This story is from August 30, 2016

Security forces patrol a deserted street in Srinagar. (AFP photo)

Pak oppn against Sharif's K-team

NC vows free legal aid to protesters

SRINAGAR/ NEW DELHI: For the first time in 52 days, curfew was lifted from the entire Kashmir valley, barring three police stations, on Monday, setting the stage for the visit of an all-party delegation to the state on September 4. However, curfew was reimposed in some parts at night after fresh tension. Home minister Rajnath Singh will lead the delegation in a bid to explore dialogue as part of a political process to bring peace to the valley.The team will meet a cross-section of individuals and outfits in Srinagar on September 4 and 5. The visit could be extended by a day if it goes to Jammu as well.While there is no official word on the entities the team will talk to, indications are that it will limit itself to the brief followed by the team which went to the state in 2010. Then, LJP member and now food minister Ram Vilas Paswan had met some Hurriyat leaders separately . This time too, the team may not talk to secessionists but members will be free to interact with anybody they wish to. The opposition has demanded a political ou treach since violent protests broke out in the valley. The timing of the delegation's visit seems to have been worked out during J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti's meetings with home minister Rajnath Singh in Srinagar and PM Narendra Modi in Delhi.Singh also held a discussion with BJP chief Amit Shah, finance minister Arun Jaitley and MoS in PMO Jitendra Singh, an MP from the state, in what was described as a stock-taking exercise. It was decided at this meeting that an all-party delegation should go to Srinagar as soon as possible. The Centre has informed other political parties about the visit.Meanwhile, J&K resumed a shadow of normalcy on Monday even though a few clashes were reported from a number of places in Srinagar and parts of Budgam district. Nobody was hurt in these incidents, police said.The areas that fall under three police stations -Nowhatta and Maharaj Gunj in Srinagar, and Pulwama -remained under curfew. Miscreants emerged on the streets in these areas and tried to create trouble.Rioters pelted stones on private vehicles, erected barricades and also threw stones at vehicles of security forces, leading to clashes at multiple places. Following the clashes, the authorities imposed restrictions in these areas. Intense clashes in the interiors of Batamaloo, Srinagar, led to the authorities reportedly reimposing curfew in the area. Police said there was “minor“ stone-pelting in some areas.The 22 lawmakers nominated by Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif as envoys to highlight the Kashmir issue in key nations have no credentials to do so, the nation's opposition parties said on Monday. Ex-cricketer Imran Khan's PTI and former president Asif Ali Zardari-led PPP have also rued the lack of opposition representation on the team. PTI's Asad Umar asked how the team would highlight the issue when most didn't even attend parliamentary debates.J&K opposition party National Conference said on Monday it would provide free legal assistance to youngsters arrested during the current spell of unrest in the valley. “The legal cell of NC in every district will provide free legal assistance to youths arrested on fictitious charges by the present government,“ party general secretary Ali Mohammad Sagar said. He added that an atmosphere of “lawlessness“ was being created in J&K.In Video: Curfew lifted from some parts of Kashmir after 51 days</s>Indian officials lift curfew from most of Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Authorities on Monday lifted a curfew imposed in most parts of Indian-controlled Kashmir as part of a 52-day security lockdown, although most shops and businesses remained closed due to an ongoing strike called to protest Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan region.

Government forces on Monday removed steel barricades and coils of barbed wire from the roads across the region, but officials said the curfew would continue in some parts of the old quarters of Kashmir's main city of Srinagar and in the southern Pulwama area.

Public transport was off the roads in Srinagar but some private vehicles were seen on the streets.

The curfew, a series of communication blackouts and a tightening crackdown have failed to stop some of the largest protests against Indian rule in recent years, triggered by the killing of a popular rebel commander on July 8.

Since then, tens of thousands of people have defied security restrictions, staged protests and clashed with government forces on a daily basis.

