The imperatives in Kashmir

THE KILLING OF 15 innocent persons, including seven children, in Rajouri district on February 9/10 night is perhaps the most heinous of the attacks mounted by the jehadi militant groups in the Jammu region over the past two months and more since the Government of India's unilateral ceasefire came into operation. Earlier in the day and elsewhere in Srinagar, a four-member squad had stormed the control room of the police headquarters and the encounter left nine police officials and two armed assailants dead. To say that the Rajouri carnage and the Srinagar incident were a part of the pro-Pakistani pan-Islamic outfits' grand design to sabotage the peace initiative is to stress the obvious. The targets they pick - security personnel, members of the special police force involved in anti-insurgency operations and village defence committee members or their families (as in Rajouri), besides the symbols of Governmental authority - are intended to underline that they are the ones who call the shots and therefore can strike at will. Second, that they are determined to frustrate the ongoing, as yet incipient - and vague - peace process and, in pursuance of that objective, will continue to provoke the Government into calling off the ceasefire. The February 3 episode in Srinagar, which accounted for the death of six persons belonging to the Sikh community, was predictably seen as reinforcing, post the Chattisinghpora massacre (March 2000), a sinister aspect of the `jehadi' elements' gameplan - to `cleanse' the Valley of minority religious groups by generating panic among them through periodic killings. It was just as well that the Centre, even if it be under pressure from the Akali Dal - a partner in the ruling NDA - got a plan of action worked out in consultation with the Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, for beefing up the Sikhs-specific security arrangement; its adequacy and effectiveness on the ground, of course, remain to be tested.

The spate of killings by the foreign-based militant outfits, quite a few of which have right from the beginning made their intention clear, has undoubtedly brought the ceasefire under tremendous pressure and the chances of this easing are obviously not particularly bright. Needless to say that it is imperative for the administration and the security agencies to identify the weak spots in the security framework and remove them forthwith. At the same time, it needs to be remembered that ceasefire - an undoubtedly laudable initiative by India - is not an end in itself but only a step in the search for a political solution and must be backed by appropriate follow-up moves, both political and strategic. This is precisely where the NDA regime seems to be floundering. Take for instance the question of a Hurriyat delegation's visit to Pakistan. Having gone along with, if not actively promoted, the unexceptionable idea of letting a Hurriyat team interact with the leaders of the various `jehadi' outfits as also the Pakistan Government, it makes little political or diplomatic sense to stall the initiative by not clearing the travel documents for the reason that the proposed five-member squad included Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a diehard exponent of merger with Pakistan. And this, despite the Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee's declaration in his Kerala musings that the Government ``shall not traverse solely on the beaten track of the past''. Given that the stated mission of the Hurriyat is to explore ways of strengthening the peace process, it is only fair that the team should be given the chance to undertake the trip. Noteworthy in the context of the Hurriyat's consensually positive approach is the JKLF chairman, Mr. Yaseen Malik's passionate plea against `Sikh migration' out of the State in the wake of perceived insecurity.

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