributing exclusive series to Epilogue
Chowdhary, Prof Rekha; (In Focus, p34) is professor of Political Science at the University of Jammu. A frequent columnist with leading newspapers, she has written and edited a number of books on politics of Jammu and Kashmir
Ashraf, M; (In Focus, p33) is a regular columnist on politics and current affairs but known best for his travel writings. Retired as Director General of Tourism in J&K, he runs a website www.kashmirfirst.com that features all his writings
Khan, M Shamsur Rabb; (In Focus, p38) works with Indian Institute of Dalit Studies at New Delhi
Chandran, D Suba; (In Focus, p40) is Deputy Director at Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. Author of many books and an acclaimed expert on Kashmir and Indo-Pak relations, he is Consulting Editor of Epilogue Magazine Choudhary, Zafar; (In Focus, p8) is Editor of Epilogue Magazine and also Executive Editor of Early Times, daily newspaper from Jammu
Khan, Nyla Ali; (In Focus, p31) is a Kashmir writer and scholar and author of (most recently) Islam, Women and Violence in Kashmir: Between India and Pakistan. She is a professor of English at a US University Sobhrajani, Manisha; (Features, p49) is a Delhi based independent researcher working at various aspects of Kashmir conflict. She divided her time between Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir
Readers' requests for getting in touch with the authors, for feedback, comments and further discussions on their subjects of interest, are welcome. Since all authors/contributors are not interested in taking mails directly, the readers are requested to send us interview requests at editor@epilogue.in for passing on to the authors
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PROLOGUE
From the Editor
Note to the Owners of Epilogue ZAFAR CHOUDHARY
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t Epilogue, December and January are two special months every year for a reason which is not very uncommon. Many in the world do almost exactly the same what we do these months -taking stock of the passing by year in December and setting tone for the new year in January. Yet, what makes this period of the year special at Epilogue is the fact that it coincides with our anniversary. The last month of 2009 and first month of 2010 make all the more importance for us than any other month or period of year did in our three years of existence. This time, it is not just end of an year and beginning of another, it is also end of a decade and beginning of another and at Epilogue it becomes much more important –we have completed three years of our struggle with words of sanity and sense and have entered into fourth year of renewed commitment to sensible, secular and tolerant knowledge economy in Jammu and Kashmir. Usually, in December we make introspection into what we did in the year, we look at the change we tried to make and we do an audit of our performance. The audit is not about the number of copies of magazine we were able to sell or the space we were able to book for advertisements. In fact, we sit back and take account of the issues we dealt with, analyse their importance
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and assess the impact they made in public life. If success is not an absolute statement, failure too is not. Therefore, in January we reposition ourselves, pick up the issues we failed to deliver at last year, draw out a fresh agenda and set tone for the New Year. As we complete one year of public service publication and prepare to step into another year of sensible journalism devoted to social change it gives a unique sense of satisfaction as also, sometimes, some amount of discontent. Satisfaction is about what we were able to do beyond our capabilities and discontent is on what we could not do despite a possibility. This is an honest statement about our state of affairs and here is an example: This issue offers you a review of the decade and this is coming to you in the month of January. Ideally this should have been the December 2009 issue and January 2010 issue should have discussed the ways for looking at the next decade. Refusing to sleep over our failures is an important ingredient of our professional attitude. We hate to say let bygone be bygone when possibility of correction exists. As January issue brings to you a review of the decade of 2000s it also reflects that our makeup of failure of past is never at the cost of future. Therefore, one section of this issue chronicles the decades of 2000s and other section makes a wishlist for the forthcoming
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JANUARY 2009
decade of 2010s. The wishlist is not just wishful but is a careful sketch of what we should expect and what should do to achieve the best in Jammu and Kashmir which deserves all the best. While presenting this special issue to our esteemed readers we hope that the mutual trust we exchanged over past three years not only remains intact but also doubles in the coming years as we believe that Epilogue –an emerging institution of public trust –is an enterprise equally owned by each one of its readers. Happy New Year, Happy New Decade and Happy Reading! Feedback : zafarchoudhary@epilogue.in
Epilogue, January 2010
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ON THIRD ANNIVERSARY
Notes to Epilogue
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RAMCHANDRA GUHA Author of India after Gandhi
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distinctive points of view they are have travelled through twentynever angry or polemical. In terms five states of the Union of India. of form and content the magazine Sadly, Jammu and Kashmir is one is thus a model of its kind. It of the few states I have not yet would be wonderful if it could find visited. That said, I feel I know imitators, so that every state of something about the history and India could have its own informed culture of the state, through the journal that magazine showcases the Epilogue, which The articles in Epilogue are packed politics and I have been with ideas and information. While culture of that reading for the offering distinctive points of view particular past few years. province. What I admire they are never angry or polemical. most about My own visit In terms of form and content the Epilogue is the to Jammu and magazine is thus a model of its very wide range Kashmir is long kind. It would be wonderful if it of themes and overdue. When could find imitators, so that every contributors. I do come, I The writers will I think be state of India could have its own come from all quite well informed journal that showcases points of the prepared, for the politics and culture of that political by reading particular province. spectrum, and Epilogue I have from all parts of come to be so the state. Every issue also contains much better informed about the some essays by individuals based rich and complicated history of in other parts of India or living the state. Meanwhile, I overseas. congratulate the magazine on its third anniversary, and wish it The articles in Epilogue are every success in the years to packed with ideas and come. information. While offering
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ON THIRD ANNIVERSARY Notes to Epilogue
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ARUN JOSHI Deputy Editor, Hindustan Times
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among the people of this state, often described in terms orld begins somewhere. It begins from here- the of – “a disputed territory”, “ nuclear flashpoint”, “ land where we live. In this case, it is Jammu and hotbed of militancy”, “ beautiful but Kashmir. That is, from where a voyage bloodied,” that there was something for strategic journalism began. Three more in it- both inside for the years ago, Epilogue, hit stands, with Its editor, Zafar Choudhary, has residents to see and analyze. And for many skeptical minds questioning the set a trend, in establishing a fact outside world to view it differently. wisdom of talking in depth of the that the worldview is not in the issues, for which the readers didn't This magazine has done that. have time to read. Undoubtedly, it is an think tanks or journals based In Still ruled by the colonial achievement in itself. It has given Washington D C or London or mindset, where there is a quest to something to all of us to feel proud of. Brussels. It is here too, and even look for what West is saying about our It has infused a sense that it can be without the help of borrowed land, our people and our issues, done. Its editor, Zafar Choudhary, has magnifying glasses and thoughts whether it concerned our political set a trend, in establishing a fact that voices, and economic development or the worldview is not in the think tanks from the west – J&K has its own otherwise, our farming community or or journals based In Washington D C or intellectual capital. water. We tend to turn to the western London or Brussels. It is here too, and periodicals. And, whatever is said by even without the help of borrowed our people, enterprising youthful magnifying glasses and thoughts from minds, with fresh ideas, is seen something without merit. the west – J&K has its own intellectual capital. There is a need to see it. The pages of Epilogue offer a plenty of Epilogue has changed that. that. First thing first, it has generated an awareness
Epilogue is quite interesting and objective source of information on Jammu and Kashmir. I look forward to reading it regularly SANJAY BARU Editor, Business Standard (Former Media Advisor to PM)
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I have found the journal interesting. May be you need to broaden your convas to look at what has been happening in PAK and the Northern Areas and a the solutions on offer or desired Also the surrounding scene - Tibet, Xinjiang, Afghanistan - the last being closely linked to developments in J&K. And, of course Pakistan BG VERGHESE
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You are doing an excellent job WAJAHAT HABIBULLAH Chief Information Commissioner
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ON THIRD ANNIVERSARY Notes to Epilogue
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NYLA ALI KHAN Author of Islam, Women & Violence in Kashmir
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magazine that does not subscribe to myopic idesit miles away from home romanticizing the ologies rejuvenates the mind and resuscitates legendary beauty of Jammu and Kashmir; nurthe spirit. In a region which has experienced turing nostalgia for a past that can never be armed insurgency, resurgence of religious recovered in the form I was most familiar with; fundamentalisms, militant nationalism, cherishing the pervasive tranquility brought on gendered violence, increasing militarization; by my contemplation of the intricately carved some genuine attempts to fight for the right of shrines, architecturally superb temples, and self-determination of the mesmerizing monasteries of people of J & K; some disinJammu and Kashmir; filled genuous attempts to with longing for the call of entrench regional and relithe mountains that beckons gious fault lines, Epilogue the diasporic subject to Epilogue is creating a healthy and has successfully created a return; irate at the commuvibrant discourse community. space for the critical analynal, regional, and linguistic Epilogue has opened up an sis of nation-building, idendivides created by destructity politics, statealternative way of negotiating the tive forces; experiencing a sponsored violence, dishelplessness at being unable construction of conflictual criminatory politics, etc. to put together the pieces of identities. Although still young, the political puzzle that conexactly three years old, tinues to remain Epilogue is creating a irresolvable; shivering at the healthy and vibrant discold-blooded manipulations course community. of our political and bureauEpilogue has opened up an alternative cratic machinery, I riffle through the past issues way of negotiating the construction of of Epilogue magazine. conflictual identities. I congratulate Zafar Epilogue voices not just politically savvy Chaudhary for having undertaken a laudable but culturally sensitive opinions as well. It proventure. I wish Epilogue the very best in its vides a forum at which heterogeneity in terms commendable attempts to engage multiple of cultural, political, social, and regional ideolvoices and opinions. ogies, is fostered and encouraged. Reading a
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Epilogue, January 2010
DON’T BECOME A VICTIM OF CYBER FRAUD à Keep strong passwords and easy to remember using alphanumeric and
special characters and more than 08 in numbers à Don’t accept packages that have not been ordered and while making
payments through credit cards online, check if the website is secure as the card verification value (CVV) is also required and be cautious of websites that require your card details before actually placing in an order. à Install antivirus, fire wall and SPAM blocking software on your P.C. à Don’t keep your blue tooth open to all us as you may receive
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declaring you winners of huge lottery prizes and do not reply such e-mails. à Candidates desirous of job management over seas are lured by fake e-mails
to appear in the interviews without being authorised for the same. No. : DIP/J-7053/2009
Dated : 19-12-2009
EARTHQUAKE - DO’S & DON’TS FOR PROTECTION During Earthquake Avoid Ø Gathering around damaged areas or buildings. Ø Wasting water as it will be required for fire fighting. Ø Moving seriously hurt people. Ø Spreading rumours which lead to panic & worsen the situation. It Caught Indoors Ø Keep calm Ø Stay away from glass windows, doors, almirahs, mirrors etc. Ø Get under a table or a study cot so that you are not hurt by falling objects. Ø Do not rush towards doors or staircase, which may be broken or jammed. If You Are Outdoors Ø If open space is available nearby, go there. Ø Keep away from tall chimneys, buildings, balconies and other projections. Ø Do not rush through streets; hoardings or lamps may fall on you. Disaster Management Centre, Divisional Commissioner Office, Jammu (J&K) Issued by : Department of Information, Jammu & Kashmir, Jammu No. : DIP/J-7093/2009
Dated : 19-12-2009
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IN FOCUS
The Decade in Review
The Decade that Changed Jammu and Kashmir for Ever
ZAFAR CHOUDHARY related violence in last seven days”. Repeating this sentence thrice, Omar emphatically added, “this is first time ever since the inception of militancy that no one was killed in seven days in row”. Omar's statement, backed by ground inputs from different agencies, became news worth reporting. It really was an exception to the order even though the statement was made in the times when number of killings in militant violence has come down from some 3000 plus in year 2000 to 300 plus in 2009.
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umming up a decade into a particular definition for a place like Jammu and Kashmir is a difficult task. In this part of world almost everyday offers something to write about, something to record. For us in the news business there is no dearth of takes. But the course of reporting news, its contours and process of interpretation is changing. Those who have been reading Jammu and Kashmir in the press may recall that mid 1990s newspaper headline of a Kashmiri journalist Yusuf Jameel's report which read: “no one was killed today”. No killing reported from any part of the state in given news cycle of 24 hours made it a news simply because that was unprecedented, off the routine and something happening first time in several years. Completing his 50 days in office, then Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad claimed on December 22, 2005: “no custodial death or disappearance was reported from anywhere in state in last 50 days…this is first time ever since 1989 (when militancy broke out) that not even a single incident of violation of human rights was reported in 50 days straight”. Azad's claim, though contested by human rights activists, was an exception to the order. Let's trust him. If 50-day period was an exception then the order must have remained horrible. It really was. Most recently, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on December 5, “there has been no killing in militancy
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Vol. 3, Issue 12, DECEMBER 2009
A new chapter The whole story is changing in Jammu and Kashmir and decline in militant violence is not the only difference being made here. It is said that events don't make history but catastrophes do. But for October 2005 earthquake, there was absolutely nothing catastrophic in Jammu and Kashmir in 2000s still this decade can be seen as most momentous of all, may be in the post 1947 period, for a long list of reasons. There were slow processes which culminated into big changes. Worst part of our story is that Jammu and Kashmir has always been best known for the conflict within itself for over a century and a half. Post1947 phase only renewed the conflict and redefined the parties outside its territory and reversed the poles of conflict within. Looking down at past decades of redefined conflict and then analyzing the developments through each year and each decade, the decade of 2000s arguably becomes the most momentous of them all. Ten years have changed the course of history even though its basic elements remain the same. The biggest change has been in
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In times of price escalations how much onions and coconut kernels they were able to import from Jammu and Kashmir in exchange of moong daal and peshawari sandal became the dominant talk and not the alleged discourse of pushing grenades and assault rifles. scene watchers billed the move as biggest confidence building measure of the century. Months later when first post-partition passenger bus was flagged off from Srinagar for Muzaffarabad capital of Pakistan administered Kashmir on April 7, 2005, the scene observers described the move as mother of all confidence building measures. In October 2009, when trucks load of goods were sent rolling down between two divided parts of Jammu and Kashmir, the meaning of Line of Control, keeping even the blood relations apart, further changed. I n Pa k i s t a n a d m i n i s t e r e d Kashmir, always accused of hous-
ing the militant training camps and launch pads, discussions veered around the market supply and demand scenario of groceries. In times of price escalations how much onions and coconut kernels they were able to import from Jammu and Kashmir in exchange of moong daal and peshawari sandal became the dominant talk and not the alleged discourse of pushing grenades and assault rifles. Militancy has not died and so is the case with support it gets from Pakistani side but the decade of 2000s has at least changed the meaning of Line of Control. People prefer much to call it line of contact. Modified tones, tenors Thundering voice of National Conference leader Dr Farooq Abdullah is still fresh in ears as he would, in earlier years of the decade, pitch for bombing of Pakistan and its administered Kashmir where the terrorist camps allegedly thrived. He would often threaten breaking necks of separatist leaders and putting them behind bars for being agents of Pakistan. Not more than five years later, his son Omar's visit to Pakistan, his photographs with Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf placed in the local press and appeals to the Prime Minister of India for considering the proposals coming in from Pakistan became a new political statement to live with in Kashmir. Though it was a counter of the Peoples Democratic Party which had already left the separatists with hardly anything to talk about which it didn't, National Conference stepped into new political realities. Between their frequent visits to Islamabad, widely televised meetings with Pakistani leaders, campaign for withdrawal of troops from civilian areas and strong demands for making Jammu and Kashmir fully autonomous, Omar and Mehbooba Mufti came to represent a new shade of separatist politics which
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the mindset –the way people would think, look at the issues and apply approaches to their resolution have gone through massive change. The desired change is though yet to come. Every event important than previous As following pages give you glimpses of some important developments and events of the decade, it becomes pretty difficult to vote any event lesser important than the other. For example, on November 11, 2004 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a small cut in military strength in Jammu and Kashmir (by a very negligible number out of total numerical strength), the analysts and
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IN FOCUS The Decade in Review
rift that had been created between regions and communities over the years. The worst part of the story remains that the political parties played their typical regional and religious cards to secure the vote bank in view of ensuing assembly elections. It was perhaps the announcement of elections that dis-
At one point of time state appeared at the brink of collapse but the resilient spirit of a saner majority defeated the biggest post-1947 communal challenge. It was first time in several decades that religion came out of the usual garb of regional discontent to tell its story louder and show the rift that had been created between regions and communities over the years.