At least 68 civilians have been killed and thousands injured, mostly by government forces firing bullets and shotguns at rock-throwing protesters. Two policemen have been killed while hundreds of government forces have been injured in the clashes.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both. Most Kashmiris want an end to Indian rule and favor independence or a merger with Pakistan.

More than 68,000 people have been killed since rebel groups began fighting Indian forces in 1989 and in the subsequent Indian military crackdown.</s>The decision to lift curfew was taken at a high level security meeting on Sunday evening, sources said.

Authorities on Monday lifted curfew from Kashmir after 51 days since the ongoing unrest began on July 9, officials said.

“Curfew has been lifted from the entire Valley. But, it will remain in force in Pulwama town and in areas under the jurisdiction of Nowhatta and M.R. Gunj police stations in Srinagar,” a senior police official told IANS.

The decision to lift curfew was taken at a high level security meeting on Sunday evening, sources said.

An all party delegation comprising senior leaders of political parties is slated to visit Kashmir on September 3.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is likely to accompany the delegation.

Meanwhile, separatists here continued their protest shutdown despite lifting of the curfew.

In a statement issued last week, the separatists have asked people to continue the shutdown until September 1.

All senior separatist leaders have been placed under detention in Srinagar city.

A total of 71 people — 68 civilians and three policemen — have been killed in this present bout of violence that started on July 9, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in a gunfight.

Over 11,000 others including civilians and security personnel were injured during this period.</s>An all-party delegation led by Home Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Jammu and Kashmir on September 4 and is expected to interact with a cross section of people as part of efforts to bring peace in the Valley which has been witnessing unrest.

The delegation will visit Jammu and Kashmir on September 4 and the home minister will lead it, a home ministry spokesperson said.

The delegation is expected to meet a cross section of people, individuals and organisations in its efforts to bring peace in KashmirValley which has been witnessing unrest after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.

The home minister on Sunday had a hour-long meeting with Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh and discussed with them the modalities of the all-party delegation.

Sources said the meeting discussed the possible individuals and groups with whom the delegation may interact during its tour of the troubled state.

The government has sounded out different political parties to convey the names of their functionaries who will be part of the team.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had spoken about the Kashmir situation in his 'Mann Ki Baat' programme.

"Ekta (unity) and Mamata (affection) was the crux of all interactions I had recently on Kashmir situation," he had said.

Modi said those pushing youth towards stone pelting in Kashmir will some day have to answer them. He also said that all political parties spoke in one voice on Kashmir, sending out a strong message to the world as well as separatists.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had met the prime minister on Saturday.

IMAGE: Rajnath Singh and Mehbooba Mufti address a press conference, in Srinagar on August 25, 2016. Photograph: PIB</s>To successfully reach out to Kashmiris, and establish good faith, the Central government needs to address the symbolism that drives the separatist quarter

Over the past one and a half months, a host of institutions and individuals in India have impressed upon the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP)-led Central government to reach out to Kashmiris to bring a peaceful end to the crisis in the Valley. Parliament discussed it at length, participants in an all-party meeting urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a political solution, and even a senior Army general has indirectly hinted at the need to talk to ‘all stakeholders’ in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). And yet, the BJP leadership has summarily failed to act on such advice and normalise the Valley.

The BJP continues to approach the Kashmir issue either using a Pakistan angle (insisting that the Kashmir uprising is propped up by Pakistan) or from a Hindu-Muslim perspective. Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s attempts to blame the unrest entirely on Pakistan and rope in Delhi-based Muslim clerics to reach out to Kashmiris are indicative of these flawed approaches. The reality is that neither do Indian Muslims have anything to do with what happens in Kashmir nor is the ‘azadi’ struggle in Kashmir a purely Islamic movement.

