|
Paddar
case & peace prospects in Kashmir
M.P. Bhandara
 ONCE
in a while the humblest of the earth shake the ground below. And in
the instant case, the man himself is four feet under. A poor
Kashmiri carpenter Abdul Rehman Paddar had paid a bribe of Rs 75,000
to get some kind of police job in Indian held Kashmir (IHK).
The bribe-taking policeman was unable to provide the job or return
the money and so in cohorts with his superiors had him arrested,
declared a terrorist and brutally murdered. A wild crowd of
Kashmiris chanting anti-Indian slogans had the body exhumed,
identified and proved to be yet another victim of a fake encounter
with the security forces. Kashmir is a killing field for anyone
labelled a ‘terrorist’ – real or imagined.
According to The Hindu, one of the most respected newspapers in
India, at least five ‘terrorist’ encounters in recent months were
engineered by rogue elements in the army and police to earn rewards
and out of turn promotions for their anti-terrorist patriotism. Any
journalist in Delhi closely involved in watching the Kashmir
situation will concede that these five murders are but the tip of
the ice-berg. More often than not innocents are dragooned into
torture camps to end up as dead bodies or deranged humans. Indian
journalist, Humra Quraishi, who made an extensive survey of human
rights situation in Kashmir, writes in ‘Kashmir, the untold story’:-
“……The most widespread and disturbing sign of the decay in Kashmir
today is the vast number of psychologically disturbed people.
Medecins Sans Frontieres says, ‘The violence in one way or the other
has touched each family living in Kashmir and this is having a
profound effect on the overall wellbeing of people here’. According
to psychiatrists working in the Valley, 90 per cent of the
population is emotionally disturbed …..”
The Paddar story widely reported in the Indian press has served as
an eye-opener. The public has been told for decades that all
terrorism in Kashmir has a Pakistan (read ISI) origin, may well have
second thoughts. If Mr. Paddar’s sons or relatives resort to
terrorism to avenge, would it not be a natural reaction? The
over-kill of the state terror is the root cause of the insurgency in
Kashmir since the 1989. Retaliation is but human. The recent
declaration of Mir Waiz of Kashmir to lay down arms has met with a
mixed reaction in the valley. It might have been wiser if he had
also called for a suspension of the anti-terrorist laws as well.
Whether terror strikes in Mumbai or Assam, Pakistan is invariably
put in the dock by a public opinion so conditioned over the years.
Since India presumes to be judge and the jury in each such case,
Pakistan has become India’s whipping boy. A joint security
commission to investigate allegations of state or non-state actors
involved in terrorism was agreed upon in Havana last September. This
would no doubt be a step in the right direction and the first
meeting is due next month. This agreement has been much criticised
in Indian power corridors; it is far easier to make an
unsubstantiated charge and get away with it than to prove the
allegation.
By sheer coincidence, the ‘nonviolent’ glitterati of the world,
including an impressive ‘peace-loving’ delegation from Pakistan,
were commemorating Mahatma Gandhi’s satyagraha at his cemetery when
the Paddar story blew up.
Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa called on the world
community to impress the Burmese junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi
from house arrest. But, no one at this august gathering had the
courage to condemn Paddar’s murder and the five other recent cases
of a like nature, or the thousands of innocent men and women killed,
maimed and turned mentally deranged by the Indian security forces in
Kashmir in recent years. The images of Gandhi in India like that of
Jinnah in Pakistan are no more than currency note decorations.
Custodial deaths of terrorists also occur in Pakistan! The
difference is that terrorism in IHK or India affects India-Pakistan
relation. Custodial deaths in Pakistan mainly arise from sectarian
or anti-West terrorism, which does not affect the sub-continental
equation. It is regrettable that torture is widely used in both
countries.
The four point Kashmir proposals of President Musharraf took the
Indian establishment by complete surprise. A senior Indian
journalist said, “Any proposal not bearing the stamp ‘Made in India’
is likely to fare badly”. India, being the regional hegemon in South
Asia, New Delhi is likely
 to come up with a ‘Made in India’
prescription. Any form of joint management is likely to be rejected
in this formulation.
Apparently, the Musharraf proposals are not correctly known in
political circles. Mr. I.K. Gujral thought that the proposals sought
to divide the state on communal lines. They do not. Not surprisingly
Mr L.K. Advani thought that the central issue was the old bug bear:
“terrorism”. The government, he said, was not keeping the opposition
adequately informed on negotiations with Pakistan. The lawyer Ram
Jethmalani, who concerns himself with Kashmir affairs, had a
distorted view of the Musharraf proposals when explained his
negative views except on joint management.
A senior journalist remarked that since both Kashmirs were
financially insolvent, if autonomy ever arrives, ‘it will merely
substitute physical controls for fiscal ones’. Autonomy is likely to
be paper thin. Will ‘moth-eaten’ autonomy be acceptable to the
valley Kashmiris?
India today is shining from Davos to Delhi. Globalisation has
created millions of new jobs and created an unbounded confidence. In
the current fiscal year, it hopes to achieve the Chinese growth rate
of nearly 10 per cent. Indian pharmaceuticals are the low-cost
wonder for the world’s poor. The generic form of a medicine
regularly used by this writer was available at Rs.180 (Indian) as
against Rs.3,000 in Islamabad, imported from the UK. This is one
area of trade Pakistan should open up forthwith. Quality English
newspapers still sell at Rs.2.50. The New Delhi sub-way is the
latest ‘shining’ symbol. It is clean, efficient and low-cost.
Will India’s meteoric rise in the last decade or so give it the
self-confidence to take a mature, large-hearted view in dealing with
its neighbours? People like Manmohan Singh and Vajpayee might have
such a vision, but, the search for a consensus (particularly with
the military) bogs it down. A leap of faith is required such as
Nixon’s vision in opening up to China or Roosevelt’s pressure on
Churchill to free British India.
The Musharraf proposals do constitute a leap of faith -- this is
recognised by all politicians and journalists in India. An important
player in any rapprochement may well be the charismatic but
open-minded, Lal Krishna Advani. As leader of the opposition in the
Lok Sabha, the government will need his support on this.
The issue that seems to bother the Indians is the alleged shelter
given to terrorist organizations in Pakistan. Little do they realize
that the same groups that they point a finger at have been involved
in assassination plots aimed at the president and prime minister of
Pakistan.
What is the difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist?
The freedom fighter is politically motivated while the terrorist is
not. He is a braver person than the terrorist being at the receiving
end of state terror without any protection. Terrorism in Kashmir has
prevented civil society there from playing its due role in the
state. Terror rejects the inevitable compromises of civil society,
and state terror makes no distinction between the freedom fighter
and the terrorist. Thus, the genuine freedom fighter in Kashmir is
crushed between the hammer of the state and the anvil of the
terrorist.
If Musharrafian autonomy in Kashmir can reduce the violence, civil
society in the valley can restore the political balance. Autonomy is
a means to an end -- not an end in itself.
(The writer is a member of the Pakistan National Assembly, the
federal Parliament. The article, initially published in Pakistan
media, has triggered much debate in the subcontinent.)
21 February 2007
|
Read Also