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tracted attention from the street battles that had become order of the day. Summer of 2008 will be remembered in history as worst time of decades in Jammu and Kashmir.
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worked within the four walls of Indian constitution. There is a new political positioning breaking far from the past. In past the Kashmiri leaders, even Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, became symbols of hate in Kashmir when they were darlings of Delhi. And when they talked about aspirations of Kashmiris, Delhi put them in jails for years. Therefore, the decade of 2000s produced leaders which had equal acceptability both in Kashmir in New Delhi. For being pro-Kashmir now it is not necessarily required to be anti-Delhi and vice versa. New emerging leaders like Mehbooba and Omar have proved this well. Widened democratic space For 50 years people in Jammu and Kashmir did not have choice to make on who should rule them. Elections were either rigged and governments were fixed up or in other circumstances people had to make choice between National Conference and Congress –the unpredictable role switchers. There was no third option, no competitive politics and very little space for democracy. The decade of 2000s changed the scene. Peoples Democratic Party of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had born towards
the end of last decade of last century but it was in 2002 that it arrived at the scene as a political party with a well defined manifesto and a viable regional alternate of the National Conference. PDP ruled for three years but carved out a role for decades. Credit goes to Muftis and their PDP for making politics competitive as it was proved in subsequent elections of 2004 (Parliament), 2008 (State Assembly) and 2009 (again Parliament). The Congress which ruled the state directly or through NC leaders controlled by it for over a quarter century till being in 1987 for unholy electoral practices in partnership with NC, again resurrected the lost ground in 2000s and ensured that it continued to have a role for many years. While NC and PDP become the ace regional competitors, this decade made Congress a key holder to the power –enjoyed a stint with PDP, is doing so with NC and is likely to share power for many years as regional parties cut their roles to specific constituencies due to sharpening regional political temperaments. Deepened regional divides Amidst the innumerable high points of the decade, the lowest remained the widening schism between regions, an enlarging deficit of trust and practice of politics on religion under the garb of regions. Amaranth land row of 2008 just came as a trigger to burst the bottled up regional anger of Jammu against Kashmir and Kashmir against Jammu. At one point of time state appeared at the brink of collapse but the resilient spirit of a saner majority defeated the biggest post1947 communal challenge. It was first time in several decades that religion came out of the usual garb of regional discontent to tell its story louder and show the
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In past the Kashmiri leaders, even Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, became symbols of hate in Kashmir when they were darlings of Delhi. And when they talked about aspirations of Kashmiris, Delhi put them in jails for years. Therefore, the decade of 2000s produced leaders which had equal acceptability both in Kashmir in New Delhi. For being pro-Kashmir now it is not necessarily required to be anti-Delhi and vice versa
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DEMOCRACY
Change by Vote, Vote by Change
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n his Independence Day address to the nation from ramparts of Red Fort, on August 15, 2002, when Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee promised free and fair elections in Jammu and Kashmir, it meant a lot not only for the upcoming assembly elections later same year but also for the history of Kashmir issue, the way it was to be defined in future and the approaches to its resolution. There has been dispute in Kashmir and over Kashmir involving the people of Jammu and Kashmir, New Delhi and Islamabad but it remained a political movement till 1988-89. The breakout of militant violence and an aggressive separatist campaign for independence of Kashmir or right to self determination stems out from the corrupt electoral practices touching all time high in 1987. There is hardly anyone inside or outside the state who can testify that any
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election in Jammu and RESULT 2008 2002 Kashmir was held in transparent manner in true National Conference 28 28 spirits of democracy. This is PDP 21 16 where India suffered an Congress 17 20 image problem globally. Its BJP 11 01 is no secret that Congress of the Nehru-Gandhis and Panthers Party 03 04 National Conference of the Others 07 18 Abdullahs of Kashmir entered into a joint project “Omar's loss in Ganderbal constituency to blatantly rig the 1987 elections. It is like me being thrown out of Jamia was this electoral blunder which Masjid�. Separatists had nothing say produced people like Syed Slahuddin, about credibility of elections beyond the chairman of United Jehad Council that. and Mohammad Yasin Malik, the leader It was first time ever in the history of JK Liberation Front. of Jammu and Kashmir that there was a The rigged assembly had soon to go change of regime by vote. Till 2002, J&K and for next six years possibility of saw governments of the National elections could not arise. 1996 elections Conference and the Congress at which returned National Conference different intervals but the change of with two-thirds majority were against regime always came from New Delhi and seen as rigged by the Indian forces to not from the peoples. 2002 elections install a government of their choice. restored public faith in the institutions Vajpayee's promise of 2002 was, of democracy. If 1987 elections sowed therefore, a defining moment. dissent which burst into armed Elections held in Augustrebellion, the 2002 elections reiterated September same years came to that there was space for democratic be internationally recognized as means. It proved to be the tried and fairest and freest possible. And tested formula of democracy that 2002 there were enough proofs of the was the last year since 1989 that t r a n s p a r e n c y. N a t i o n a l registered upward trend in militant Conference was reduced to just violence. An all time high of 4507 28 seats from 58 in the House of fatalities (including civilians, security 87 it won in 1996. As the results forces and militants) were recorded in confirmed defeat of NC's Chief 2001, which dropped to 3022 in 2002, Ministerial candidate Omar 2542 in 2003 and around 370 in 2009. Abdullah in the constituency The honest practice of democracy loved, nourished and won by his resulted not only in decline in militancy grandfather and father, the but also attracted the non-believer in Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar elections. There is little to doubt that Farooq reacted by saying:
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IN FOCUS The Decade in Review
43.69% of the total electorate cast their votes in 2002 assembly elections, which were regarded as fairest and freest of the history. This election restored peoples’ trust in democracy. Participation improved in 2008 assembly elections in which 61.49% of the electorate cast their votes. 21.67% of total electorates of Srinagar district voted in 2008 elections where 2002 turnout was mere 05.13% elections, per se, are not a resolution of the Kashmir issue, but the widening democratic space, of course, offers a way of negotiations that serves the interest of peoples. It was the confidence restored in 2002 that the subsequent elections in 2004 (Indian Parliament), 2008 (State Assembly) and 2009 (again Indian Parliament) saw an increasing voter participation and many separatists crossing fence to join the mainstream ranks. In our editorial opinion 2002 elections were the biggest confidence building measure setting into motion the Kashmir peace process.
VIOLENCE :
4 Digit Killings in 2000, 3 Digits in 2009
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here are different perspective and different ways of looking at it. If 1990s was the decade of violence, 2000s was for the end of it. Though 2001 accounted for highest annual killings ever in militancy related violence since 1989 but that was the last year which saw an upward trend in violence. Experts point to many reasons –international pressure on Pakistan following 9/11 US attacks, crackdown on militants and terrorists as also on the their training and funding as part of global war against terror, security forces adopting a proactive approach, New Delhi and Islamabad engaging into peace process and so on and so forth. Well reasoned and the strongest of all opinions, however, is that the transparent elections of 2002 restored public faith in democracy and therefore reduced space for dissent on which militancy thrived. Year 2000 accounted for 3288 killings (including civilians, security forces and militants). There was sudden jump of around 1500 fatalities in 2001 which accounted for 4507 killing but that was the last highest figure. In 2002, annual fatalities in militant violence dropped to 3022 and in 2003 the figure was 2542. 2006 was the last year of four digit killings which recorded 1116 fatalities and the graph of militant violence further dropped to 777 in 2007, 551 in 2008 and little over 370 in 2009 (till third week of December).
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June 16, 2006 : A woman lieutenant of the Indian Army, commissioned just 10 months ago, commits suicide by shooting herself in Udhampur, headquarters of the army's Northern Command, apparently because she was “dissatisfied and unhappy with her job”. Lt. Susmita Chakraborthy of the 5071 Army Service Corps (ASC) Battalion did not leave any suicide note. She had undergone four psychiatric counselling sessions in March, army authorities in New Delhi said. She is the first woman officer of Indian Army to commit suicide. Army and police officials in Udhampur said the 25 year old officer went to the officer's mess near her official quarters Thursday evening and asked the sentry for his rifle “as she wanted to get photographed with it”. The unsuspecting sentry handed his weapon and, within moments, Chakraborthy shot herself with it.
Vol. 3, Issue 9, SEPTEMBER 2009
First Suicide by Woman Soldier
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SECOND OPTION
PDP : The Regional Alternate
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Vol. 3, Issue 8, AUGUST 2009
hen Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, along with his daughter Mehbooba, former Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir and Supreme Court lawyer Muzaffar Hussain Baig launched his Peoples Democratic Party in 1999 the political beings made quite fun of him. But there was one man who took Mufti and his party bit too seriously –none other than the then Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah. National Conference had two-thirds majority in the Legislative Assembly and Mufti had hardly any crowd puller on his side. Neither had he had any infrastructure nor organisation. Farooq would still react to every statement of Mufti appearing in the press. Many took Farooq's outbursts as his personal disliking for the Mufti. The apparently resource-less Mufti was perhaps getting half of his work done by Farooq at no cost. In his public meetings attended by
The apparently resource-less Mufti was perhaps getting half of his work done by Farooq at no cost. In his public meetings attended by tens of thousands of peoples Farooq would go on lashing out against Muftis for hours. It was an unintended dividend for Mufti –he and his party were being introduced to the people by none less than Farooq Abdullah. He was getting introduced to a wide range of audience who started taking him seriously for the seamless criticism coming in from the most powerful person in the state.
tens of thousands of peoples Farooq would go on lashing out against Muftis for hours. It was an unintended dividend for Mufti –he and his party were being introduced to the people by none less than Farooq Abdullah. He was getting introduced to a wide range of audience who started taking him seriously for the seamless criticism coming in from the most powerful person in the state. When Mufti revisited the areas visited by Farooq
brigade, he found himself amidst quite familiar audience. Between 1999 and 2002 Mufti and his daughter Mehbooba became yet another definition of political patience. At many places they addressed public meetings ranging from 90 minutes to 120 minutes where not more than 100 heads formed the audience. They went on with the popular slogan of replacing gun with dialogue. While they addressed Delhi in harshest words for over presence of guns in the state, at the same time they made fervent appeals to the militants to out down their rifles for sometime to pave way for the dialogue. PDP suffered the allegations of being a creation of New Delhi but then people increasingly started seeing it as a viable regional political alternate, an alternate for the National Conference, a democratic space for expression of dissent. November 2002 became a historical milestone in Jammu and Kashmir when Mufti Mohammad Sayeed took over as first non-National Conference, non-Congress Chief Minister. His party had campaigned for free and fair elections and in 2002 it was change in regime by vote. PDP could not regain power in 2008 but its presence at the political scene of Jammu and Kashmir has fulfilled and important ingredient in the democratic space where people have choices to make.
The Long Lasting Ceasefire
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2003, November 26: India agrees to a Pakistani offer of a cease-fire along their borders along Jammu and Kashmir. The cease-fire goes into effect the same day and remains operational to date. Vol. 4, Issue 1
Epilogue, January 2010
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CUB-E-KASHMIR
Arrival of 3rd Generation Abdullah
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n June 2001, the National Conference cadres from all nooks and corners of the state poured into Srinagar City –the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir for a mega event –crowning of Omar Abdullah, 30, as President of the party. The baton was being passed on from father, Farooq, to son. In almost similar fashion Farooq had inherited the charge of party affairs from Omar's grandfather Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. As Sheikh was popularly known almost all his life as Sher-e-Kashmir (the Lion of Kashmir), critics mocked Omar as Cub-e-Kashmir. Farooq was then State Chief Minister and Omar a Member of Parliament and also a Junior Minister in central government of the BJP headed by Atal Behari Vajpayee. It was all too much too early for Omar but the task ahead was gigantic. Inheriting a powerful legacy was bit natural but the crown had many
“2002 elections came in as lowest point in Omar's political career. Not only that his party National Conference had to fall down from grace, he himself lost his election in the constituency where his grandfather and father won many elections without even campaigning. There was nothing to explain this embarrassing loss. Before critics declared Omar a dud and his party the story of past, the Cub-e-Kashmir proved that he had the capacity to build upon the qualities of Sher-e-Kashmir. He resigned as Minister of State in Vajpayee government to send a signal that all was not over and it was the time to prepare for challenges of future” thorns in it. First challenge: how to take along the senior leaders of party. There were people like Mohammad Shafi Uri and Abdul Rahim Rather who worked with Sheikh and hopes to share charge in
future. But in his life time Sheikh put them behind son Farooq and they had to follow. Expectations were bit real to take charge from Farooq but then it was Omar's turn to deliver. All these
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October 4, 2004 : In an unprecedented development largely seen as a big boost to the confidence building measures between India and Pakistan, a group of 18 Pakistani journalists reached Jammu the winter Capital of Jammu and Kashmir, on October 4, 2004. The journalists crossed over the Wagah border where their Indian counterparts received them with open arms. The delegation, part of a process to throw open people to people contacts on both sides of the divide, travelled to Jammu and Srinagar under the aegis of South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA). This was the first such visit since India and Pakistan gained independence from Britian in 1947. It followed pledges from both countries to ease visa restrictions. The journalists said they wanted an objective look at the situation in the disputed region. They held interactions with scribes in Jammu and Srinagar, met top government officials, separatist leaders and other groups during their visit.
Vol. 3, Issue 7, JULY 2009
Pak Scribes in J&K
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discussions of dissent, however, remained confined to the backrooms and some newspaper stories attributed to unnamed sources. In a matter of time all rallied behind Omar. The first challenge was handled well. 2002 elections came in as lowest point in Omar's political career. Omar was the Chief Ministerial candidate of the party. Not only that his party National Conference had to fall down from grace, he himself lost his election in the constituency where his grandfather and father won many elections without even campaigning. There was nothing to explain this embarrassing loss. Before critics declared Omar a dud and his party the story of past, the Cub-eKashmir proved that he had the capacity to build upon the qualities of Sher-eKashmir. He resigned as Minister of State in Vajpayee government to send a signal that all was not over and it was the time to prepare for challenges of future. While out of power it is a difficult task to hold the flock together. This challenge was really daunting for Omar. One after the other, not only the
disgruntled leaders who lost elections but also two sitting legislators left party to join the ruling camp –mainly Peoples Democratic Party which was briefly being seen as a complete replacement project for the National Conference. 2004 Lok Sabha elections did not hold much promise for Omar's party. NC could win only two of the six Lok Sabha seats. Then started appearing signs of rift within the grand Abdullah family and emergence of to well defined lobbies –one loyal to Omar and other to father Farooq. The Peoples Democratic Party, which had already left the separatists grappling for slogans, had already struck and emotional note with the Kashmiris and often there were designs to push the Abdullah party to brink. Between 2004 and 2008 Omar shuttled frequently between New Delhi, Srinagar and Jammu and struggled hard to resurrect the lost ground but there were no impressive signs of gains. Towards 2006 through 2008, Omar seemed to have learnt a lesson on what was now selling well in Kashmir. He
repositioned his strategy and refurbished the ideology. The stands of hot pursuits and tough armed operations –as taken by his father Farooq in earlier years of 2000s –were not only done away with but also the Abdullah junior embarked on a apology seeking campaign. Admitting that NC made mistakes in past, Omar delved and built on the slogans that went well with popular emotions in Kashmir Valley. With some intelligent rephrasing, he started talking in the language of the moderate Hurriyat and the PDP. From being pushed into oblivion he was back into competition. That is the story of political survival of Omar Abdullah. Though his party did not make any improvements in 2008 elections over their 2002 performance but Omar's survival instincts earned him some trust of New Delhi and Congress thought Omar must get an opportunity to deliver. From his grandfather's grandson in 2000 to Chief Minister in 2009, for Omar this was the decade of his arrival on political scene of Jammu and Kashmir.