This shocking inability of the BJP to meaningfully resolve or sensibly respond to the ongoing turmoil in Kashmir is not merely a result of the arrogance of power or sheer political ignorance. At a very fundamental level, this is the result of a clash that exists between the BJP’s politics of symbolism and what Kashmir’s ‘azadi’ movement symbolises. While some of the demands made and positions taken by both the BJP leadership and the Kashmiri dissidents are indeed substantive, if not entirely useful, the fact is that there are thick layers of symbolism that surround these substantive arguments, with the latter almost clouding the former. The Kashmir issue is as much symbolic as it is substantive. Hence one cannot address the substantive issue of conflict resolution in Kashmir without addressing the symbology of the ‘azadi’ movement.

In the BJP’s (and Sangh Parivar’s) hyper-nationalist cosmology, Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, and the separate flag and constitution which symbolise that special status of J&K in the Indian Union, run counter to their idea of Indian nationalism. Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s evocative slogan “Ek vidhan, ek nishan aur ek samvidhan” (one country, one emblem and one constitution) forms the BJP’s political approach to Kashmir. In reality though, the J&K flag and its constitution are not privileged over the Indian national flag or Constitution, and Article 370 of the Constitution has lost all meaning over the years.

In other words, while in the Kashmiri political imagination, the flag, constitution and whatever is left of Article 370 form a crucial part of Kashmiri nationalism and even its ‘azadi’ demand, the BJP, a party that rides high on exclusivist political symbolism, finds it hard to accept it. For the Kashmiri nationalist, abolition of Article 370 would be symbolic of complete ‘Indian occupation’; for the BJP and the Sangh, it would be in line with bringing Kashmir into the Indian mainstream.

What about the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, or AFSPA? To Kashmiris, draconian laws like AFSPA are symbolic of Indian oppression in Kashmir, whereas for the BJP, withdrawing AFSPA would be a symbolic defeat at the hands of Kashmiri separatists. The reality, however, is that revoking AFSPA from a few districts in Kashmir or even partially amending it would be a symbol that Kashmiris would find greatly encouraging. Moreover, doing so would hardly affect the Indian Army’s operational capability there.

The same logic applies to the withdrawal of Central forces from the residential areas of the Valley. Having put itself on a ‘better than thou’ nationalistic pedestal, the BJP finds it difficult to heed to such demands, which the Congress party could if it willed it. However, doing so would make a great deal of difference to Kashmiris since, for them, the gun-totting soldier frisking Kashmiri civilians, day after day, represents Indian oppression.

The only BJP leader who played to the Kashmiri nationalist symbolism, if not do anything about it, was Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who by merely uttering the magic mantra that every BJP leader takes refuge in today — ‘Kashmiriyat, jamhooriyat, insaniyat’ — transformed the discourse on the relationship between New Delhi and Srinagar. His wise words did not lead to any action: the word was the act, and it made a difference.

Moreover, the BJP managed to form a coalition government in the Valley with the ‘soft-separatist’ Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), despite declaring in its manifesto that it would abrogate Article 370, precisely because it managed to not only go back on its hardline positions but also address some of the key symbols of Kashmiri nationalism in its ‘Agenda of Alliance’ with the PDP.

The United Progressive Alliance regime, on the other hand, was adept at symbolically playing to Kashmiri demands. Most of its Kashmir initiatives from 2004 to 2011 show that it cleverly used symbolism with an occasional sprinkling of substance: Manmohan Singh engaged the separatists without any hesitation (unlike the BJP), organised Round Table Conferences in Kashmir, set up Working Groups on key themes linked to the ‘azadi’ question, and, after the 2010 agitation, sent a group of interlocutors to Kashmir who went out of their way to meet all key separatists in the Valley. While nothing came out of any of these initiatives, Dr. Singh managed to convey to Kashmiris that he was willing to engage them in an ‘out of the box’ manner without riding high on aggressive nationalism.

The India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir is a substantive issue pertaining primarily to the State’s territoriality, and yet there are strong symbolic aspects of the dispute that can indeed transcend the substantive claims. Armed with the unavoidable realisation that a territorial change of the Kashmir border is impossible due to a variety of reasons, Pakistan has been looking for an ‘honourable exit route’ from the Kashmir quagmire, a conflict that has had immeasurable adverse implications for its own society and polity. This explains the thought-process behind the so-called Musharraf formula on Kashmir, a solution that hinges on resolving the bilateral Kashmir dispute without changing its currently existing borders.

