India Matters: Kashmir - Behind The Rage

Srinagar: On the fifth Friday after the Kashmir Valley erupted in the wake of Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Burhan Wani's killing, as Delhi finally saw a huddle of politicians across parties to find a way out of the current crisis, Srinagar remained shut. The pellet gun that's injured many protesters still receiving treatment in the city's hospitals has become a metaphor for both - India's military presence, and Srinagar and Delhi's poor management of the spiraling crisis.

For five weeks now if not the curfew, then the separatists strike has crippled daily life. Shops, offices and schools are shut, essential commodities are in short supply, mobile and internet communication is restricted, and security forces - mainly the Central Reserve Police Force or CRPF and the Jammu and Kashmir police - have been on edge, never knowing when they will be confronted by an angry mob of young men, and some women - displaying indescribable rage. Every civilian casualty - connected to the protests or not - has become a lightning rod. Worse, and perhaps this makes it different from protests in 2008 and 2010 - the national media has become the enemy, making it next to impossible for us to visit neighbourhoods that have seen clashes, with our cameras.

The Prime Minister recently made an appeal to the youth of Kashmir to trade in their stones for laptops, to trade in protests for jobs and education. But which youth was the PM referring to? Was it the angry teenager who confronted our vehicle in Srinagar's Rainawari with a brick in his hand as we tried to enter unsuccessfully? Or the young men and women who sat recently, amidst curfew, for common entrance tests? Samir Bhat, who teaches Political Science at Kashmir's Central University advises us against conflating the two. "It is not like those who appear in IAS or other competitive exams don't have any political aspirations," he says. Referring to India's freedom struggle, Mr Bhat adds "if you see India's independence, all those people who were fighting for India's freedom were going abroad for their education."

Posters that look like they have been designed in Braille are strung along the balcony of a small flat in Amira Kadal. Their message is in the design - braille for those who have been blinded in these protests. Khurram Pervez, who runs the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition for Civil Society from here, says the unbridled anger on the street is evidence of the fact that people aren't afraid anymore. "Fear is decreasing because it has been overused by India in Kashmir," he says and cautions of things getting "more lethal" as simmering rage boils over with each passing cycle of violence. Civil Society Activist, Hameeda Nayeem, whose husband is one of the Hurriyat leaders under house arrest, says the union government's delay in acknowledging casualties is an indication to Kashmiris that "we are not integral to India, but the enemy."

If most of Srinagar is in lock down mode, five weeks after the terrorist killing that triggered off mass unrest, stepping outside the city is even tougher. Pantha Chowk, which leads to the highway, is a de facto border between the summer capital and the badlands of south Kashmir. In areas around Kulgam and Anantnag, armed terrorists brazenly attend public rallies, and the writ of the state has little or no effect. For a politician who premised her career on the slogans of self-rule and healing touch, this is an early and tough challenge to her leadership. Ms Nayeem says "Mehbooba Mufti no longer has legitimacy before her people. Her promise of fighting for self-rule was a toy. Since they came into an alliance with the BJP, they have forgotten all that."

The political blame game between the PDP and the National Conference is on widescreen for anyone to see. As the PDP defends its alliance with the BJP, the former separatist, now the PDP's alliance partner Sajjad Lone, says "this is essentially a problem on which the Indian government has to take a call. The state government's powers are limited." Fending off attack over the public perception that the alliance with the BJP was a sellout on the idea of self-rule, Mr Lone lashes out at the National Conference and the Congress. "The Congress has been in power for five decades. This problem can be traced back to them. What about 2008 and 2010? They were at the helm of their power in Srinagar and in Delhi."

Mr Lone's defense is as sad as it is cynical. Former chief minister, now opposition leader Omar Abdullah says his party - the National Conference - is being consumed by the same flames as the PDP. "It is foolish and short sighted to believe that the National Conference is gaining from this. This is not a normal state where if the Congress's graph goes down then the BJP's graph goes up. Here the only graph that goes up is the separatist graph."

From all accounts, though, the protests are leaderless and the Hurriyat's relevance is in question. Their calls to relax the strike for a few hours are met with resistance by protesters. For the better part of the last five weeks, Hurriyat leaders have been under house arrest, detained or placed in preventive custody, their only means of staying in the game is the weekly calendar of protests that are still issued by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference or APHC.

Political commentator Siddiq Wahid says the need for a re-opening of dialogue is urgent, but the club can't be exclusive. "There has been a hardening of positions based on Delhi's shifting its definition of nationalism," he says. But Mr Wahid also insists Kashmir is not "bereft of people who can talk. Call it the Hurriyat or call it the group of young from where leadership can be thrown, or even a coalescence between establishment parties, the Hurriyat and the young" - if such a thing is possible.

From Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's promise of finding a solution "Insaniyat key daayrey mein" to a 2012 report by government appointed interlocutors asking the centre to review the military's role and genuinely address human rights violations, most agree that the story of Kashmir is a haunting lament of squandered opportunities. Former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief AS Dulat who was a key player in Prime Minister Vajpayee's Kashmir policy warns Delhi of repeating an old mistake - that of assuming a lack of violent conflict in Kashmir is the same as peace, every time. "The status quo doesn't favour us. When the going is good, you need to capitalise, but we just sit on it." As Delhi points the finger of blame for fanning the flames squarely at Islamabad, Mr Dulat adds "Pakistan just wanted a small opening. It took them two-three days to find it, but now they are back to calling the shots."

In parliament, the home minister said Delhi was willing to engage in dialogue with all moderates, and today, Prime Minister Modi told those who attended the all-party meeting that winning the hearts and minds of Kashmiri people is imperative, but without any compromise on national security. But with the chief minister's credibility low and the National Conference out of favour, the question is what's on offer even when they do talk, and who they should talk to. While Delhi justifiably points the finger of blame at Pakistan for stirring trouble further, the need of the hour is dialogue with the people of Kashmir.

Prime Minister Modi may well have promised to walk on his predecessor Atal Bihari Vajpayee's path to peace in Kashmir. But in the framework of Insaniyat, Jamhooriyat and Kashmiriyat that he spoke about, Delhi seems to be left with limited choices: either to finally do what it has so far resisted and speak to all sections of Kashmiri society including the separatists; or honestly engage with Kashmir's mainstream parties on their promises of autonomy and self-rule to the people, and make them credible to their electorate again. Perhaps the time has come to give a little and in turn, gain some peace.