Vol. 3, Issue 6, JUNE 2009
Internal Ceasefire
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November 19, 2000 : Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announces that security forces will suspend combat operations against militants in Jammu and Kashmir during the holy month of Ramadan. Ceasefire offer earns Vajpayee wide accolades. The ceasefire, frequently opposed and sabotaged by militants by massive strikes as also by security forces by crackdowns, is extended periodically for next six months. However, on May 23, 2001, taking all by surprise, New Delhi abruptly ends the six month old ceasefire with the militants in Jammu and Kashmir. While ordering to renew its operations, India invites Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf for summit level talks with the Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee at Agra. General Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee meet in Agra on July 14, 2001, for a three-day summit but the talks fail to produce a joint statement on Kashmir. In a media coup taking Indian establishment unaware, Musharraf indirectly blames Advani for failure in arriving at a joint statement on Kashmir. Vol. 4, Issue 1
Epilogue, January 2010
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CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Self-Rule : Autonomy Plus, Azadi Minus
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Therefore, the NC contested 1996 assembly elections on plank or over half a century, there have been a dozen and half of Greater Autonomy and claimed that its landslide victory was formulas and proposals for resolution of Kashmir issue. an endorsement of autonomy agenda. Vajpayee government Some floated by political groups and think-tanks others asked NC to get autonomy demand stamped by legislature based on conflict resolution models applied in different parts which Farooq Abdullah did through an assembly resolution in of world. And Greater Autonomy proposal of the National 2001. New Delhi took the last call by Conference, of course, remained the indigrejecting autonomy demand outrightly. enous and most popular of them all. Other formulas often discussed for There was some resentment, largely unexDrafted and redrafted, designed and rederesolution of Kashmir issue are: pressed, in NC camp but appeared that signed at different stages, the Greater Kashmir Study Group's KSG-I and KSGAutonomy formula's epitaph has been writAutonomy proposal became highest talking II, South Tyrole Formula, Good Friday ten. Party did not make it a poll plank in point of the times in mid 1990s when Agreement, Mirwaiz's Farooq's United 2002 elections. National Conference leader Dr Farooq States of Kashmir, IDP's Kashmir It was towards the end of 2005 that a Abdullah set it as a pre-condition before Condominium Proposal, Bhim Singh's new formula arrived at the political New Delhi for participating in the assembly Reorganisation Suggestion. scene. General Pervez Musharraf of elections which India was keen to conduct Pakistan floated the idea of 'self rule'. In to set its democracy record in Kashmir less than a month Peoples Democratic Party picked it up as its straight after half decade of Governor/ President's rule. Prime agenda for resolution of Kashmir issue –addressing both interMinister Narasimha Rao hinted at even going beyond autonomy nal and external dimensions. Initially there was some criticism when he made his famous statement of 'sky is the limit', from of PDP for what peopled called as toeing Pakistan's line for its Burkina Faso where he was visiting at that moment. Rao's sucpolitical survival. The PDP, however, made self rule as its core cessor HD Deve Gowda assured consideration of Autonomy political manifesto and started working at its various contours. report but wanted Farooq's party to contest elections first.
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June 2, 2005 : In a historical development, a nine member delegation of Kashmiri separatist leaders, mostly from moderate faction of All Party Hurriyat Conference, reach Muzaffarabad the capital of Pakistan administered Kashmir. The delegation headed by Awami Action Committee chief and APHC leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq left Srinagar in the Karwan-e-Aman bus service linking two parts of divided Kashmir. They neither used the Indian passport or Pakistani visa for the travel. The groups crossed into Pakistan administered Kashmir from the Chakothi check point on the Line of Control to receive an official reception and a popular welcome on a 63km route to the state capital Muzaffarabad. The visit, first to Pakistan administered Kashmir and Pakistan by the separatist political leadership of Kashmir, is in response to an invitation from President Pervez Musharaf. But the invitation was declined by the radical APHC group headed by Syed Ali Geelani because of his opposition to the trans-Kashmir bus service.
Vol. 3, Issue 5, MAY 2009
When Separatists took the Cross-LoC Bus to Muzaffarabad
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Vol. 3, Issue 4, APRIL 2009
Experts believe that self rule proposal has blessings of both New Delhi and Islamabad after discussions at diplomatic level. In 2006 General Musharraf said that a document on self rule prepared at 'New Delhi desks' was handed over to him by JN Dixit, a former diplomat and an aide in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office. Self rule calls for a semi-sovereign state of Jammu and Kashmir with no redrawing of borders, fullest autonomy for regions and formation of regional councils. PDP launched its version of self rule document at the eve of 2008 elections and made it a part of its poll manifesto. Incidentally, in 2008 elections the National Conference talked more about employment and welfare schemes made just passing reference to its Greater Autonomy proposal. Seen as something 'autonomy plus' and 'independence minus', the self rule proposal emerged a major political milestone of the decade. National Conference has indicated that it is willing to accept formula which is accepted to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. This may have been political compulsion of NC for being in ruling arrangement with the Congress but the fact remains that self rule proposal has left very little even for the separatists to propose as a solution which can be acceptable to all parties engaged –with some climbing up and some climbing down. The best thing about self rule formula is that it has been put to public discussions. PDP has been holding a series of discussions and seminars since 2006 explaining to people broader contours of the proposal and seeking their feedback. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was handed over a copy of self rule document in 2008, said in October 2009 that proposals like self rule and autonomy were worth discussion.
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he 1996 assembly elections returned Congress and BJP as two opposition parties with almost equal honours. Congress bagged eight seats and BJP seven but the former's tally was later reduced by one when Mehbooba Mufti resigned to launch Peoples Democratic Party with her father. In Jammu region, the Congress and BJP are seen as each other's competitors. The competition is not limited to just the number of seats they bag but it goes beyond it. Ludicrous but true –both parties pursue almost same agenda of regional chauvinism, ultra nationalism and Hindutva. The only different in their approach is, if there is any, that Congress goes little soft and packages the BJP agenda in pseudo-secular attire. In the decade of 2000s it went a step ahead of BJP to trivialize and regionalize the politics. Perhaps it was first time in the post-independence history of India that a national and secular party like Congress stooped dangerously low to divide the state within the state on a regional-emotional plank for winning an election. Congress placed its 2002 assembly election campaign around the theme that it was for giving Jammu region its first Chief Minister –Ghulam Nabi Azad, a Kashmiri speaking Muslim born in Doda district which is a part of Jammu region. Congress focused its entire energies in Jammu and its leaders did not travel much in Kashmir Valley. On campaign trail, the Congress left hardly anything for the BJP to talk to its audience. It talked of regional empowerment of Jammu region and campaigned for an end to political dominance of Kashmir. It won the election but lost ground to the BJP and other forces of Hindutva. Congress bagged 15 seats from Jammu region and 5 from Kashmir while BJP ended up with just single seat. Congress was back in power arrangement (in partnership with PDP) after 20 years. The PDP had an obvious Kashmir centric agenda which gave the BJP and allied forces to bash Congress on its promised empowerment of Jammu region. In November 2005 Ghulam Nabi Azad took over office from Mufti
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Epilogue, January 2010
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In last ten years Congress has done to Jammu and Kashmir politics what saffron brigade could not do even at the height of its communal campaigns. Instead of addressing the genuine grievances of regional imbalance, Congress projected the case of Jammu region as a victim of half-century dominance of Kashmiri Muslims. This regional model of politics which projected the regional heroes and symbols invited a backlash from Kashmir and threw regions and communities apart. Amarnath land row was perhaps culmination of this politics. Mohammad Sayeed to become first ever Chief Minister from Jammu
region. Jammu got the Chief Minister and Congress power but in the process they perhaps did not realize the amount of damage they had done to the state politics. Realities backfired on the Congress in the summer of 2008 when not only had to loose the power in a humiliating manner but also concede ground to right wing organizations on the Amarnath land row. It was the regional empowerment and Duggar identity project of Congress conceived and executed in early 2000s which did it in towards the end of the decade. BJP's tally jumped from one seat in 2002 to 11 in 2008 assembly elections. Congress tally in Jammu region dropped from 15 to 13 but three among the winners were those who won 2002 elections as
independents and later joined Congress in 2004 as associate members. Six other winners were the new faces who defeated the NC candidates or independents. Therefore, only three of the 15 from Congress' class of 2002 could make to the 2008 assembly. Eight of the 11 seats won by BJP in 2008 were held by Congress in 2002 elections. Many suggest that BJP enjoyed the gains of Amarnath land row but the fact of the matter is that it was Congress which helped BJP by campaigning for its agenda over many areas. These ten years can well be remembered as a decade which Congress gifted to BJP; it did what the BJP or its previous avatars could not do over decades. 　
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April 13, 2005 : 21 years after initiation of this project by them Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh flagged off on April 13 2005, the JammuUdhampur train, which promises to bring the rest of the country closer to the state. The train is named as Utter Samparak Kranti Express. After flagging off the train in Jammu the Prime Minster says, “I feel very happy to be flagging off the train on this particular route. The train was thought of by Indira Gandhi in 1984. With this, Kashmir's connectivity with the rest of the country will be strengthened. The Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav said at the event that work is apace for timely completion of prestigious Rs. 7000 crore Udhampur-Katra-Qazigund-Baramulla railway line by way of accelerating the work on this national project simultaneously at various stages of the three phase project.
Vol. 3, Issue 3, MARCH 2009
Udhampur on National Rail Map
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FIRST TIME, PERHAPS, SINCE 1947
New Delhi Cuts Troops Strength
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Vol. 3, Issue 2, FEBRUARY 2009
oncentration of troops in Jammu and Kashmir has been a continuous process since 1947 but reduction in their numbers was something unheard of when this historic development took place in 2004. months after Congress led United Progressive Alliance government took over at Center, Prime Minister Manmohan planned his first to Jammu and Kashmir in November when state was eagerly looking towards Delhi for its new Kashmir policy. In what could be described as biggest confidence building measure of the century, the Central Government announced a cut in troop deployment in Jammu and Kashmir. The decision was announced on November 11 after a meeting of Cabinet Committee on security. While a demand for troop cut had been the most popular in Kashmir, of late Pakistan too started asking India for this as a confidence building measure to push the peace process. The announcement, a fresh initiative to push forward a peace process with Kashmiri separatists as well as with Pakistan, comes a week ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scheduled visit to Jammu and Kashmir. In a statement in this context, a government spokesman says, “in recognition of the improvement of the state, the government
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has decided to reduce the deployment of troops this winter”. While deployment details are never officially confirmed, it is widely alleged that around two-thirds of India's total Army and paramilitary troopers are stationed in Jammu and Kashmir which is a bad publicity internationally. Following Government of India's historic decision, an estimated 3000 Army soldiers moved out of Jammu and Kashmir on November 20, 2004. This was first time ever (at least since 1989) that any number of troops was moved out of Jammu and Kashmir. “Around 3,000 troops of three different army units involved in counter-terrorism operations have been de-inducted from the border district of Rajouri”, this is what a Defence spokesman said that day. The process in small periodic cuts in the number of troops continued the following years. Most recently Defence Minister AK Antony told the Parliament in December 2009 that 30,000 troops have recently been moved out of Jammu and Kashmir
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“The Army units would now be judged not by the number of militants they kill but by how successful they are in winning hearts and minds of people around them” Army Chief Gen JJ Singh, February 1, 2005
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December 29, 2005 : The State Legislative Assembly approves a constitutional amendment bill unanimously with more than two-third majority curbing defections from a political party and restricting strength of the Ministry to 20 percent of total strength of both Houses of Legislature. Jammu and Kashmir has 89 member legislative assembly (including two nominated and members) 36 members legislative council making combine strength of both houses 125. With the passage of this bill the total strength of ministry is caped at 25. Vol. 4, Issue 1
Epilogue, January 2010
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GOVERNANCE
False War Against Corruption While Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and his successor Ghulam Nabi Azad declared war against corruption as their topmost agenda in office, the graft culture in public offices and its symbolic reflections touched all time high in the decade of 2000s. Officers sacked by Mufti on corruption charges were rehabilitated by Azad and vice versa. Cases were registered against Ministers and one of them was accused of demanding graft by a legislator in assembly. The big ticket anti-corruption watchdog, Accountability Commission remained embroiled in murky controversies before its chairman resigned in May 2006. Commission is headless since then. Transparency International said in 2004 survey that J&K is second most corrupt state in India while its 2008 survey did not point to any improvement.
Mufti government went after the alleged corrupt officials and terminated some 60 of them in batches of 20 each. The highest point in Mufti government's war against corruption was a case through Vigilance Organisation against a top bureaucrat Ajit Kumar. Case pertained to purchase of jute mats for schools during National Conference regime. It was felt that government wanted to reach to some NC leaders through this case. It became such high profile case that Ram Jethmalani came to defend Ajit Kumar at Jammu but he could not get any relief. Kumar was placed under suspension, arrested and released on bail. Ghulam Nabi Azad took over as Chief Minister in November 2005 and declared war against corruption as his topmost priority. He would talk about corruption and the means to end it umpteenth times a day. He dubbed almost everyone
family friend of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and retired judge of Supreme Court, Justice RP Sethi was made its first chairman. H o w e v e r, e v e n b e f o r e operationalisation of Accountability Commission, the
Vol. 3, Issue 1, JANUARY 2009
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esolving Kashmir issue through political dialogue instead of military means gave the Peoples Democratic Party a mass appeal in Kashmir Valley, it was its campaign against corruption in public life that helped Muftis overthrow National Conference and clinch the seat of power. Since its formation in 1999, PDP made end to corruption a central theme of mass campaign. It accused National Conference government of eating into vitals of society by unbridled corruption in public life. “Overthrowing the corrupt regime of National Conference� became a popular slogan. Following few highlights from the war against corruption suggest the basic flaws, lack of will and over-politicisation of a menace which continues to remain a challenge in Jammu and Kashmir. Promise was honoured immediately after coming to power in November 2002. Same month, a special session of state legislature was convened to table a Bill for establishment of an Accountability Commission which, however, ran into rough weather for some constitutional lacunae and lack of consensus. The Bill could be legislated in 2004 and sometimes later an old
A Dove Shot Dead
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May 21, 2002 : Widely respected moderate separate leader Abdul Ghani Lone of Peoples Conference is killed by indentified gunmen during a public meeting of Hurriyat Conference in Srinagar. The ghastly incident, seen as a big blow to a possible peace dialogue, happened at time when Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was visiting Jammu and Kashmir. It was widely believed that Lone was expected to meet the Prime Minister to kick-start dialogue between Kashmiri separatists and New Delhi.
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Vol. 2, Issue 12, DECEMBER 2008
in the state as neck-deep in corruption and said that the 'disease' was far more serious that he had thought of. Amidst this din, he not only reinstated but also specially re-designated a post to honourably rehabilitate Ajit Kumar who was the symbol of Mufti's war against corruption. Meanwhile, Azad continued to fire officers in the batches of 20s as Mufti did. One of the officers terminated from services by Azad government was the Director Rural Development Kashmir, Syed Asghar Hussain. After being sacked by Azad as part of his anti-corruption tirade, Hussain did not have to wait much for a new role. He was welcomed in the PDP and became party's state secretary. Highest symbol of Azad's war against corruption, Asghar Hussain is now a Member of the Legislative Council or the House of Elders on PDP ticket. This is how the officers seen corrupt by Mufti were rehabilitated by Azad and vice versa. Another case is more interesting than the two above. In the first list of 20 officers sacked by Mufti government was one Jagjeet Singh Jagga, a Deputy Superintendent of Police. He took refuge in National Conference and then switched over to the Bahujan Samaj Party, contested and lost 2008 assembly elections and is now an office bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party.
