The veneer of peace in Kashmir may crumble again this spring with another bloodier uprising, hinted at by several legislators in the J&K Assembly and endorsed by an internal J&K police report.
The J&K police has prepared a report, warning about the possibility of a ‘more dangerous repetition of 2016’ after March and highlighted the ‘lack of the preparedness to handle such crisis on part of the civil administration and police’.
Director General of the J&K police SP Vaid confirmed that there were reports of ‘possible unrest after March’ but maintained that police was ready to handle any ‘law and order’ situation, adding that Hurriyat leaders who lead such agitations were to be ‘squarely blamed’ for the consequences.
The rumour that ‘something might happen in March’ has once again gained currency in Kashmir, as was the case last year, when drawing room discussions and market buzz pointed to something might happen after Eid in July, when Hizb-ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani along with two of his colleagues were killed in an encounter. The killings triggered five-month long protests, during which more than 95 civilians were killed, around 13,000 injured including more than 1200 sustaining eye injuries and nearly 12000 were detained.
The report submitted to the chief minister’s office in January sees joint Hurriyat leadership of Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umer and Yasin Malik as a ‘threat to peace’ and their ‘unification on Pakistan’s insistence a trouble’.
“The mass contact programme of Hurriyat leaders and their meetings with their small constituents are a matter of concern. And by reaching out to victims of the 2016 unrest, they are reaching out to the common man and thus preparing the ground for another unrest,” the report said.
The report talks of ‘lack of development on ground, which further angers the common man’ while referring to a separate dossier on drudging of river Jehlum after the 2014 floods, promised by the government and having done nothing for two years now.
“What is the government doing to allay fears of the population? Government’s image has taken a beating,” a senior police official told ET.
Earlier during the assembly session, many Opposition legislatures lashed out at the government for pushing people to another unrest. From abrogation of Article 370 to settlement of West Pakistan Refugees in Jammu and exclusive settlements for return of Kashmiri Pandits, the Opposition cautioned of massive reaction in the Valley and other regions
“I am warning that next summer unrest would be more severe, extreme and bloodier. Kashmir is sitting on a powder keg,” former BJP minister and independent MLA Pawan Gupta told the assembly.
The report said the administration would be caught napping because of lack of training to handle protests by the police and paramilitary forces. “Police and paramilitary have not been trained to handle angry people. We have stopped such training since the aftermath of Afzal Guru hanging,” said the report.