Dr. Singh understood the symbolism behind the Musharraf formula and offered to work with the Pakistani leader to ‘make borders irrelevant’ in Kashmir. Both proposals were full of symbolism, with hardly any substantive territorial transformation in it. Dr. Singh was able to pursue it precisely because the symbolism behind his politics, and that of the Congress party, did not clash with the proposed solution.

How fundamental is Kashmir to Pakistan’s identity? There was a time when Kashmir was bandied about as the “jugular vein of Pakistan”. They continue to do so, but of late, there is a recognition in the country that it needs to focus more on its own internal conflicts rather than Kashmir though the current stand-off may help reverse it. Pakistan also regularly refers to the UN Resolutions on Kashmir, but that is essentially to put New Delhi on the mat rather than being reflective of its seriousness about the Resolutions which would require Pakistan to first vacate the J&K territory under its control. In short, it is not impossible for India to address Pakistan’s claims on Kashmir, if preceded by a proper peace process.

The BJP, however, due to its hyper-nationalist baggage and puritanical claims about Kashmir, may find it hard to address Pakistan’s need for a ‘symbolic resolution’ of the Kashmir dispute.

The BJP’s inability to resolve the Kashmir issue also stems from its domestic political compulsions. Having often termed the Kashmiri separatists as ‘Pakistan-backed terrorists’, and then ‘successfully’ sold this line to its loyal constituency at home and on social media, it has become difficult for the BJP to proactively reach out to the separatists. No wonder then Mr. Modi took more than a month to even make a reluctant statement about the ongoing uprising in Kashmir, and Rajnath Singh failed to reach out to the separatists despite two visits to the Valley.

More importantly, the BJP’s Kashmir policy will continue to be dictated by electoral compulsions. Its electoral campaigns tend to ride high (along with the developmental promises) on nationalist symbols, national pride, national power, civilisational greatness, etc. Such high-octane symbolism does not go well with attempts at negotiating with the Kashmiri ‘terrorists’ supported by Pakistan especially when the party is bracing for Assembly elections in crucial States such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Gujarat.

Kashmir’s contemporary ‘azadi’ struggle is a powerful concoction of hatred towards New Delhi, a desire to be free from Indian ‘occupation’, lived experiences of daily humiliation represented by the presence of the Indian armed forces there, a historical sense of victimhood and betrayal symbolised by centuries of being ruled by ‘outsiders’, New Delhi’s inability to keep promises, and a disturbing amount of religious influence. Sure, there is a substantive political basis to the ‘azadi’ demand. However, most of these expressions of ‘azadi’ can be addressed by a number of measures, mostly symbolic in nature, as pointed out above. In other words, addressing Kashmir’s symbolic needs then is perhaps key to the heart of the conflict in Kashmir. However, as Amitabh Mattoo, a renowned academic currently based out of Kashmir, points out, “The Kashmir issue is as much symbolic as it is substantive, but the more you wait to address the symbolic aspects of it, the less you would be able to address the substantive aspects.”

Insurgencies are almost always waged, and fought, with a great deal of symbolism. However, the use of excessive counter-symbolism by the state to defeat the separatist/insurgent narrative, without catering to the insurgent’s symbolic needs, can often have the obverse effect of strengthening the separatist narrative. Therefore, if New Delhi wishes to get to the heart of the problem in Kashmir, it needs to address the very symbols of Kashmir’s ‘azadi’ movement.

Happymon Jacob is an Associate Professor of Diplomacy and Disarmament Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.</s>A nearly two-month curfew in the troubled Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir was partially lifted on Monday only to be largely re-imposed after fresh violence erupted in several parts of the capital, Srinagar.

For many people the easing of the curfew had been the first opportunity in 52 days to move freely outside their homes. The former Himalayan kingdom has been wracked by protests in the wake of the killing of a popular young militant separatist by security forces on 8 July.