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Storm in Himalayan Enclave
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Ladakhi research scholar turned bureaucrat in one of his articles to Epilogue earlier this year argued that Ladakh hardly finds any mention in the political discourse of Indian state which proverbially stretches from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. If this observation was not true, the politics of Ladakh would have been the most interesting media story to be followed and discussed in the studios. Ladakh has always craved for its separation from rest of Jammu and Kashmir and direct association with Union of India as a Union Territory. This sentiment oscillated between many zeniths and nadirs over 50 years till the movement became most interesting theater of politics in the decade of 2000s. When Kashmir Valley was being promised the fairest ever election of the history, the Leh district bordering China launched a stormy revolt. All local leaders reached a consensus to dissolve Ladakh units of all political parties. All flags were downed; BJP, Congress, NC et al were taken off the Ladakh political map to give birth to Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF). The unanimity on creation of Union Territory was rare and complete as no elections were held there. Leh districts has two assembly constituencies and both candidates were sent to assembly unopposed, uncontested. Nawang Rigzin Jora who represented the Leh segment became a Minister in the PDP-Congress coalition government. Before Rigzin and his other colleague could shout for separation in assembly hall, Delhi and Srinagar decided to act swiftly and smartly. In January 2003, CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed announced empowerment of Leh and Kargil districts through Autonomous Hill Development Councils to the extent that they became classic case of 'State within State'. The Union Territory sentiment not only mellowed down but also local units of political parties
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Epilogue, January 2010
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Administrative Map Redrawn
8 New Districts Created July 6, 2006 : One of the most important developments of the decades of 2000s was that it changed the administrative map of Jammu and Kashmir. In a historical decision with far reaching political ramifications, the Jammu and Kashmir State Cabinet headed by Ghulam Nabi Azad approved the creation of eight new administrative districts in the state for equitable development of all the areas. Chief Minister Azad says, “for 30 years, the recommendations of the Wazir Commission had been hanging fire. The commission had recommended setting up one district in Kashmir and three in the Jammu region. We have today decided to set up eight new districts, four in the Kashmir region and four in Jammu”. The Justice Nath Wazir Commission, set up by then Chief Minister Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah in the late 1970s, had pointed out disparity in distribution of resources for the three regions of the state and its recommendations, deemed politically controversial, were not implemented by various governments that came to power during the past three decades. The new districts announced are Ganderbal (to be carved out of Srinagar), Bandopore (to be carved out of Baramulla), Kulgam (from Anantnag) and the Shopian hill district (from Pulwama). Thus, there would be two new districts each in south and north Kashmir. Until 2006 there were 14 districts in the state. In the Jammu region, the new districts that came into being are Samba (carved out of Jammu district), Kishtwar (carved out of Doda district), Reasi (carved out of Udhampur district) and the hill district of Ramban (also from Doda district). Cabinet also approved the creation of new administrative sub-divisions in the State.
Vol. 2, Issue 11, NOVEMBER 2008
were quietly revived. Rigzin Jora later joined Congress and said that his aim was empowerment of the Ladakhi people and Hill Development Council was a major step towards that end. The LUTF stood divided between Thupstan Chhewang (Member of Parliament 2004-2009) and Rigzin Jora with latter emerging much stronger and closely connected with the Ladakhi people. Gradually Congress returned as a dominant power in Leh and Rigzin won 2008
assembly elections –the toughest ever. Interestingly, in 2009 there came a complete about turn in Leh when the local Congress unit wrote to the Prime Minister asking him to clarify as why Ladakh was being held a colony of Jammu and Kashmir for last 60 years. Second time in the decade the Union Territory moment is once again at its highest.
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STORY OF CHANGE
Life Goes Mobile
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lmost eight years back, shortly after the beginning of new century, Jammu and Kashmir seemed to have been thrown back to the Stone Age. Precisely at the time when the worldwide web (or www) was on a fast track changing face of India, the Vajpayee government cut the connections in Jammu and Kashmir. Internet services were withdrawn and long distance calls barred. Obviously on the popular excuse of militants using communication facilities, this widely protested disconnect was ordered, in January 2002, at a time when costs and the time of getting a telephone connection were just cut and people used to queue up for a connection. Jammu and Kashmir had already been kept out of the range of cell phones which had arrived in rest of India in mid 1990s to connect peoples and revolutionise businesses. Hopeless, as
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verificati o n s , billings, r e c h a r g e coupons –so on and so forth. Having become an essential part of the life of peoples, cell phone changed the profile of state and its peoples. Only towards the end of decade, it was known that more than four million people in Jammu and Kashmir had at least one cell phone connection. J&K has a total population of little over 11 million. Therefore, the growth of teledensity in this remote state is believed to be one of the highest in the country. Statistics came out at the time when New Delhi repeated its 2002 arrogance to put a blanket ban on pre-paid cell phone service. Government said that service providers compromised the customer identity verification norms while issuing pre-paid connections and felt that militants were using them. Over 38 lakh connections were reported to be of pre-paid nature. This order, however, did not discourage people from staying connected. They are again queued up to get their service mode changed to the post-paid. 　 ob
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they were rendered, people lost i n t e r e s t i n t h e t e l e p h o n y. Interestingly, it was the cellular telephony which later emerged as a biggest revolution of the decade in Jammu and Kashmir. In 2003, not only the long distance calls and internet services were restored but also mobile phones were allowed to enter Jammu and Kashmir. With then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed making the inaugural call to Prime Minister through a BSNL cellphone in October 2003, the entire state was set ringing in an unprecedented manner. The villages where television is yet to reach, the people who can't read or write their own names became the cell phone owners in following years. Moving across the capital cities or the muffasil townships the most prominent signs of businesses people did were reflected through the signboards or billboards of the cell phone companies. Thousands of youths with backgrounds of engineering or management joined the executive jobs with cell phone companied and thousands more picked up the allied services –sales of connections, sales and services of handsets, customer
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October, 20, 2004 : The Bharti Enterprises owned Airtel becomes the first private telecommunication operator to launch mobile telephony services in Jammu and Kashmir. Earlier the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited was operating the mobile service in the state since October 2003 that was received with a tremendous public enthusiasm underlining people's urge for leading a normal life as mobile service entered Jammu and Kashmir much later than it hit the country. Vol. 4, Issue 1
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Regional Divide on Properties of Daughters
Change of Guard At High Court Ø 2000, Feb 2: Dr. Justice B.P.
Saraf is sworn in as 20th Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court
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is sworn in as 22nd Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Ø 2005, Feb 4: Justice S. N. Jha is
sworn in as 23rd Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Ø 2007, Jan 25: Justice B. A. Khan
is sworn in as 24th Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Ø 2007, June 7: Justice Aftab Alam
is sworn in as 25th Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Ø 2008, Jan 7: Justice K.S. th
Radhakrishnan is sworn in as 26 Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court
Ø 2008, Sept 4: Justice Manmohan
Sarin is sworn in as 27th Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court Ø 2009, Jan 3: Justice Barin Ghosh th
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takes over as 28 Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court. Earlier he was Judge at Patna High Court
Vol. 2, Issue 9, SEPTEMBER 2008
Ø 2002, May 5: Justice B. C. Patel
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question whether the daughters of Jammu and Kashmir married off outside the state are entitled to have property rights erupted into one of biggest political controversies of the time dividing the state on lines of region and religion. While Kashmir Valley supported a proposed legislation denying property rights to women marrying outside, the Hindu majority in Jammu region termed it black law and opposed staunchly. A discussion on Bill in the Legislative Council on March, 10 2004 nearly led to collapse of the Peoples Democratic Party – Congress government. PDP wanted the Jammu and Kashmir permanent residents (disqualification) Bill to become a law while Congress threatened to walk out of the coalition on this issue. The Bill earlier same month passed in the Legislative Assembly when Congress failed to take note of its repercussions. Amidst a nationwide political fury and complete shutdown in Jammu, the discussions on Bill in State Legislative Assembly remained inconclusive offering a face saver to both PDP and the Congress. On June 11, 2004, the Bill lapsed as government failed to convene a session of legislative assembly to discuss the proposed piece of law, as required under rules, within three months after legislative council was adjourned. The PDP, however, reiterated its commitment to the issue and vowed to bring the Bill afresh. PDP made a renewed bid but numbers in the assembly did not favour it. On August 27, 2004, the controversial Jammu and Kashmir permanent residents (disqualification) Bill fell on the floor of the legislative assembly, as Congress the major partner in the ruling alliance voted against the Bill. The Bill was finally buried after it got only 47 votes, falling 12 short of the needed nsible jou se number. 1th hy 4t
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Rs. 24,000 Crore and More
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ike Dr C Rangarajan, the former Governor of Reserve Bank of India, many believe that route to recovery in Jammu and Kashmir can partly be taken through economic development. As the decade of 2000s saw impressive decline in militant violence, it was the economic boom unleashed in all parts of state which engaged thousands in myriad activities. Since Jammu and Kashmir is not an industrial state and the Information Technology is yet to make its required presence, it was the infrastructure led boom which offered economic spin-offs to almost everyone. The highest point in this decade of infrastructure was on November 17, 2004 when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced a Rs 24,000 Crore reconstruction program. This was in addition to numerous schemes and projects separately funded by different central departments and other agencies like World Bank and Asian Development Bank. Announcement was this mega funding was made by the Prime Minister during his two-day Jammu and Kashmir visit on November 17 and 18. Unveiling the bag of sops, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also announced an unconditional dialogue with all those who eschew violence and resolve to work for accelerating pace of peace and development in Jammu and Kashmir. Manmohan Singh reaches Srinagar, in his first visit as Prime Minister, a week after dolling out peace sops by ordering the troop reduction in the insurgency hit state. Addressing a public meeting at Sher-e-Kashmir cricket stadium, the Prime Minister said that if the conditions improved and infiltration was brought under control, there could be further cut in troop deployment. Striking an emotional chord with the violence hit people of Kashmir, the Prime Minister says, “I have a dream and a firm belief that we can and we shall built a new Kashmir which will become a symbol of peace, hope and prosperity”. Our government is committed to an unconditional dialogue with anyone and everyone in the State who abjures violence. We will talk to all those who have concern for Kashmiris. My door are open to those who want to meet me to usher in peace I have no conditions but their intention should be nsible jou se genuine”. 0th
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Rare Copy of Quran Lost in Islamia School Blaze July 5, 2004 : Kashmir simmered with anger on July 5, 2004 as its oldest school burnt down in a mysterious fire destroying one of the world's oldest copies of the holy Quran and thousands of other rare Islamic texts. The destruction shocked the valley and other parts of state, with the loss of the 105 years old Islamia Higher Secondary School and its 30,000 book library where some of the region's most prominent figures studied. People spilled over the streets in protest in Srinagar. Hundreds of the school's students staged a protest march. The school, set up in 1899, was a landmark symbol of the building reduced to the charred brick skeleton, with soot and burned out book and furniture strewn around the premises. The library, which included one of the rarest manuscripts of the Quran, handwritten by Usman bin Affan the third 'Righteous Caliph' of Islam was completely destroyed, said Shahid-ul-Islam, party secretary of the Awami Action Committee. No one claimed responsibility for the blaze. The school was run by a religious and educational trust led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Kashmir's highest Islamic leader and head of the Awami Action Committee the movement to modernize Islam. Epilogue, January 2010
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Local Governance Returned to Urban J&K After 27 Years
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An overwhelming, response from the voters was registered as Srinagar and Jammu Municipal Corporations went to polls on February 1, first after 27 years. While an impressive percentage of 65 is recorded in Jammu around 20 percent voters turned up to cast their votes for the Srinagar Municipal Corporation elections amid an atmosphere of enthusiasm. After years of poll boycott and militant violence on the eve of elections 20 percent voter turn out with no incident of violence is considered a good omen, for Srinagar. According to Chief Electoral Officer, Rakesh K. Gupta, around 45 percent votes were polled in both 57 years after the Line of Control was drawn to leave not only the Municipal Corporations of Srinagar and Jammu. He said that Jammu witnessed brisk polling with geographical territory but also hundreds and thousands of total percentage reported as high as 65 percent. families of Jammu and Kashmir divided between Indian and Whereas in Srinagar the percentage registered at Pakistani parts, history was created on April 2005 when Prime the end of polling, was between 15 to 20 percent, Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh and Congress President he added. Gupta said that people in the twin cities Sonia Gandhi flagged off a bus from Srinagar for Muzaffarabad, of Jammu and Srinagar stood waiting in long queues the capital of Pakistan administered Kashmir. The fortnightly bus to exercise their right of franchise and the process service can only ferry 450 passengers a year on an average to the gradually gained momentum. The turn out of other side of the border. On the inaugural day 19 passengers women voters was tremendous.
ight in the middle of decade, the year 2005 was a momentous for urban local governance in Jammu and Kashmir. After a staggering gap of two and half decades, Jammu and Kashmir government, on January 11, 2005, decided to hold the civic elections to ensure greater public representation in grass root democratic institutions like municipal committees and speed up development process at the ground.
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from J&K traveled to Muzaffarabad while 31 arrived from that side. Salamabad, 122 kilometer from Srinagar and Chakothi, 63 kilometer from Muzaffarabad, are the middle crossing points on both sides of LoC for Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service. The bus service established the first link between the two sides of the divided state in nearly 60 years and became the most tangible achievement to emerge from peace negotiations between India and Pakistan that began in January 2004. But the bus route was bitterly opposed by militants. Militants issued death threats against those making the journey and fired rifle grenades at one of the two buses traveling from Srinagar to the Line of Control. The grenades exploded harmlessly. A second cross-LoC bus service was launched by Congress President Sonia Gandhi on June 19, 2006 between Poonch and Rawalakote. Both bus services though continue t o remain hostage to the tedious formalities and bureaucratic suspicions but whatever little interactions across Line of Control could happen brought a huge change in perception both sides. Many myths about the situation on both sides collapsed and people got a better idea of past, present and future. The Cross-LoC bus service continues to be described as mother of all confidence building measures on Kashmir.
Vol. 2, Issue 7, JULY 2008
Mother of all CBMs
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CHIEF MINISTERS OF THE DECADE First Non-Congress, Non-NC 2002, Nov 2: Mufti Mohammad Sayeed becomes head of first non-National Conference, non-Congress Government in Jammu and Kashmir. Mufti's PDP bags 16 seats in assembly elections, all from Kashmir Valley. Government is in coalition with Congress which bagged 20 seats, some smaller parties and independent legislators.
First Non-Resident Kashmiri 2005, Nov 5: Ghulam Nabi Azad becomes first such Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir who is not a resident of Kashmir Valley. Though a Kashmiri speaking, Azad was born in Bhallessa are of Doda district. He spent most of his three-decade long political career in New Delhi. He is also the third Chief Minister from Congress and tenth Chief Minister of state.
The Youngest Ever 2009, January 5: Omar Abdullah of National Conference becomes the youngest ever Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir at the age of 38. His party National Conference bags 28 seats in 2008 assembly elections and the government is in coalition with the Congress. Earlier he became a Member of Parliament at the age of 28 and subsequently a Minister of State in the Union Government.
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Destructive Earthquake
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Believed to be the 12th most destructive earthquake of all time, the October 8, 2005 earthquake though resulted in large scale death and destruction but it also 'united' both parts of Jammu and Kashmir in pain. For many it was a blessing in disguise as in the aftermath of earthquake the governments of India and Pakistan agreed to open five crossing points at the Line of Control, dividing Jammu and Kashmir into Indian and Pakistani sides, for meeting of divided families living on both sides and flow of humanitarian aid to the most affected region. The 2005 Kashmir Earthquake was a major earthquake centered in Pakistan-administered Kashmir and in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) near the city of Muzaffarabad. It occurred at 08:22:37 Indian Standard Time (03:52:37 UTC) on 8 October 2005. It registered a debatable moment magnitude of 7.6 making it similar in size to the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the 1935 Quetta earthquake, the 2001 Gujarat earthquake, and the 2009 Sumatra earthquakes. The death toll was much higher on the Pakistani side of Kashmir. The government of Pakistan officially put the death toll at 79,000, while nearly 1,400 people also died in Indian side of Kashmir, mostly in north of Kashmir Valley. The severity of the damage caused by the earthquake is attributed to severe upthrust, coupled with poor construction. Vol. 4, Issue 1
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BRIEF INTERVENTION
1½-Year Storm of Azad
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seat of Chief Minister to Mufti Mohammad Sayeed under a stiff pressure from PDP, he managed for self a seat in the Rajya Sabha and quietly returned to Delhi. Two years later, Congress bounced to power at Delhi and Azad became one of the most important Ministers in UPA Government in 2004. That is what Azad meant for but this stability did not last long. Congress and PDP were in power sharing arrangement in J&K and in 2005 it was the time for Congress to take over. Azad was told to give up his central ministry and join in J&K as Chief
Minister. The storm thus began in November 2005. He had ambitions and some honest ideas to make Jammu and Kashmir a model state. What he forgot while implementing his sincere agenda was the fact that J&K was a different piece of land than he would have imagined from Delhi. On very first day
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On very first day he claimed that he intends to deliver without making any slogans as his predecessors did. His intentions were welcomed. Things, however, got awry when he said that all his predecessors were incompetent and held them responsible for the poor development and political turmoil in the state. Describing corruption as one and only most serious problem in the state he not only vowed to weed it out but also declared it as his topmost priority. His intentions were welcomed but things again got awry when he categorically claimed that everybody was neck-deep in corruption.
