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November 24, 2010 |  | By Col Anil Bhat (Retd) | ||
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During the recent visit of Barack Obama to India, Omar Abdullah was the only state Chief Minister to be invited to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s dinner for the visiting dignitary. Whatever may have been discussed, the fact remains that in all of Obama’s speeches in India, there was a reasonably strong reference to Pakistan and terrorist groups there, but not a word on ‘Kashmir’. Shortly before Obama’s visit, Omar Abdullah had begun a repeat of his ‘remove AFSPA’ chant and continued the same during the former’s short stay in India, hoping to attract enough attention to elicit a reaction. The chief minister and the separatists will be well advised to introspect on the dynamics of the progressing India-US relationship and the kind of role Pakistan is playing in Afghanistan with the US . They must remember how badly Kashmir Valley suffered for at least a decade and a half at the hands of terrorists inducted by Pakistan’s military, which is again trying all out to drag this region back to the brink of conflict. People of the Valley must not allow themselves to be duped by separatists about US assistance in resolving the India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir. There are, after all, many issues the US has to deal with both countries separately and at different levels. Omar must also note what happened in Manipur after its Chief Minister decided to arbitrarily remove AFSPA from parts of the state in 2004.Following the prolonged protest on Thangjam Manorama’s killing in August 2004, the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958 was lifted from Imphal’s municipal zone of four districts and the Army withdrawn. However, Manipur Police’s special force, the Manipur Police Commandos (MPC), who replaced the Army in Imphal East, Imphal West, Thoubal and Bishnupur became notorious for extra-judicial killings, and, in particular, fake encounters. In 2008, there were 27 recorded cases of torture and killing attributed to the MPC. Whereas earlier, they conducted ‘encounters’ in isolated places, they soon began doing so in towns and cities, in broad daylight. One example is the killing of Chungkham Sanjit. Photographs of the alleged ‘encounter’ by a local lensman and published in a tabloid clearly revealed that contrary to the official version, Sanjit was standing calmly as the police commandos frisked him, spoke to him, took him inside the storeroom of a pharmacy, shot him and brought his dead body out. While photographs of this ‘encounter’ embarrassed the Okram Ibobi government, it never stopped Manipur Police ‘commandos’ from repeating such acts. During that period, terrorists in Manipur made at least three attempts against Ibobi, including two at his residence and at least two attempts on Manipur’s police complexes. That is not all. In September 2009, a Maruti car loaded with explosives was detected in the Raj Bhavan complex, and this, when the Governor Gurbachan Jagat was in residence.In August 2009, both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram expressed alarm on the declining law and order situation in Manipur. Chidambaram has also said that Manipur remains a major stumbling block for improving the North eastern region. Getting back to the Kashmir Valley, one of the major causes of the three-month stone pelting ordeal may be traced back to the increased presence of terrorists, whose steady re-induction into the Valley succeeded owing to the Centre’s decision to reduce the Army’s presence over the period of 2004-2006. Thus, removal of AFSPA from even parts of the Valley will only lead to strengthening the hands of Pakistani terrorist groups such as Lashkar e Tayyaba and Jaish e Mohammad, which amount to at least 45% of the over 500 currently active. The remaining 55% comprising of Kashmiri Hizbul Mujahideen have been re-activated over the past two years, after the Amarnath land agitation. Even talk of removal of AFSPA adds considerably to the motivation of these groups. Some senior Kashmiri journalists have said that Omar Abdullah’s current cry for removal of AFSPA is manly to hide his own ineffectiveness. These commentators also maintain that confidence building measures will only work under a Chief Minister who enjoys the confidence of the people. One such in the Valley is Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rathar. In relation to removal of AFSPA, they pointed out that the Public Safety Act, 1978 promulgated by the J&K government was frightening enough as it allowed arrests without any recourse to bail and trial for long periods, almost amounting to locking suspects and ‘throwing away the key’. If he is slated or fated to stay on, he must concentrate on governance, consolidating the situation in Kashmir Valley and trying to maintain peace. He must not delude the people of the State with talk of removing AFSPA raise unfounded expectations based on convenient interpretations of Barack Obama’s quotable quotes during the recent visit. The Chief Minister must stay aware on Pakistan’s agenda in Kashmir, which does not at all bode well for its people. Besides, Omar cannot discount the goodwill of the people of Jammu region which he has enjoyed, even when all over the Valley and many at the Centre have felt he was misgoverning or not governing at all. That support may drop drastically if he continues to pursue or support separatist ideologies. Col Anil Bhat (Retd) is Editor, WordSword Features & Media and a defence analyst based in New Delhi (Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the views either of the Editorial Committee or the Centre for Land Warfare Studies).
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Col Anil Bhat (Retd) |