The death of Burhan Wani, a commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen group, tipped Kashmir into one of its worst crises in years. At least 68 people have been killed to date and up to 10,000 injured during the clashes.

The saga has soured relations between Pakistan and India, who have been engaged in a decades-long dispute over the region.

Authorities announced the partial lifting of the curfew after declaring an improvement in the security situation. But in many areas residents swiftly came out to hurl stones at government forces and shout slogans demanding freedom from Indian rule.

Weeks of mobile phone network blackouts and movement restrictions have hit the poorest of Kashmir the hardest, with many people struggling to get hold of basic supplies from relief committees established across Srinagar.

Raja Begum, a 62-year-old widow living in a small home in downtown Srinagar, lost her daily earnings of 150 rupees a day selling clothes on the street.

“I tried to venture out of my house several times to get medicines but each time I was stopped by paramilitary forces,” said Begum, whose health has deteriorated without the drugs she needs.

Even without the curfew, shops remained closed after a strike was called by the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), an umbrella group of separatist parties, many of whose leaders have been arrested in recent weeks.

“People will not start their usual business until Delhi says it is open to full talks with the three parties – India, Pakistan and the resistance leaders,” said Hamida Nayeem, an academic at Kashmir University and an activist.

On 15 August, Islamabad extended a formal invitation to India for fresh bilateral talks on the Kashmir dispute. But the offer was rebuffed by India, with Delhi saying it would discuss cross-border terrorism, which it blames on clandestine support by Pakistan.

The lifting of the curfew allowed Nayeem to visit injured protesters recovering at Srinagar’s main hospital, many of them from serious pellet injuries to the eyes caused by shotguns used by security forces to disperse crowds.

She said she had seen more than 100 such patients on Monday, many of whom either had been blinded or had undergone multiple operations to try to salvage some of their eyesight.

“India has achieved new depths of degradation with this policy of aiming guns at people’s eyes,” she said. “They treat us as enemies rather than citizens.”

India has flooded even more security forces into a region that is already home to 500,000 soldiers. Many of the reinforcements have taken over schools for use as temporary bases.

The government of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, initially played down the crisis in Kashmir, but it has faced increasing pressure, including from army chiefs, to open a dialogue with separatist leaders.

In a radio address on Sunday, Modi expressed sadness at the loss of life in Kashmir but criticised “those trying to disturb peace in Kashmir by putting small children in the front and hiding behind them”.

India and Pakistan have fought three conflicts over the Muslim-majority region, which Pakistan believes should have been included inside its territory when the subcontinent became independent from Britain in 1947.

Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, announced over the weekend that he had appointed 22 parliamentarians as “special envoys” who would attempt to raise the issue internationally in the hope that foreign governments would exert pressure on India.

The violence in Kashmir has undermined Sharif’s dream of overseeing an improvement in relations with India.

Doubts are growing over whether Modi will attend a meeting of heads of government of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation due in the Pakistani capital on 9 November.</s>Authorities lifted a curfew in Indian-administered Kashmir after 52 days of lockdown amid deadly violence, but street clashes broke out again Monday between protesters and security forces.

Restrictions were lifted throughout most of the tense Kashmir Valley including the main city of Sringar "following improvement in the situation", police said in a statement late Sunday.

It was unclear whether the relaxation of restrictions would continue in the northern Himalayan region, where 68 civilians and two police officers have been killed since the unrest erupted last month.

Schools and businesses remained closed on Monday and many streets in Srinagar were largely deserted as troops in riot gear patrolled on foot.

Hundreds of residents rallied in other parts of Srinagar and in the northern town of Bandipora after the curfew was lifted, throwing stones at security forces who fired live rounds into the air and tear gas to disperse them, witnesses and an AFP photographer said.

The current violence, the worst to hit the region since 2010, was triggered by the July 8 killing of a popular rebel leader, Burhan Wani, in a gunbattle with soldiers.