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n a sweltering afternoon of April 2001, routine life in Jammu –the winter capital city –had gone out of gear. Forget the driving space; even walking space was not available in many city areas. There was fragrance in air and eye catching decoration along the main road connecting airport with the city center as thousands of people lines on both sides chanting loud slogans Fakhr-e-Hind zindabad (long live the pride of India). This was all for Ghulam Nabi Azad –a Congress leader born in a nondescript village of Jammu, educated mostly in Kashmir and spent almost his entire political career in Delhi –at the national political scene. Hundreds and thousands of people drawn from across the region had gathered to welcome Azad who was coming to J&K on first organizational assignment ever. The previous day he had demitted the all powerful office of national General Secretary of Congress to take over as state Congress president in J&K. It was a clear demotion. In Congress ruled states, party's General Secretaries are far more powerful than the Chief Ministers. And a small state like Jammu and Kashmir was too small to match the high profile political stature of Azad. Known as master strategist of Congress, Azad knew how to regain the ground he lost in Delhi. He centralized his and the party's attention in Jammu region, hit at the project of BJP and secured 20 seats -15 from Jammu and 5 from Valley. Not only this, he also pulled seven independent legislators to Congress and showed to Delhi that he can deliver. Giving in the
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he claimed that he intends to deliver without making any slogans as his predecessors did. His intentions were welcomed. Things, however, got awry when he said that all his predecessors were incompetent and held them responsible for the poor development and political turmoil in the state. Describing corruption as one and only most serious problem in the state he not only vowed to weed it out but also declared it as his topmost priority. His intentions were welcomed but things again got awry when he categorically claimed that everybody was neck-deep in corruption. Therefore, he got hardly anyone to become a part of his war against corruption. Then he went on unveil his second priority –infrastructure development. In his two and years in office, Azad was seen less in his office and more on the construction sites overseeing buildings, bridges roads etc. He used this Delhi connection well to obtain huge central funds for new mega projects. In July 2008, his resigned as all chances of surviving a no confidence motion failed. While Kashmir Valley never stood by his side, in Amarnath land row his admirers in Jammu set on fire hundreds of meters of cloth in Azad's effigies for withdrawing the land already allotted to temple trust. Azad left J&K seeking a new role in Delhi. During 2008 election campaign he went around saying everywhere that right since 1947, now Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, not even Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, could undertake the development work the way he did during two and half-year tenure. In August 2009, the Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather told Legislative Assembly that 90 per cent of Rs 24,000 Crore (Prime Minister Minister Reconstruction Plan) funds sanctioned in November 2004 were still unspent. Azad is now back to the national political scene as Congress General Secretary, as Union Minister and as CWC member –all the posts he deserved for his hardwork in Delhi for close to 30 years.
Monthly Magazine Extensively Researched Written with Clarity and Insight Covers Four Key Issues Politics Economy Culture Strategic Affairs
Vol. 2, Issue 4, APRIL 2008
Epilogue Has a shelf life That Extends Far Beyond the News Period Covered
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UNSTOPPABLE PRESS
The Cut, Copy, Paste Journalism Growth of newspapers is a boon for any society but bane in Jammu and Kashmir is that there has not been a corresponding growth of professionals to run the local press. Therefore, a majority of newspaper have their hands laid on the internet to cut what is available, copy on the desktop and past on the paper.
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Jammu region. These two newspapers set the tone for a regionally chauvinistic press. In following years there was an unprecedented growth of newspapers both in Srinagar in Jammu. Of two dozen odd dailies being published from Jammu and an almost equal number from Srinagar, a majority does not have a print run of more than 1000 odd copies a day. However, looking at their readership claims will even baffle the international agencies like UNHDP etc. Latest 'certified' circulation figures of ten 'major' newspapers suggest their daily print run of 23 lakh copies –which means around 1.38 Crore people read newspapers in Jammu and Kashmir every day. Even though the circulation claims of national newspapers sold in the state and
other locals have not been taken into account here, the 1.38 Crore figure itself is baffling. J&K's total population is just a little over 1.10 Crore and literacy rate not more than 65 per cent. Growth of newspapers is a boon for any society but bane in Jammu and Kashmir is that there has not been a corresponding growth of professionals to run the local press. Therefore, a majority of newspaper have their hands laid on the internet to cut what is available, copy on the desktop and past on the paper. Sometimes over dozen local newspapers can surprise the readers by carrying same editorial. It is simple to understood –this editorial was written by someone, somewhere else in the country for some other newspaper but in the cut, copy, paste industry the local editor in the town did not know last night that another in his trade is also picking up the same.
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n 1990s there were two major English newspapers, both published from Jammu, widely read and respected across Jammu and Kashmir, though in different and well defined constituencies of audience. In the language press, Aftab and Srinagar Times were the two prominent newspapers with their presence limited to Kashmir Valley alone. Among English newspapers, Daily Excelsior pursued a nationalistic editorial policy but the Kashmir Times offered space to dissent and therefore became a darling of English readers in Kashmir. It is said that vendors would unscrupulously hike the price of Kashmir Times in late afternoons in Srinagar as supply demand gap continuously widened. It continues to be debated whether two newspapers were enough for Jammu and Kashmir or this small state needed them in hundreds. Decade of 2000s saw an unprecedented rise in the local press –both English and vernacular. It was also the time when national newspapers made forays into J&K. At the turn of decade (also new century) two new English newspapers had already arrived at the scene. Greater Kashmir launched as a Srinagar weekly in late 1980s had emerged into a formidable daily by the beginning of 2000s and also by that time a Jammu based newspaper State Times, an English Daily, launched in Jammu in mid-1990s had become a strong regional platform. While Greater Kashmir became a challenge for the Kashmir Times in Valley, State Times started eating into space of Daily Excelsior in
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Rethinking Political Paradigms in J&K NYLA ALI KHAN
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he land of tranquil glades, jagged ravines, awe-inspiring canyons, snow clad mountains, and heterogeneous peoples infusing J&K with a mĂŠlange of languages, cultures, and social mores is an apt description of the State if one chooses to turn a blind eye to the blight caused by armed insurgency; counter insurgency; militarization of the cultural ethos; politicization of regional differences; an even more destructive communalization of those differences; carte blanch granted to the Indian military; the mechanism of violence that destroys and diminishes women; the insidious growth of New Delhi's authority in J&K causing the unhealed
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The onset of the first decade of the 2000s was preceded by fear, paranoia, and uncertainty about the millennium. While some parts of the world endeavoured to take strides toward technological advancement, industrial development, educational infrastructure, political selfdetermination, and emancipation of women, J&K remained enmeshed in a political apathy engendered by the inability of the educated populace to participate in democratic discourse.
wounds of accession and marginalization to fester; installation of coalition governments in which the centre unabashedly dictates terms to its regional allies; the dexterous manipulation of marionette regional politicians; and the dismal lack of progression toward a political resolution of the historically implacable Kashmir conflict. The onset of the first decade of the 2000s was preceded by fear, paranoia, and uncertainty about the millennium. While some parts of the world endeavoured to take strides toward technological advancement, industrial development, educational infrastructure, political selfdetermination, and emancipation of women, J&K remained enmeshed in a political apathy engendered by the
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inability of the educated populace to participate in democratic discourse. Despite the self-congratulatory posturing of PDP, NC, Congress, and BJP stalwarts regarding the initiation of diplomatic talks with Pakistan, the possibility of which is continually deferred, the 'commendable' attempt to transgress barriers created by the LOC by discussing its conversion into an international border, which hasn't had substantive outcomes in terms of fostering amicability, the Kashmir conflict continues to remain formidable in its intractability. The vibrant and mammoth mass movement orchestrated by the NC in the 1930s and 1940s is now buried in the catacombs of history and the political organization in its current form is a pale shadow of what its founders envisioned it to be; the divisive politics of the PDP has ceased to bring it the sort of dividends that it did when the organization was in
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J&K, in its current state, embodies the fragility of an ill-defined democracy and is blurred by the incessantly flowing tears of widows, orphans, dispossessed people, and despondent mothers. Amidst the chaos, pandemonium, and babel, I see a bold attempt by some academics and journalists to raise the level of political discourse in J&K by initiating informed discussions, policy debates, and participation in track two activities.
its embryonic stage with a rhetoric designed to please the Kashmiri palate; the communalization of the Amarnath land row didn't embellish the ultra right wings politics of the BJP, contrary to its expectations; and the Congress, which is now piloting J&K, skillfully employs various euphemisms to dilute the inefficacy of its policies
Epilogue because there is more to know
in the State. J&K, in its current state, embodies the fragility of an ill-defined democracy and is blurred by the incessantly flowing tears of widows, orphans, dispossessed people, and despondent mothers. Amidst the chaos, pandemonium, and babel, I see a bold attempt by some academics and
journalists to raise the level of political discourse in J&K by initiating informed discussions, policy debates, and participation in track two activities. Academic research is increasingly turning to regions as an important level of analysis. The political resolution of J&K and the erasure of any attempt to create regional divides can only come about with the challenging of outdated paradigms created by the nationstates of India and Pakistan. We, as a people, have the right to refuse to be ruled by New Delhi's regents; the right to make our voices heard at international forums; the right to ignore regional players that kowtow to despotic authority; the right to proudly fly our flag high.
Now Telling The J&K Stories
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9/11 Changed the Way World Would Look at Kashmir M ASHRAF
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Vol. 1, Issue 12, DECEMBER 2007
he last decade has seen many dramatic and revolutionary events which have changed the shape of things all over the world. At the moment the hottest event is the debate on Climate Change which seems to threaten the very existence of the human civilisation. However, in my opinion, the most dramatic and important event which had a direct impact on Kashmir was the 9/11 episode. It virtually changed the entire perception of Kashmir in the west. The violent eruption in Kashmir in 1990 triggered by the rigged elections of 1987 put Kashmir once more on the top in the western media as well as diplomatic circles. With the violence
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accompanying this uprising it was thought to be the final outburst before Kashmir would be free. However, the things did not turn that way. The 1990 uprising had been extensively projected in the west as the struggle of Kashmiri people for freedom. In fact American diplomats were bold enough to travel through violence ridden Kashmir without any fear. Robin Raphael strolled freely through the lanes of Srinagar. In spite of the religious overtones which were primarily a Kashmiri attempt to put the secular India at discomfort, the western powers still sympathised with Kashmiris considering it a nationalist struggle. This was because of the fact that Kashmiris were never known in their history as religious fanatics or fundamentalists. Kashmir has always been known as the cradle of Sufism and Spirituality. It is still known in local parlance as the “Bowl of Saints”. Transition of Kashmiris
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“Cross Border Terrorism” was given maximum hype and further qualified into “Muslim Terrorism”.
from Hinduism to Buddhism, then back to Hinduism, and finally to Islam has been totally peaceful and voluntary. The religious tolerance of Kashmiris has been proverbial and even the father of the Indian Nation, Mahatma Gandhi had seen a ray of hope only in Kashmir when the entire sub-continent was engulfed in the worst ever religious violence and fanaticism! However, the events of 9/11 changed all that. The tragedy of New York owned by the Al Qaida made America declare a total war on Islam and Muslims all over the world. Anything connected with Muslims and Islam became anathema to the west. Kashmir's struggle for freedom which had earlier received tremendous support from the west got bracketed with the so called “Islamic Terrorism”. The term “Cross Border Terrorism” was given maximum hype and further qualified into “Muslim Terrorism”. Kashmir once again went on to the back burner. The west which was once enamoured of Kashmir turned it into their “Blind Spot” because of its predominantly Muslim character. They are now trying to wash off their hands from this problem and are asking the stake holders to settle it among themselves. Even though there is a widespread feeling among the people of the sub-continent that we should try to resolve this tangle among ourselves, some people are still looking at the west for a final solution! The effects of
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The Decade in Review PEACE PROCESS
Key Words of the Decade : Reconciliation, Dialogue, Peace REKHA CHOWDHARY
Asked to name the keywords which were most frequently used during the decade (2000-2009) vis-à-vis J&K, one would definitely offer the two words: “Peace” and “Dialogue”.
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situation in Kashmir which was getting defined by the urge for 'normalcy' and 'peace'. Deep disillusionment with violence that had taken the toll of the Kashmiri society, not merely in terms of the number of people killed but in so many other ways, the urge was for coming out of the situation of impasse and reaching a point from where the possibility of 'honourable exit' could be explored. Interestingly, the most important developments of the year 2000 that marked the beginning of the decade were the two unilateral ceasefire offers – first by Hizbul Mujahideen in July 2000 and the
Vol. 1, Issue 11, NOVEMBER 2007
The most important developments of the year 2000 that marked the beginning of the decade were the two unilateral ceasefire offers – first by Hizbul Mujahideen in July 2000 and the second one in August 2000, by the government of India.
second one in August 2000, by the government of India. Though the Hizb ceasefire could merely last for a couple of weeks, yet it also marked the first ever effort of dialogue between the Government of India and the camp of militants and separatist. The IndoPakistan relations were though brought to the lowest point after the militant attack on the Indian Parliament when the armed forces were mobilised on both the sides and were stationed for long period at eyeball to eyeball situation, however, the idea of peace
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sked to name the keywords which were most frequently used during the decade (2000-2009) vis-à-vis J&K, one would definitely offer t h e t w o w o r d s : “ Pe a c e ” a n d “Dialogue”. Ironically, “Violence” was the keyword for the decade earlier. That was the time of ascendancy of armed militancy, local to begin with, but controlled by foreign elements by the end of the decade. “Gun culture” was the expression used by Kashmiris in 1990s to manifest their response to various sources of violence – apart from that perpetrated by the militants, by the security forces as well as by the counter-insurgent organisations. It was not surprising therefore that right in the beginning of the decade 2000, A G Lone, one of the key members of the All Party Hurriyat Conference had not only started publicly denouncing the foreign Jehadi militants but had also started talking about the irrelevance of armed militancy. Though he had to pay through his life the price for naming the idea whose time had come, i.e., 'the political rather than the armed resolution of the problem', the separatist politics even after his assassination was to take the clue from his understanding of the ground
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process continued to assert itself, even against all the odds. If it were not so, Vajpayee who had been paid back his goodwill visit to Lahore by Kargil war in 1999, and who had been disappointed by the failure of his Agra meeting with General Musharraf in 2001, would not have taken the initiative of starting the peace process all over once again in 2003. It was in April 2003 that during his visit to Kashmir, he (Vajpayee) had taken the initiative of inviting both Pakistan as well as the Kashmiri separatists for a dialogue. That was the beginning of the longish and the most effective peace process so far in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. The process was formalised during the 2004 SAARC meeting. What became the defining element of the peace process vis-Ă -vis the conflict in and over Kashmir, was the acknowledgement of the complexity created by the intermeshing of the internal and external factors. In the belief that the 'Kashmir problem' cannot be resolved unless it involves all the parties viz India, Pakistan and the
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stakeholders in Jammu and Kashmir, the emphasis was on simultaneous engagement between India and Pakistan on the one hand and the Government of India and the Kashmiri separatists on the other. The peace process in this context was comprehensive, since it sought to resolve all the outstanding issues between India and Pakistan and also sought to tackle all the issues related
It was in April 2003 that during his visit to Kashmir, he (Vajpayee) had taken the initiative of inviting both Pakistan as well as the Kashmiri separatists for a dialogue. That was the beginning of the longish and the most effective peace process so far in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. The process was formalised during the 2004 SAARC meeting.
