Asem Mohiuddin
On July 02, when pictures of the toddler sitting on the chest of his dead grandfather went viral, it hogged the headlines across the world. The pain and agony was unbearable and lots of people seeing the pictures went through severe trauma. The grandfather of toddler fell to the bullets in north Kashmir’s Sopore town when militants attacked the naka party of paramilitary CRPF. The CRPF man was also killed and the Jammu Kashmir police sternly blamed the militants for attack and vowed to avenge. The pictures through the galleries and screens of media outlets of child was played with multiple narratives. And the blame game continued without any conclusion. But that could not balm the cars and trauma the family and the child of victim went through.
On July 09 yet again a gory story of killings surfaced from a town in Bandipora. Wasim Bari, a BJP district president, his father and younger brother were shot dead at his shop outside his home. Police identified two militants responsible for the attack and said the plan was executed by a local militant accompanied by a foreigner. “Both the militants through CCTV footage of local police station have been identified. One is local and he was backed by a foreign militant,” IGP, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said after visiting the family of Bari. Before Bari and the killing of a civilian in Sopore town, a month earlier a Sarpanch in South Kashmir’s Lok Bhawan village was killed by suspected militants.
While the killing of a civilian grandfather and the picture of toddler sitting on his chest got mired in counter-narratives, the killings, however, of political leaders in Kashmir is a reminiscence of the 1990’s when hundreds of mainstream political workers and leaders left the valley following the attacks from militants.
“BJP leader Wasim Bari and his brother and father killed in Bandipore. They were protected by eight commandos; none of them present on spot. Sad. This is reminiscent of National Conference losing workers for almost 20 years – since late 1980s,” posted on his official Facebook page, Zaffar Chowdary, a senior journalist from Jammu.
All the top political leaders including Farooq Abdullah, Ali Mohammad Sagar, Mubarak Gul, Abdul Rahim Rather left the Kashmir with an outbreak of insurgency. The political process for most of the years was missing on ground and the erstwhile state was under Governor’s rule until the Union government held the elections in 1996.
With the beginning of the political process, the situation in Kashmir began to improve and in 2020, the then prime minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee held the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir with massive participation of people. The elections in the recent political history of Union Territory are considered to be the free and fear elections with new political dispensation PDP securing the power.
But the process had not waded away militancy from Kashmir, though it was literally on the back foot with remarkable improvement in the situation. Down the line of 18 years, the political situation in Kashmir is yet again back to square one. Post-August 5, 2019, when the union government unilaterally scrapped provisions of Article 370, all the mainstream and separatist leaders were put behind bars. While a year has passed now, the process is yet to begin.
“The Union government put on hold the political activities in Jammu and Kashmir. After it abrogated Article 370 in Parliament last year and put behind the bars all mainstream leaders, the political situation in union Territory got twisted and shrunk the space for political activities,” said, one of the senior journalists in Kashmir, wishing not to be named.
He blames BJP for the spike in violence and said it’s the decision of security withdrawal of political leaders who have made them soft targets for militants. The Congress Sarpanch Ajay Pandita in Lok Bhawan village of South Kashmir had also appealed for the security cover fearing an attack on his life. However, until he was shot dead on June 11 no security was provided. But Wasim Bari had 10 security men guarding and when he was attacked none was present on the scene.
The services of all the 10 cops were dismissed and taken for investigations. But the political observers fear that the attacks may rise in the coming days since the people feel alienated on the ground. “There is no engagement on the ground with the common public. After the August 5 decision last year the people in Kashmir have felt alienated and so far no strategy has been built to reclaim the political space in valley,” says Mehraj Ud Din, who teaches politics in Kashmir.
“When the vacuum is left on ground with no political activities, in conflict zones it always takes an ugly and violent shape. That is happening now,” Mudasir Ahmad, the student of political science at AMU says. While the BJP seems the worst sufferer in Kashmir with its leadership under attacks, post-August 5, the party was the only political dispensation active on ground. Most of the political leaders from other local political parties have been freed from jails, but none are resuming the activities, demanding the restoration of pre-August 5, 2019 status.
The demand, however, doesn’t make any sense in Delhi and BJP terms it as one of the historical achievements in the political history of party. The party blames the local mainstream parties for the prevailing situation and said that all those who promote separatism and militancy in valley would not be spared.
“After the abrogation of Article 370, we thought these parties may resume their activities after one month or so. But it has been a year, they are still mourning its departure, “said Ram Madhav, BJP’s Kashmir Incharge while paying tributes to the Wasim Bari after visiting his residence at Bandipore.
Madhav, however, made it clear that Article 370 is not being restored at any cost and these political parties shall begin with the political activities. Meanwhile, there have been few local leaders present at the funeral of Congress leader Ajay Pandita at Jammu last month, but BJP sent its high profile delegation that includes, Ram Madhav, Dr. Jitendra Singh, MoS, PMO, State president Ravinder Raina and Ashok Koul. Bari’s family has no male member left in the family now. He is survived by his wife and two young daughters.
Following the killing, the district youth president of Baramulla for BJP, Rouf Ahmad disassociated himself from the party. The situation, however, reminds Ghulam Rasool of his youthful days when he ran away to Jammu following the attacks on mainstream political workers.
“We had the same situation in 1990’s when militants would storm into our homes and kill the workers of National Conference. I ran away to Jammu and stayed their till 1996 when the elections took place and we got security cover,” Ghulam Rasool reminds his tough days.
The political observers believe that from 1980’s to 1996, National Conference suffered massive causalities at the hands of militants and only survived after it assumed the power in 1996 Assembly elections. But PDP, squarely blames the BJP for reviving the dreadful situation in Kashmir.
“Who shall be blamed for the killing of political workers?” questions Rouf Bhat, senior PDP leader. “They worsened the political situation first and then withdrew our security cover,” he said.
Meanwhile, after August 5 decision last year, the Jammu and Kashmir is having a dicey political situation amid the growing number of causalities of political workers. “As long the political vacuum in the system remains, the violence may surge. So New Delhi must work on restoring political process,” says Anayat Ali.