Several rebel groups including Wani's Hizbul Mujahideen have for decades fought some 500,000 Indian soldiers deployed in the territory, demanding independence for the region or its merger with Pakistan.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for calm in the region on the weekend, criticising those responsible for encouraging youngsters to become involved in the recent unrest.

Kashmir has been divided between rivals India and Pakistan since their independence from Britain in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full.

Tens of thousands, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting since the armed rebellion against Indian rule began in 1989.</s>A fter 50 days of curfew in the Kashmir Valley, the Central and State governments finally appear to be coming together on how to engage with the conflict and all the stakeholders involved. Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s visits to Srinagar appear to have, at least temporarily, calmed the air. A panel set up by the government is now looking at alternatives to the pellet guns used by the security forces: they have proved to be unacceptably lethal, and should have been abandoned already. An all-party delegation is expected to visit Srinagar in an attempt to reach out to people and kick-start a political dialogue. The process of normalcy can only begin once the restrictive curfew is lifted — but the government cannot sit back and wait for calm; it needs to foster it. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined the gravity of the situation and sought to reach out by saying that each person who dies in the Valley is “one of our people”, there needs to be an actionable checklist to demonstrate the sincerity of the outreach. It is perhaps for all these reasons that after her meeting with Mr. Modi, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti called for the next step, a three-pronged action plan that would include talks with Pakistan and with the separatist leaders, many of whom are currently in prison.

While all of these steps are welcome and necessary, the government must recognise that they only address the violence, and not the deeper problem of alienation in Kashmir. They are but leaves out of the playbook used in 2008 and 2010, to bring the Valley back from the edge after street protests: visits to Srinagar by senior national leaders and all-party delegations, words of restraint for security forces, and words of empathy to Kashmiris. In the current round of violence, Mr. Modi must do better than ‘reinvent the wheel’. To chart a new course, he and Ms. Mufti must work on a sustained plan for dialogue in the State, even as he builds a consensus on how to deal with Pakistan. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s grand diplomatic plans to internationalise the Kashmir issue may be unlikely to meet with much success on the international stage, and will probably be countered at the UN with India’s new pitch for Pakistan to vacate “all of Kashmir”. But such grandstanding hardly addresses the real issues at hand. The bilateral stand-off should not blunt the internal dialogue. What is important right now is not what India does outside its borders, but inside them, in a carefully considered, positive and sustained manner. For, the absence of violence is not peace; it is merely an enabling condition for the pursuit of lasting peace.</s>'Burhan Wani’s killing served as a spark for the anti-establishment fire that has been raging in the minds of Kashmiris ever since the Centre stopped engaging them for their political future.'

'... before the upsurge the Hurriyat had begun to feel isolated and marginalised, many had begun to term them as irrelevant. But they are now back in the game.'

'The cardinal weaknesses shown in use of pellet shotguns are clearly due to lack of training on their use.'

IMAGE: Protestors throw stones on the police which fired tear gas shells during a clash in Srinagar. Photograph: S Irfan/PTI Photo

Nearly two months since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani in an encounter with the security forces, the Kashmir Valley remains shrouded in grief, anger and frustration.

As dawn breaks everyday, mobs armed with sticks, stones and molotov cocktails emerge from homes to take on the collective might of a flailing administration for the cause of 'azadi'.

But beyond the bold headlines and blaring prime time news shows, not much has really emerged from the Ground Zero of protest.

To clear the air, Vipin Vijayan/Rediff.com reached out to Air Vice Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak, who has been part of the track II process which seeks to reach out to members of the civil society in the Valley to understand the ground reality and provide inputs to the government.

Air Vice Marshal Kak is a former deputy director of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses and the founding additional director of the Centre for Air Power Studies in New Delhi. In recent years, he has represented India in a number of Track II conferences on international security and strategic issues, and been part of many initiatives on the India-Pakistan peace process and conflict resolution in Jammu and Kashmir.