the core area of conflict, i.e., Kashmir. What gave momentum to the peace process was the preparedness of all the parties involved, especially India and Pakistan to go beyond the stated positions. Acknowledgement of the intractability of the problems due to the maximalist positions so far adopted by these two countries, led them to evolve certain minimum ground rules for engaging each other. These ground rules reflected Pakistan's concern that the resolution of problem should not be on the basis of the status quo and the Indian sensitivities that it would not mean compromise on
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sovereignty and would not lead to redrawing maps or exchanging territories. Once these ground rules were accepted, there was lot of movement forward. Seen retrospectively one can appreciate the dynamism in the process, especially in the context of shedding the traditional stance while engaging with each other. Most crucial shift was in the stand of Pakistan which was insisting so far on the UN resolutions on Kashmir. Musharraf's declaration of the irrelevance of UN resolution opened all the new possibilities for resolution of problem through dialogue. The idea of 'Self-Rule' in his four point formula further made a break from the traditional position of Pakistan according to which it laid claim on whole of Kashmir. The identification of different regions within the state opened the possibilities for resolving the problems on the each side of Jammu and Kashmir by offering political rearrangements by the country involved. This implied that India could resolve the problems locally on its side of Kashmir by engaging the separatists without involving Pakistan. Another important implication was that Pakistan had for the first time accepted the problematic status of Gilgit Baltistan and also acknowledged the need for political re-arrangement in Kashmir under its own administration. Though it was Pakistan which was seen to have conceded most in its discourse on Kashmir (before the end of his tenure as President of Pakistan, Musharraf had even declared that Pakistan did not lay claim to Kashmir), India had also brought about realistic change of its stance. Thus by agreeing to resolve all outstanding issues with Pakistan including Kashmir, it had
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Kashmir as it stood before 1947. Having no possibility of physical unity of the state caught up in the sovereignty of India and Pakistan, the 'notional' unity of the state that this idea provides is very attractive. The idea also appeals to others, especially the traders and the business community which finds itself disadvantaged by the landlocked situation of the state. No wonder that the trade between the two sides of Kashmir that was started in October 2008, continued to operate even when other peace processes were stalled in the wake of Mumbai
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The idea of Round Table Conferences, which were held in 2006-7, however was to cater to the political divergence and the multiple political voices within the state. Ironically, as the decade is ending, the peace process both at the external and the internal level seems to have been stalled.
terrorist attack. The stake of people in the cross-LoC trade becomes clear from the fact that it is operating even when the basics have not been provided for – for instance there is no method of exchanging money, no banking facility and even the telephone facility between the two sides of LoC is not provided. How pioneering the move of opening the borders is can be judged from the various ways the LoC is being described. While the traders have named it as Line of Commerce signifying its potential for becoming the basis for future trade between India and Pakistan, others have termed it as the Line of Peace symbolising its potential of bringing about peace and stability in whole region of South Asia. The peace process as it evolved through the decade brought to the surface not only the complexity of the conflict situation but also the intricacies of the process of resolution. More pace the peace process acquired, more it became confronted with the seams and layers that the problem has.
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acknowledged the dispute over Kashmir. This was going much beyond its traditional stance of 'Kashmir being integral part of India' and therefore having nothing to resolve with Pakistan except the issue of liberation of that part of Kashmir which was under its occupation. More vital shift, however, was on the internal side. Vajpayee was the first Prime Minister of India to have publicly acknowledged the responsibility of India in the alienation of Kashmiris and to have owned the mistakes made in Kashmir. By offering 'free and fair elections' he had also acknowledged the denial of democracy and the need for restoring trust of Kashmiris in India. His offer of dialogue with the separatists was the highpoint of the internal peace process which brought the India-Kashmir discourse to an altogether different plank. Engaging the separatists, in the post-Vajpayee period, is now a minimum requirement of the conflict resolution at the internal level. However, it was through the idea of 'irrelevance of borders' that the peace process became most innovative and achieved the most tangible results. Subverting the very problematic border which had made the Kashmir issue intractable between India and Pakistan, the decision to open the Uri-Muzafrabad and Poonch-Rawlakot roads in April 2005 was the most historic one. It had a number of implications. Firstly, it shifted the conflict from its 'territorial' nature to a more 'people oriented' one. The territoriality of the problem had not only made it difficult to resolve it in the context of three exclusive claims on 'whole of Jammu and Kashmir' by India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri separatists, but also had heavy costs for the 'divided families' across the
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One thing that became very clear in the internal context was that though the problem is specifically located in Kashmir, however, its resolution would have implications for the whole state. As the matter of engaging the separatists by the Government of India acquired political importance, the context of political divergence also became a reality demanding attention. It was in this context that even the separatists started referring to the third layer of dialogue (besides the two layers of India-Pakistan and India-Kashmir dialogue) – the intra-state dialogue. The need for building a consensus has been felt though not much progress has been made in the direction. The idea of Round Table Conferences, which were held in 2006-7, however was to cater to the political divergence and the multiple political voices within the state. Ironically, as the decade is ending, the peace process both at the external and the internal level seems to have been stalled. The internal crisis that Pakistan has been going since 2007, and the Mumbai terrorist attack a year back, has held up the external peace process. At the internal level also, there is not much movement forward, though the Government of India seems to be seized up with the idea of engaging the separatists. Though Chidambaram's idea of 'Quiet Diplomacy' seems to have backfired due to its public announcement and the media attention, the fact remains that the need to engage the separatists is accepted in principle. With sufficient gains made by the peace process, it can be hoped that all out
It was not surprising therefore that right in the beginning of the decade 2000, A G Lone, one of the key members of the All Party Hurriyat Conference had not only started publicly denouncing the foreign Jehadi militants but had also started talking about the irrelevance of armed militancy.
efforts would be made to consolidate these in the coming year and decade. The decade gone by was the decade of 'Peace', hopefully, the next decade will be of extended peace involving 'Peace', 'Progress' and 'Prosperity' for this state.
Epilogue Available at Jawahar Book Center Jawahar Lal Nehru University NEW DELHI
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The Decade in Review
Terrorism has Decline, But Peace is Still Miles Away M SHAMSUR RABB KHAN
'Azaadi' may not be a viable option for a great majority of the people in J&K today but what New Delhi needs to have done is much less than what should have been to bring the people into a feeling of Indianness. People in other parts of the country have been entirely unknown to the life that the Kashmiris have lived, and the think tanks, in order to push the Indian agenda, have totally ignored the people's plight.
these women also suffer from harassment by the troops. But do we know the ground realities? More precisely, does New Delhi know the actual scenario in the state apart from those that are narrated by the media? Pankaj Mishra in his article Kashmir: The Unending War (The
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that the people are facing. The general population is very embittered by what they consider to be horrible forms of Indian brutality towards them, including massacres, rapes and cordon-and-search operations in which civilians are victimised and humiliated. A study done by Medecins Sans Frontieres in mid 2005 reveals that Kashmiri women are among the worst sufferers of sexual violence in the world. Enforced disappearance is one of the most harrowing consequences of the armed conflict in Kashmir. In the absence of any information about the whereabouts of the disappeared men, their wives have acquired the title of ' halfwidows'. These half-widows apart from other relatives of disappeared persons are left without any entitlement to land, homes, inheritance, social assistance and pensions. Most of
Vol. 1, Issue 7, JULY 2007
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n Jammu & Kashmir (J&K), the battle for survival is a terrible story – from living in two-prolonged fear of victmhood, i.e. attack from the militants as well as highhandedness by the security forces to sociopsychological trauma – that has tragedy laced with deaths, destructions, destitute and denial. Albeit life continues with a little bright promise that the last decade was better than the previous one, which had more horrible stories to tell, peace, normalcy and development are yet to travel on the right track. Albeit we can take a bit relief that 2008 marks the lowest civilian casualties in 20 years with 89 deaths, compared to highest of 1,413 in 1996, according to Government of India, scars of wounds inflicted on the Kashmir psyche is yet to healed. Albeit politicians, administrators and analysts can take refuge in highlighting the notable features as the sign of improvement in the state during the last decade, which include: the restoration of a democratically-elected Government, viz. two general elections (2004 and 2009) and two State elections (2002 and 2008 and a significant decline in violence by indigenous militant groups, incidents like Shopian and attack on Fazal Qureshi are grim reminders that peace is still miles away. One of my Kashmiri colleagues, while in a discussion, almost broke down when she narrated the atrocities and fears
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New York Review of Books, October 2000) sums up thus: “…most middleclass Indians had been generally indifferent to local politics in Kashmir; for the more affluent, the valley itself was a vacation spot, cherished for sentimental reasons.” 'Azaadi' may not be a viable option for a great majority of the people in J&K today but what New Delhi needs to have done is much less than what should have been to bring the people into a feeling of Indianness. People in other parts of the country have been entirely unknown to the life that the Kashmiris have lived, and the think tanks, in order to push the Indian agenda, have totally ignored the people's plight. Last October, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh linked peace and prosperity in J&K with a new 'humanitarian agenda' as a basis to restart talks. But with years of fruitless talks, a chronically disaffected Kashmiri urban intelligentsia has taken them as mere promises and betrayals, while rural people have considered the present state of affairs as their fate with a sense of dejection and despair.
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Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has noted that 'human security' is the key idea in "comprehensively seizing all the menaces that threaten the survival, daily life and dignity of human beings and to strengthening the efforts to confront these threats.” A more peaceful future requires at least four interrelated movements: (1) there is a need for broader alliances
Last October, the Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh linked peace and prosperity in J&K with a new 'humanitarian agenda' as a basis to restart talks. But with years of fruitless talks, a chronically disaffected Kashmiri urban intelligentsia has taken them as mere promises and betrayals, while rural people have considered the present state of affairs as their fate with a sense of dejection and despair.
been in an all-out battle against the Taliban in the tribal areas, there is a conducive environment for New Delhi to push ahead with fresh initiatives in letting the people believe that Kashmiris and Kashmiriyat are very much safe in the hands of India, and that the army and the administration are friendly groups for their protection, not hostile bands to attack them at will. On the developmental front, though mechanisms have been put in place to speed up the execution of various projects under the Prime Minister's Reconstruction Plan J&K has seen considerable increase in urban poverty during the decade. According to a BPL survey by the Directorate of Economics and Statistics (DES) of FY 2008-09, over 2.21 lakh people have fallen under below urban poverty level in the state. And in the district Srinagar alone, there are over 73,262 BPL population. The
that build stronger relations between various stakeholder that could enable an environment of peace and development' (2) there is a need for a unified leadership that could create consensus on living with India by participating in the political process; (3) an all-out effort to focus on education and development process, for example, revival of tourism as it was 20 years ago; and (4) people from the various states and communities of India n e e d to l e a rn th e a tr o c i ti e s , resistances, hopes, and concerns prevalent in Kashmir and acknowledge the plights of the people so that rather than suspicion and hatred, love and cooperation should emerge as the basis for further peaceful existence. It is time for New Delhi to acknowledge that much needs to be done if a lasting peace is to be established in the valley, and for this it can seize the opportunity by reaching out to the people. If the last decade has been devoid of much violence, it has to completely end.
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While situation in neighbouring Pakistan has changed the past few years, India has seized the least opportunity to begin genuine steps in creating a peaceful environment except the same “militants across the border” rhetoric to continue with the status quo. Less violence during the decade does not mean the end of the conflict. And since March last year, Pakistan has
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Ideas for Next Decade
The Decades of Ahead Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh D SUBA CHANDRAN
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his decade has been comparatively much better, when compared to the 1980s and 1990s. There have been numerous positive developments during this decade, despite the see-saw relationship between India and Pakistan, changes in governments at the national level in India, growing instability in Pakistan and post 9/11 economic and political developments at the global level. Peaceful elections, declining militancy and violence and cross-LoC interactions can certainly be considered as some of the most positive developments of this decade. Undoubtedly, they have set the field for the government and the society to develop further, and move towards a better situation in the next decade. At the same time, there have also been negative developments – as witnessed after the Amarnath Shrine Board crisis, creating further divisions between the regions and societies in terms of region and religion. Further more, there are certain areas, in which the negative status quo is continuing - political equations between the separatists and the mainstream leadership, bad governance and corruption at the state and societal levels. Where will J&K move towards in the next ten years? Rather, where should J&K move towards during the 2010s? What are the opportunities? What are the challenges? The following questions assume significance, given the current trends during this decade.
Will there be better governance?
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overnance, undoubtedly, is the key issue that will address many other challenges in the coming decade. The progress report in this decade is mixed; there were serious efforts made to improve the governance process in J&K. Yet there is a long way to go. Much will depend on how the State and society responds to the process of governance. Unfortunately, governance has been perceived primarily as the domain of the State, in particular that of the ruling government. Corruption and bad governance can not be attributed to one particular actor in J&K. Everyone needs to take the blame and look inwards, if J&K needs to progress in the forthcoming decade. The Union government, State government, ruling and opposition parties, separatists and militants, security forces, bureaucracy, media, NGOs and the society – every one has played an important negative role in contributing to the present status of governance in J&K. No doubt, J&K is one of the most corrupt states in the entire country.
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Undoubtedly, despite whatever the critics may say, Omar Abdullah is a charismatic leader, young, dynamic clean and earnest in taking J&K forward. Omar should be the rallying point for J&K in delivering. Now, what are his strengths and weaknesses? He may lack the experience, but is likely to learn faster, given his seriousness. This is where his detractors need to give him the time and space, to learn from his own mistakes.
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Governance is a larger concept, and should not be narrowly viewed through the corruption index. This is where, one should look forward to the following, in terms of making J&K a better governed state in the coming decade. First, the political leadership and the political will. Will there be a significant change in how the present political leadership both at the state and national levels, perceive the
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Political stability and development in J&K during the 2010s will depend much on how relevant the NC becomes. Omar Abdullah may also need the support from New Delhi to make the above change both within his party and in terms of improving the governance process. This is where Manmohan Singh becomes important. With his emphasis on 9 percent growth rate, the Prime Minister needs to provide the right space and positive support for Omar to tighten the governance process, political confidence and a degree of autonomy. Manmohan Singh should ensure, there is accountability in every single penny spent and action taken in J&K. Lack of accountability by the bureaucracy, security forces and successive government have been the primary reason for the failure of governance process in J&K. Manmohan Singh should also provide the space for Omar, in terms of developing confidence and reaching a political understanding. There have been numerous instances in the past, during which for narrow political objectives, the Congress has indulged in making tactical decisions, forcing the political parties in J&K to take a negative approach. One seriously wishes that Manmohan Sigh does repeat the mistakes of his predecessors. Finally, New Delhi should also provide support, in terms of a improving the political environment in J&K. For long, there have been serious discussions on the question of autonomy, dialogue with all shades of opinions in J&K and withdrawal of troops. Manmohan Singh has already made an initiative through his Round Table Conferences and Working Groups. A sincere pursuit of both these strategies will improve the situation in J&K, there by providing a positive atmosphere to Omar Abdullah to take J&K further.
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governance process in J&K? There are two positive developments in this decade, which hold promise, in terms of leadership. First is Omar Abdullah. Second is Manmohan Singh. Undoubtedly, despite whatever the critics may say, Omar Abdullah is a charismatic leader, young, dynamic clean and earnest in taking J&K forward. Omar should be the rallying point for J&K in delivering. Now, what are his strengths and weaknesses? He may lack the experience, but is likely to learn faster, given his seriousness. This is where his detractors need to give him the time and space, to learn from his own mistakes. Omar is also the leader of the National Conference, a party which is known for its tactical approaches, being corrupt and shrewd. Whatever may be the negative outlook of the NC, one should also understand, it is the only party with considerable grass roots support in all three regions of J&K and acceptable to the multi-ethnic society. Is there any other party in J&K, that has the support in all three regions? Neither the PDP nor the Congress is likely to grow in all three regions, the way that the NC has already established itself. BJP, despite its performance in the last elections, is unlikely to expand or even repeat its own performance in the next elections. Besides, Omar Abdullah should take this as a challenge and change the negative image of NC. Unless he is able to transform the NC into a positive force, he will not be able to move forward in the 2010s; it is important that the NC regains its base in all three regions and reforms itself into moderate, secular and forward looking political party. Only Omar could deliver this. For this he needs the support of the seniors within the party, starting from his father.
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IN FOCUS Ideas of Next Decade
Manmohan Singh should ensure, there is accountability in every single penny spent and action taken in J&K. Lack of accountability by the bureaucracy, security forces and successive government have been the primary reason for the failure of governance process in J&K.