The highly-decorated officer says the onus for restoring normalcy in the Kashmir Valley lies with the Centre and the state government together reaching out to all the stakeholders.

Burhan Wani's killing seems to have touched a raw nerve with the Kashmiris. Help us make sense of the sudden spurt in anti-establishment sentiment. Or has it been that this sentiment has been simmering for a while now and simply boiled over upon the militant's killing?

The latter part of the question itself provides the answer. Burhan Wani’s killing served as a spark for the anti-establishment fire that has been raging in the minds of Kashmiris ever since the Centre stopped engaging them for their political future.

The last such effort was the interlocutors report of 2011 which has been gathering dust in North Block (which houses the PMO, home ministry, etc) ever since.

This was the unanimous opinion of a large body of civil society comprising University teachers, lawyers, traders, manufacturers and sundry professionals I interacted with during two visits to Kashmir in the last three weeks.

My second foray was as part of a 8-member delegation comprising a political leader, journalists, social activists, and a security analyst among others.

How did Burhan Wani turn into an inspirational figure for the Kashmiri?

Burhan Wani gave up studies to join militancy in 2011 when he was just 17. He soon gained a poster-boy image, and became a symbol of ‘new militancy’, in which educated, technology-savvy, social media-adept teenagers from relatively affluent families, who are ready to die, acquire iconic status.

Sometime last year, a photograph of 10 militants, including Burhan Wani, all in jungle fatigues and bearing AK 47s, went viral on the social media.

Professors at the Kashmir University told our delegation that militants spearheading the current upsurge are 12 to 16 years of age, fearless and ready to die.

And we were told elders have lost control over the young.

Worryingly enough, there is a growing cult of martyrdom.

As a journalist-friend rightly averred, "there is an ecstasy in confrontation that borders on a love affair with death."

There are reports that the writ of the government has stopped functioning in South Kashmir. Is there any truth in these claims? If so, in what manner?

In a situation of what I term 'curfewed neo-normalcy', continuing protests over 48 days, 50-60 people getting injured daily in stone-pelting and counter actions by police, there is obviously pressure on the writ of the government, more so in South Kashmir, the centre of gravity of current upsurge.

Notwithstanding the monumental challenge, the Mehbooba Mufti-led government, ably supported by the Centre, has not been found wanting in timely delivery of goods and services to public.

The security forces are fully in control of the situation; yet they are restrained enough to let the youth let go the anger steam.

Despite attendance in offices being restricted to about 10 per cent, the top civil and police administration is performing its functions admirably.

Calls of Azadi have been heard across the Valley over the last 45 days. What's the premise of this demand?

In general, anger against the Narendra Modi-led central government and support for Azadi stretches all across the Valley.

There are small numbers who seek sovereign independence or merger with Pakistan, the latter demand having been consistently advocated by the hard line All Party Hurriyat Conference leader Ali Shah Geelani.

In the entire spectrum of civil society, our delegation interacted with over three days, there was unanimity that they would not wish to join Pakistan.

But they were equally vehement on their grievance that the special status accorded to J&K state under India's Constitution had been severely eroded ever since the arrest of Sheikh Abdullah in 1953.

One gathers the impression that genuine autonomy as an alternative to sovereign independence would be an option that would resonate among the majority of Kashmiris with suitable devolutionary checks and balances provided to the people of Jammu and Ladakh.

With violence continuing unabated and the toll rising by the day, where does Kashmir go from here? How do you see this situation being resolved?

The immediate priority should be restoration of a modicum of normalcy progressively improving the same so people can get onto routine workaday living.

The onus for this lies with the Centre and state government together reaching out to all the stakeholders.

Expression of remorse on excessive use of force and the consequences it had on young teenagers by way of deaths and serious injuries, immediate ban on use of pellet guns, promise of selective revocation of AFSPA from a few districts, opening of official and non-official dialogue channels with the separatists and others and announcement of CBMs that would serve as a balm for the wounds in the minds of Kashmiris could be measures that would help resolve he situation.