Councils of Leh and Kargil have increased the distance between the two regions and between the Muslim and Buddhist communities of Ladakh. Whatever may be the case, majority in Kargil and Leh do believe, that the Hill Councils have helped in decentralisation and devolution of power. J&K could consider similar Hill or Regional Councils in other parts of the state, especially in interior regions, s u c h a s D o d a a n d Po o n c h . Alternatively, the State could also work on making the panchayatraj institutions effective and deliver at the grass roots level. Any comparative analysis of the functioning of panchayat raj institutions in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh would underline how fragile and inadequate these structures are in J&K. Successive governments have deliberately kept the panchayat raj institutions in a limbo. If governance process has to take root in J&K in the 2010s, these three institutions – RTI, Hill/Regional Councils and Panchayat Raj have to deliver. If the State has to take the lead on all three, people have to perform their duties to gain the maximum.
U n d o u b t e d l y, e f f e c t i v e implementation of the Hill Councils in Ladakh has been one great success story in this decade. Credit should be given to the PDP, especially Mufti Sayeed for making this initiative work, by adequately devolving economic and political power. Is Autonomous Hill or Regional Councils, the right strategy to move ahead, in terms of improving the governance process? Critics argue, that the Hill Councils may only increase the divide between the communities and regions instead of bringing them together. For example, they argue, the Hill
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hree factors will hold the key for any effective deliverance of governance – Right to Information Act in J&K, Effective use of Autonomous Hill Councils and Strengthening of Panchayat Raj Institutions. Any positive development within J&K in 2010s, will undoubtedly be based on how much success has been achieved in these three crucial areas. RTI Act is in place in J&K, in theory. It has potential to become the most potent force in making the numerous institutions perform, and more importantly provides the people to ensure, there is accountability. RTI cannot become a success story and revolutionize J&K unless Omar and the people want it to become that way. It has to be a two way process. Society, NGOs and the media – all have to play a positive role in making the RTI a potent weapon to ensure accountability, governance and justice. While everyone took pleasure in blaming the governments for the all round failure of governance processes, there was little introspection in terms of what positive role if any, the society, NGOs and media have played in ensuring accountability. The state will never be able to deliver unless the people demand accountability, develop and inculcate a work culture and not only censure corruption in the public realm, but also develop a strong ethical code which eschews corruption within civil society. Unfortunately, there is much that desires to be done in all these three
respects. Autonomous Hill Councils in Leh and Kargil, despite criticisms have addressed a very crucial area of governance in J&K – decentralisation. Today the two Hill Councils in Ladakh have provided the space for local leadership to engage in a serious self governance process in a meaningful way, addressed the question of alienation vis-à-vis Jammu and Srinagar and improved the delivery mechanisms.
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Will there be effective Right to Information, Autonomous Hill Councils and Panchayat Raj?
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Will the Cross-LoC Interactions improve?
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he first bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad started in April 2005, with much fanfare and so much of popular expectations on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC). While there are numerous criticisms on the nature and content of the cross-LoC interactions, that have been initiated so far, not many in J&K on both sides of the LoC will disapprove of its usefulness, and the need to expand this process. India and Pakistan, despite the break down in the dialogue, after the Mumbai attacks in October 2008, have continued with this interaction. Later another service was opened between Poonch and Rawlakote. Both these services address the needs and aspirations of people living in Kashmir Valley and those living in Jammu region, primarily in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch. The primary objective of this bus service was mainly to cater the divided families living along the Line of Control. However, the Line of Control does not stop in the Kupwara district of
Kashmir Valley and the divided families do not only live in the above districts. The LoC extends further and goes up to NJ9842 in Ladakh, thus including the Leh and Kargil districts of an important and perhaps the largest sub-region of J&K. There are numerous divided families in Kargil and Skardu region as well. In 2008, India and Pakistan made another bold move, in terms of opening the LoC for the movement of trucks since October 2008. Initially meant for a fortnightly movement, few months within the inauguration of the trade, it has been converted into a weekly phenomenon on the same two routes, in which buses are plying. In 2010s, given the limitations on the movements across LoC in terms of divided families and trade, and the there is a need to look beyond, in order to improve the cross-LoC interactions. Tourism is one area, which has enormous potential on this issue, where the legal and political aspects can be underplayed. Today, the two bus services across Uri and Poonch, carry divided families on a regular basis, without much compromises on legal and political issues related to travel. In promoting tourism for undivided families, but belonging to the State, the same arrangement can be pursued in
facilitating travel. If both countries have certain security concerns, to start with, like how the Chinese did in Tibet, India and Pakistan could allow circuit tourism by identifying select places and specific dates. TO be even more specific, as a pilot initiative, both countries could start with pilgrimage tourism and later expand to other forms. Both in Kashmir Valley and Rajouri and Poonch districts, for examples, there are numerous shrines of Sufis, who are revered by everyone, cutting across regional and religious divides. For example, Shahdra Sahrief near Rajouri is a major shrine, where Baba Ghulam Shah is workshiped by the Muslims, Hindus and even Sikhs from all over the region, Along with Sai Miran, Nagali Saheb and Buddha Amarnath, this could be an effective religious circuit. Economically, cross-LoC tourism will boost all the regions. From Poonch to Gilgit, there are numerous places of historical, adventure and religious importance that will attract everyone from all parts of Kashmir. Places of worship belonging to Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Buddhist communities are spread all over J&K and are not limited to one region. In fact, a Buddhist from Ladakh would love to go up to even Swat and beyond; a Pandit would like to visit the Sharada Peeth in Kishan Ganga
While everyone took pleasure in blaming the governments for the all round failure of governance processes, there was little introspection in terms of what positive role if any, the society, NGOs and media have played in ensuring accountability. The state will never be able to deliver unless the people demand accountability, develop and inculcate a work culture and not only censure corruption in the public realm, but also develop a strong ethical code which eschews corruption within civil society. Unfortunately, there is much that desires to be done in all these three respects.
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IN FOCUS Ideas of Next Decade
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Second, India has to ensure that the cross-LoC interactions continue and expand. Clearly, this cannot be done, without restarting the stalled peace process. Undoubtedly, jumping into any premature dialogue process will be seen as a weakness, unwilling to contemplate the same will also be equally seen weakness. Refusing to talk to a neighbour on crucial issues does reflect a nation that is confident and willing to play a major role in the global system. Finally, political stability within Pakistan will determine the level of violence in J&K. Will Pakistan be able to sustain and stabilise in the next decade? Will there be political stability? Are there dangers of Taliban violence engulfing the entire Pakistan? These are larger questions, which neither India
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onsider the following numbers according to the latest estimate from J&K Police. In 2008, compared to 2007, there was a remarkable decline of violence by 40 per cent. For the first time, since the militancy has started, militancy-related incidents have come down below four digits, around 700 in 2008. Since 1991, violence related incidents always stood above 1000. It has been considerably declining in the last few years; in 2007, it came down to 1090, which further got reduced to 708 in 2008. The significance of this number will be clear, if one takes into account the cumulative violence figure in J&K since 1990. There have been over 67,000 incidents of militant violence, killing more than 21,000 militants, 16,600 civilians, and 5,200 security force personnel. Besides, the J&K Police has seized about 12.5 tonnes of RDX and more than 31 tonnes of other explosives besides 6000 grenades and recovered
more than 30,000 AK rifles from terrorists. According to the latest figures, for the first time since militancy took roots in the state, civilian casualties were lowest in 2008. For the first time, it has come down to two digits; it was 89, the lowest, in the last two decades. There were 164 civilian deaths in 2007. It was in 1996, J&K witnessed the highest number of civilian casualties, when 1,413 people were killed that year when elections were conducted to the state assembly first time after more than six years. Will the above trend continue in the next decade? Much will depend on the following three internal and external factors. First, a positive outlook amongst the people of J&K resulting in people believing in alternate democratic course of action to fulfil their aspirations. Local inputs to militancy have come down dramatically in the last few years. If the governments of J&K and New Delhi improve the governance process and take measure to restore the confidence in the democratic set up, there will be further decline in violence. This is where New Delhi has to initiate a serious debate relating to demilitarisation, besides renewing the dialogue with various spectrum of public opinion in J&K.
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Will the Violence further Decline?
In 2010s, given the limitations on the movements across LoC in terms of divided families and trade, and the there is a need to look beyond, in order to improve the cross-LoC interactions. Tourism is one area, which has enormous potential on this issue, where the legal and political aspects can be underplayed.
ear of
Valley; and a Muslim would like to visit Hazratbal and Shahadra Sharief. On historical and other significances, Gulmarg, Dal Lake, Ladakh and Jammu would enthral people from the other side, so would be Gilgit, Skardu and Mirpur for people from J&K. Historically, there are numerous places, from ancient era until today that would attract people to visit each other. Expanding the cross-LoC interactions should be the most important issue between the two Kashmirs and between India and Pakistan in the forthcoming decade. Given the fact that the status quo is not acceptable and there is no military solution, expansion of the interactions across the LoC is the only way to move forward in the next decade.
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IN FOCUS Ideas of Next Decade
Expanding the cross-LoC interactions should be the most important issue between the two Kashmirs and between India and Pakistan in the forthcoming decade. Given the fact that the status quo is not acceptable and there is no military solution, expansion of the interactions across the LoC is the only way to move forward in the next decade.
nor J&K will be able to do much, but the negative implications will be huge. Irrespective of whatever happens in Pakistan, India needs to get ready to face the consequences.
Will the Regions and Religions come closer?
I
n this decade, there have been serious negative developments relating to radicalisation – religious, regional and ethnic. The crisis relating to Amarnath Shrine Board Land, highlighted the growing divide between the regions and religions. While all these years, Kashmiriyat and Sufism remained the bedrock of Islam in
Kashmir Valley, today there is a slow but steady transformation. Especially, the young generation in Kashmir valley and Jammu region are being influenced by the radical ideology, implications of which is inimical to societal peace in the coming decade. Also in the recent years, there is a growing divide between communities, for example the Gujjar and Pahari communities in Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch belt. Ever since the Gujjars were granted the Scheduled Tribe status, the pahari community, which is living in the same socioeconomic environment, feels at a disadvantageous situation. These are serious developments that have the potential to rupture the
social fabric of J&K in the next decade. To begin with, the societies should understand that there are grievances and fears – legitimate and exaggerated vis-à-vis each other. There is a need for a dialogue, to understand each others concerns. There is also a need to realise that there is shared future, that can be achieved only by working together and not by dividing further on regional and religious lines. To conclude, there have been numerous positive and negative developments in this decade. The next decade holds promise. We can work together to fulfil that promise or fight with each other to ruin it. The choice is in our hands and every one has a responsibility to fulfil. We wish our leaders – Omar Abdullah and Manmohan Singh to take further bold steps and ensure better governance, and promise them of our support. For, we can't do much without their initiatives and they can't do much without our continuous support and trust. So, let us work together and make the next decade productive and more importantly, peaceful.
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EXCLUSIVE sTORIES
Forgotten History
The Defiant Douglas RAKESH ANKIT
A lot has been written about whether, how or to what extent the Pakistan army was involved in the 'Great Raid' of October 1947 on Kashmir. This piece does not intend to enter that territory. It, instead, seeks to bring to light the little known 'British' involvement through the words and deeds of the senior-most British officer of the Pakistan Army. On 28 June 1948, A. H. Reed wrote to Graffety-Smith that '8-12 British officers were serving in Kashmir – in the Signals regiment. [They were] being kept out of the way of the UN Commission. The GOC of one of the Pakistani divisions involved in Kashmir was British. Majority of British officers can not avoid having something to do with Kashmir.
1
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2 British officers went into Kashmir. General Gracey has acted either wrongly or unwisely or weakly. He is a servant of the Pakistan government and however much we may dislike the way he goes on, I do not think we can call him to account for these actions. There are many indications that General Gracey has now become more than a 100% Pakistani, and he does not seem to have had the wit to realise the danger of having British officers in Kashmir1. Sir Archibald Carter, Undersecretary in the Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO), London send the above worrying and discomforting missive to his boss, Philip Noel-Baker, Minister for Commonwealth Affairs in the Attlee Government on 27 July 1948. Continuing with the attempt to bring to light hitherto obscure but important personalities related to the Kashmir conflict of 1947-49 to learn more about it from different, unexpected angles, the focus of this piece General Sir Douglas Gracey, Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army from 1948 to 1951.
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As can be seen from the abovewritten quote, Gracey was as visibly loyal to his new masters (to their delight) as to the old (to their discomfort). So much so that his Indian counterpart General Sir Roy Bucher was moved to lament to the Indian Defence Minister Baldev Singh that 'whereas the C-in-C of the Army in India is, so to speak, a very constitutional one, the Cin-C in Pakistan seems to have had far greater powers conferred on him by his government2. Given the history of the role of Pakistan army in the political life of the country, it appears significant to know a bit more about the man who paved the way for the army acquiring political overtones. Gracey was born in 1894. He was commissioned in the British Indian Army in 1914. After serving throughout the sub-continent in various posts, Gracey spent the Second World War fighting in the Middle East and South-east Africa. Upon his return, he was made the GOCin-C, Northern Command in 1946 and then appointed as the Chief of Staff, Pakistan Army (1947-48). Gracey succeeded General Sir Frank Messervy
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EXCLUSIVE sTORIES Forgotten History
as the Commander-in-Chief of Pakistan Army Chief of Staff, Pakistan Army and held the post till 23 January 1951 before making way for Ayub Khan Niazi. He died in 1964. That Gracey was a 'strong, outspoken protagonist' pledged to protect the interest of Pakistan army and involvement of British officers in it was well-known and well-appreciated. Indeed, Pakistan was lucky to have such a committed man at the helm of its military affairs in the crucial early years. Where Gracey regularly overstepped was that there was 'no effect of HMG's delicate position on him' and the British High-Commissioner in Pakistan, Sir Laurence Graffety-Smith – himself loyal to Pakistan – was 'at a loss to suggest effective, secure course of action to ensure Gracey's loyalty3. These are strong words for diplomatic correspondence. And the CRO in London reciprocated them. 6 months after Graffety-Smith had sent the above hapless report to London, Carter compared Gracey unfavourably with Bucher by underlining that 'Bucher has a much more cool, calm and balanced temperament than Gracey, and a much clearer grasp of political issues involved4. A lot has been written about whether, how or to what extent the Pakistan army was involved in the 'Great Raid' of October 1947 on Kashmir. This piece does not intend to enter that territory. It, instead, seeks to bring to light the little known 'British' involvement through the words and deeds of the senior-most British officer of the Pakistan Army. On 28 June 1948, A. H. Reed wrote to Graffety-Smith that '8-12 British officers were serving in Kashmir – in the Signals regiment. [They were] being kept out of the way of the UN Commission. The GOC of one of the Pakistani divisions involved in Kashmir was British. Majority of British officers can not avoid having something to do with Kashmir. A wholesale withdrawal would cause resentment, damage
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British prestige and endanger the Imperial Connection5. Graffety-Smith forwarded this to Carter on 9 July 1948. Then Gracey confirmed to GraffetySmith on 13 July 1948 that 'British officers have at times been into Poonch'. He also gave details of the first British casualty, Major A. M. Sloan, RE (No. 352677 A), 71 Fd Coy RPE who was killed in Tithwal, the northern sector of the line of control, at 0915 hours on Saturday 10 July 1948 and was buried at Abbottabad on Sunday 11 July 19486. Graffety-Smith sent this confirmation to Archibald Carter on 16 July and a worried Attlee Government extracted a pledge from Pakistan the following day that it would withdraw all British officers from Kashmir. This should not have come as a surprise for the CRO had it taken seriously the defiant note struck by Gracey 6 months earlier. On 23 January 1948, Graffety-Smith sent a report of his conversation with Gracey in which the latter had literally thrown the gauntlet at the feet of his civilian masters in London by asserting that 'he and other British officers can not be expected to obey “stand-down” orders which would have grave consequences for British-Pakistan relations. From 31 March 1948, the British soldiers in India would be reduced to an advisory role while in Pakistan they would continue in operational command. In other words, while India can afford to fight with the British know-how, Pakistan can not'. Gracey almost dared London to sack him and others by claiming that 'Pakistan would compensate if HMG stopped the pension of those who disobey “standdown”7. That the High-Commissioner Graffety-Smith knew Gracey's mind and approved of it is clear, too. His deputy C. B. Duke in Rawalpindi sent him an account of his conversation with Gracey on 19 May 1948 (Duke-Gracey conversation had happened the previous day). Gracey had informed Duke that '3 brigades were in position on the west Punjab side; 3 battalions had so far gone in with two mountain guns
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for basically protecting Uri-MirpurPoonch countryside, avoid mass exodus of Muslim refugees and protect the Mangla waterworks'. Further he told him that 'he knew in fact that 1-2 British officers had been fighting in Kashmir and of course they were employed in planning and organizing resistance'. And yet, a week later on 26 May 1948, Gracey lied through his teeth to Roy Bucher that the story of 3 Pakistani battalions in Kashmir was 'nonsense8. Gracey and Bucher were in regular touch throughout the conflict and a couple of letters from the former to the latter illuminate the personality and character of Gracey. On 30 August 1948, Gracey wrote a remarkably frank, florid and threatening letter to Bucher which is worth quoting at length to show the heightened passions of the former: 'You groused that we had not told you categorically that Pakistan regular troops would be sent in if you carried out the much-heralded [spring] offensive. I did, insofar, as I could. Now let me tell you categorically that unless you lay off Hyderabad and treat her magnanimously, you are inviting a conflagration which no one will be able to put out. The curse of the matter again is the attitude of the tribesmen and the man in the street. They are being inflamed by their mullahs to take direct action and if you think the Pakistan government will be able to stop them with the very small army it has, then for God's sake think again. I would remind you again that there are NO plans whatsoever for aggressing or attacking anyone, much less India. All our plans are purely defensive. We have not the troops or police to stop major Pathan incursions or upsurges of further resentment amongst the civilian population, and rely on two things to keep them quiet, namely, political action, not backed by any force at present; and India's good sense in not doing anything provocative. Why can not the Government of India realise all this and be magnanimous as regards Hyderabad? Call of the blockade, extend the stand-still agreement and go
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EXCLUSIVE sTORIES Forgotten History
back to the original proposals. It would be an act of statesmanship which would have the most marvelous results in Pakistan, and be acclaimed throughout the world. If no conciliatory statesmanship is shown and coercive methods and continued, you are again putting Pakistan into an impossible position9. On 30 October 1948, Gracey wrote Bucher another letter which was even more rude, intemperate, undiplomatic, accusatory and almost hysterical in its tone and content: 'What [is] all this expansion [of the Indian Army] about and why; of whom are you so afraid? Why so many B-245s; why so much armament production? Has the mantle of Tojo fallen upon Nehru and is a Greater East Asia sphere, as visualised by the Japs, being reconstituted? If you have decided not to send us any more stores, why not come clean and say so? Have you a guilty conscience by any chance? When you do eventually chuck your present job, it would be nice if you and Maureen could come and take a look at this very peaceful country, look over the hill and see what Indian propaganda has turned from a really delightful country into a maelstrom of barbarism10. Who was engaged in what propaganda became as clear as it could possibly be when on 22 August 1948 Indian troops captured a Pakistani soldier – Fateh Mohammed – from village Kundi in the Uri sector. Mohammed had been a waiter in the Royal Indian Air Force mess in Burma from 1942 to 1946. Post-partition, he had served with the 'Azad Kashmir' Forces from October 1947 to April 1948 and since then he had been serving with 1/1 Punjab Regiment. Mohammed informed the Indians that about 15 officers of the Pakistan army were directing operations in Kashmir. Out of which – startlingly – 12 were British and only 3 Pakistanis. The 1 Frontier Force was operating in Kashmir with rifles, 4 machine guns, 7 3-inch mortars, 3 anti-aircraft guns and 2 3.7 howitzers. Among the British officers he named were Lt. Col. Williams, Major
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Jorie, Major Frier, Major Jones and Captain Ripps. He also revealed that in the Chanari-Pandu-Chakothi subsectors, about 1000 Pakistani regular soldiers were fighting led by Karim Khan who was the Commander of the raiding Pathans. Among other names he took were Sepoys Ayub Khan and Mohammad Yusuf and Naik Aslam. British HighCommissioner in New Delhi duly submitted these details back to London on 6 September 194811. Deeply concerned about shepherding the Pakistan army through its early years, General Douglas Gracey wanted to continue till 1953 but had to relinquish his post two years earlier on 23 January 1951 bowing down to the rising chorus for 'nationalisation' of the army to which the Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, had to acquiesce. All the 'favourite bets' to succeed Gracey – Major General Raza, the Adjutant General; Iftikar-ud-Din, Cdr. 10 Div. and Nazir Ahmad, Cdr. 9 Div12 – were piped to the post by General Ayub Khan. Gracey was far from being the 'moderating influence' that the CRO half-hoped him to be. He along with Laurence Graffety-Smith, in fact, emerged as the lynchpin of the Pakistani official understanding and efforts in the conflict of 47-49. It is puzzling as to how subsequent history-writing on Kashmir has bypassed him when Josef Korbel, in his 1954 book Danger in Kashmir, gave ample space to the scarcely-suppressed feelings of Gracey. Appearing before the UNCIP in August 1948, Gracey had made a lengthy presentation in which he pointed out that any Indian presence in Kashmir – in particular the entire northwest arc from Gilgit via Muzaffarabad to Mirpur – was unacceptable to Pakistan as it 'would have established a physical link with the leaders of the anti-Pakistan movement for independent Pathanistan…opened the opportunity for a pincers movement against Pakistan by India and Afghanistan, the latter having shown a suspicious interest in the Pathan movement'. Further, it would have meant
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facing 'the Indian army on the long Pakistan border within 30 miles of strategic railway leading from Peshawar through West Punjab to Lahore…Occupation of Bhimber and Mirpur will give India the strategic advantage of…sitting on our doorsteps, threatening the Jhelum bridge which is so vital for us. It will also give them control of the Mangla headworks placing the irrigation in Jhelum and other districts at their mercy…Furthermore, loss of Muzaffarabad-Kohala would have the most far-reaching effect on the security of Pakistan. It would enable the Indian Army to secure the rear gateway to Pakistan through which it can march in any time it wishes…It will encourage subversive elements such as Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan and his party, Ipi and Afghanistan. If Pakistan is not to face another serious refugee problem…if civilian and military morale is not to be affected to a dangerous extent; and if subversive political forces are not to be encouraged and let loose in Pakistan itself it is imperative that the Indian army is not allowed to advance beyond the general line Uri-PoonchNaoshera13. The LoC then owes its existence and form more to the passion of Gracey and his associates than to the politics of Nehru and Liaquat. 1 27.7.48, Carter to Noel-Baker, DO 142/429, The National Archives (TNA) 2 29.11.48, Bucher to Baldev Singh, DO No. 6/Cin-C, File No. 7901-87-6-2, Bucher Papers, National Army Museum (NAM) 3 23.6.48, Graffety-Smith to Carter, S/41, DO 133/80, TNA 4 30.12.48, Carter to Graffety-Smith, DO 134/5, TNA 5 28.6.48, Reed to CRO, PIN/21/48 & S/24, DO 134/5, TNA 6 13.7.48, Gracey to Graffety-Smith, DO 134/5, TNA 7 23.1.48, Graffety-Smith to CRO, T. No. 88, DO 134/5, TNA 8 19.5.48, Duke to Graffety-Smith, TS/894/48, DO 133/79, TNA 9 30.8.48, Gracey to Bucher (DO No. 008/4/C-inC), Bucher Papers, NAM 10 30.10.48, Gracey to Bucher, File No. 7901-876-2, Bucher Papers, NAM 11 6.9.48, From Delhi to London, T. No. 3080, DO 133/81, TNA 12 14.6.49, A. H. Reed (Rawalpindi) to S. J. L. Oliver (Karachi), PIN/20/49f, DO 134/6, TNA 13 Quoted in Josef Korbel, Danger in Kashmir (Princeton: PUP, 1954) pp. 138-9
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FEATURES
Voices from Women
Put Kashmir in your Dream... MANISHA SOBHRAJANI
E
ach night put Kashmir in your dreams, said Agha Shahid Ali. Working in Jammu & Kashmir, I had begun doing that - quite unconsciously - much before I came across this line. I have a captivating collection of memories from all my visits to the region, and they have played themselves over each night in my dreams in many different forms. Some of them are pleasant recollections, some very dark reminders of the trauma that Kashmiri women and men go through on a daily basis. The ones I hold closest to my heart are the ones which have come to me as a result of working closely with the women of Kashmir. This feature is largely footnoted to all those women with whom I've had the privilege to interact and strengthen my relationship with Kashmir. I wish to share some of my memories with you... On my very first visit to the Valley, during an interaction with a group of women termed 'half-widows' – women whose husbands are not officially declared dead, but termed 'missing' from Dardpora, it was difficult to fathom how a man could suddenly 'disappear'. Of course things have become clear now, after several years and several meetings with women whose men – husbands and/ or sons – have 'disappeared'. But that first time was numbing, to say the least. As I was talking to the group, one of the women took me aside, and putting my hand inside her phiran, she told me she had
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no breasts as the militants had simply chopped them off! Amongst this group of women from Dardpora was Rafiqa, a woman in her mid-twenties, and she looked stunningly beautiful in her salwarkameez detailed with Kashmiri embroidery. I can recall every detail of my conversation with an eager-to-talk Rafiqa even to this day. She told me how her husband was picked and taken away, never to return. She was left behind with two children, below five years of age, and haunting memories of her husband. Her in-laws turned her away from their house, and other men in the village harassed her day and night. She
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On my very first visit to the Valley, during an interaction with a group of women termed 'halfwidows' – women whose husbands are not officially declared dead, but termed 'missing' - from Dardpora, it was difficult to fathom how a man could suddenly 'disappear'.
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FEATURES Voices from Women
did not want to burden her parents, but had no choice but to return to their house. I happened to meet Rafiqa in Dardpora five years after that first meeting. She seemed visibly aged, but still stunning, and much more in control of her life. Who can guess how she must have toiled and fretted over rebuilding her life, bit by bit. She seemed reluctant to talk about it. In Surankote, after a tiring day researching the nuances of the first all women's Village Defence Committee (VDC) in Kulali, the officer who was accompanying me took me to a waterfall named Noor-e-Cham where Empress Noor Jehan is supposed to have bathed. While the officer told me about Noor Jehan, my mind wandered to some of the conversations I had earlier in the day with members of the women's VDC. Safia Begum, one of the elderly women in the group, was surprised I had taken the trouble of coming to Kulali all the way from Delhi simply to talk to the women just because they could all use pistols and rifles! Muneera, a young girl of the VDC, simplified things for me: 'If your house is attacked by burglars one night, wouldn't you try to thwart the effort... call the police, shout for neighbours... That's what we did. When the militants attacked, we simply picked up the gun and fired. And before we knew it, all the women in the village could do it!’ Lately, I visited Kheer Bhavani with a friend. This temple dedicated to the goddess Ragnya Devi (who has many other names as well) is located in village Tula Mula, ahead of Srinagar city. Legend has it that the colours of the waters surrounding the little goddess are a prediction of the times to come. My friend and I joined the many Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs in trying to please the goddess with offerings and prayers. During a trip to Jammu, I happened to go to Baba Buddan Shah's ziyarat, again accompanied by another friend. We joined the many Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs simultaneously seeking blessings at the holy shrine. These two visits – the first to a Hindu temple in Muslimmajority Valley, and the second to a Sufi shrine in Hindumajority Jammu - changed the whole connotation of the term 'inter-faith' for me. It reminded me of a time when I was a part of a team that organised an inter-faith workshop for participants from J&K, in Delhi. As a diverse group, we visited many different places of worship, and had a lovely time together. I was recently reminded of this group as I was watching the film Kurbaan: a Saif Ali Khan-Kareena Kapoor starrer that portrays Muslims in a very stereotypical fashion. More specifically, it places Muslim women in an even more typical fashion where they simply toe the line of their men. I wondered aloud with a friend and colleague if we wouldn't be too embarrassed to watch the film with any of our Kashmiri
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friends, particularly the women! Kashmiri women have not just negotiated space for themselves amidst the trauma and turmoil of the political conflict between India and Pakistan, but they have also held their places firmly for their men. They have supported the 'azaadi' sentiment, fought for their place under the sun, protested and demonstrated in rallies while seeking justice for their menfolk, and provided a motherly haven to their children. If Agha Shahid Ali could read this feature, he would know I took his words very seriously.
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Attention : Proprietors of Banquet Halls All the proprietors of Banquet Halls in Jammu province are informed to establish/operate their banquet halls only after obtaining to Establish or Operate, as the case may be, from the SPCB, as warranted under section 25 and 21 of the water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 and Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 respectively. Those, who have not applied for above stated consent (permission) of the Board, must do so within a period of 15 days from the publication of this notice, failing which closure proceedings against defaulting banquet halls shall be initiated as warranted under law. No. : DIP/J-1120-P Dt : 10/12/2009
Sd/Regional Director SPCB Jammu
Have you borrowed a book from public library long back and forgot to return ?
Return it without further delay Public libraries help people acquire knowledge. Ensure that you do not stand in the way of someone else seeking knowledge. Please cooperate with the Department of Libraries by returning long outstanding books within 15 days. Save yourself the embarrassment of public display of your name with address as a defaulter and consequent action under rules. Director Libraries & Research, J&K No. : DIP/J-6063/2009
Dated : 19-12-2009
J&K TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION The Garden Restaurant
Zaiq a
At Tourist Reception Centre, Residency Road Jammu JAMMU & KASHMIR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
JAMMU & KASHMIR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
Special Honeymoon Packages 4 Nights 5 Days Rs 18899 per couple (on CP plan)
Katra & Patnitop Package* 4 Nights 5 Days Rs. 16899 per couple
l 3 nights at Cheshmashahi (Cottages) l 1 Night at Gulmarg (Cottage) l Sightseeng to Mughal Gardens l Transport by Qualis/Scorpio l Additional night/nights on pro-rata basis
(on CP plan)
? 1 Night at Katra (Tourist Bungalow) ? 2 Nights at Patnitop (Cottage / Tourist Bungalow) ? 1 Night at Jammu 9 deluxe Room ? Local Sightseeing in Jammu ? Transport by Qualis, Scropio ? Additional night/nights on pro-rata basis
What better way to start your new life than with a visit to Mata Vaishno Devi. You can then proceed to nearby Patnitop, one of Jammu’s most beautiful spots. Round off with a beautiful day in Jammu.
FOR INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT
JKTDC TRAVEL DIVISION
There is no better place to commence your new journey in life than Kashmir. Paradise on earth, offering you romantic environs of the Dal Lake and Mughal Gardens, pristine sojourns at Cheshmashahi and Gulmarg. “Ex Srinagar
ULTIMATE DESTINATIONS
CHESHMASHAHI & GULMARG FOR MEMORABLE HONEYMOON
The Cheshmashahi bhut are laid in the surrounding of garden built by Ali
Kashmir : TEL : +91 194 2480638 / 2457927 / 2457930 Jammu : TEL : +91 191 2549065, 2579554, 94192 12451
mail : info@jktdc.co.in www.jktdc.co.in
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A land of varied attractions, Jammu has a surprise waiting for you at every corner. Savour the excitement at your own pace
Patntiop 87 Kms from Katra Krimchi 55 Kms. from Katra
Mansar Lake 18 Kms. from Jammu Pathankot NH
Shiv Khori 78 Kms from Katra
Ancient temples | Abodes of Gods & Goddess | Natural Caves | Forts & Palaces | Charming Meadows | Picturesque Plateau | Thickly Wooded Forests | Deep River Valleys | Nature’s Beauty | Heritage | Lakes of Blessings | Exclusive Hill Station - Patnitop
IN TOUCH WITH THE DIVINE
For further information, contact or write to: Government of J&K, J&K Tourism Offices at : • Jammu : Tel : 0191-2548172, Fax : 2548358 • Srinagar : Tel : 0194-2472449, 2452690-91, Fax : 2452361 • New Delhi : Tel : 011-23714948, Fax : 23714947 • Mumbai : Tel : 022-22189040 • Kolkata : Tel/Fax : 033-22285791 • Chennai : Tel./Fax : 044-28340958 • Ahmedabad : Tel./Fax : 079-25503551 • Hyderabad : Tel./Fax : 04024734806 •Visit us at www.jktourism.org. Email : jkdtourism@yahoo.co.in