IMAGE: A policeman fires tear gas towards protesters during a protest against the recent killings in Kashmir, on the outskirts of Srinagar. Photograph: Danish Ismail/Reuters

The government alleges that the separatists have been fuelling the protests in Kashmir. What's your take on this?

The protests were spontaneous. But once these reached a critical mass, not only the separatists but even Pakistan leveraged the opportunity that came their way.

The protestors do not fully adhere to the shut-down calendars announced by separatists. In fact, before the upsurge the Hurriyat had begun to feel isolated and marginalized, many had begun to term them as irrelevant.

But they are now back in the game. And a dialogue by the Centre with them has to be a way point on the forward pathway.

Kashmiri leaders allege that the use of pellet shot guns by security forces has been a catalyst to the protests. But the troops on the ground claim there's no other way to respond to the threat from large mobs that pelt stones. Opening fire could further antagonise the mob, they say. Negotiations aside, how should the security forces deal with the protestors on the ground?

One does not want to appear cynical. Even one death is one too many.

But as far higher casualties in conflicts elsewhere in the world suggest, 70 deaths in 48 days of mass upsurge are the result of restraint shown by both the stone pelters as also police forces.

Doubtless, in some situations, possibly due to panic, police and the Central Reserve Police Force did use excessive force. But the cardinal weaknesses shown in use of pellet guns are clearly due to lack of training on their use.

Because firing these at point blank ranges caused devastating injuries, including 200 cases of eye/retinal damage. Somewhere between 60-100 youth may be blinded in one or both eyes forever.

The home minister has promised alternatives to pellet shotguns, options which need to be explored on priority.

More robust crowd control and stone-pelting countermeasures training have to be imparted to the police and the CRPF deployed in the state. These are all a reflection of our non-professional and chalta hai approach.

There is a near-unanimous agreement in Kashmir that the media has not being reporting the entire truth on the ground. Kashmiris claim television channels have kept peddling lies as news. So what is the entire truth? What is the message that the Kashmiri on the streets of Srinagar wants to convey to the rest of the nation?

The Kashmiris, through our delegation, collectively conveyed a precise and unambiguous message, pointedly referring to three television channels -- "They lie through their teeth, they misrepresent us, call us terrorists."

One television anchor, whose name can easily be guessed, is a unanimous object of hate throughout the valley.

Would I be wrong when I say that agencies in Pakistan have no role to play in fuelling protests in the Valley? Many believe that it is in Pakistan's interest to keep the Valley in a state of permanent unrest.

You are not wrong. Pakistan had no role in fuelling the mass upsurge. After Wani's killing in South Kashmir, the wave of sympathy and outrage was all pervasive and immediately spread to the entire Valley.

The fact that nearly 2 lakh mourners held about 40 ceremonies in his memory over a 12 hour period after his body was handed over to the family is indicative of his cult following.

Pakistan was clearly not involved in all this.

It is also true that the so-called deep state in Pakistan has a huge stake in keeping the Kashmir pot on the boil to distract Pakistani people from the calamitous internal problems.

Although cases of successful cross LoC infiltration are on the rise (there have been 85 cases in six months of 2016), the level of casualties because of cross border terrorism have been in a steep continuous decline from 2002 onwards.

Perhaps the time has come to initiate a serious dialogue not the least because such a move would help impart greater acceleration to the New Delhi-Srinagar dialogue which must commence first.

What should the Narendra Modi government do to assuage the people of Kashmir?

The prime minister's promises at the all-party meeting -- after a 45-day silence which deeply hurt the civil society cross-section we met -- and Rajnath Singh's second visit to Kashmir presage encouraging political initiatives in the short term for the agitators to respond appropriately.

In the medium term, initiation of a creative and innovative peace process involving multi-track dialogue with multiple stake-holders, as also a dialogue with Pakistan could lead to a political resolution acceptable to India, Pakistan and the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

My own view is that greater devolution of political power with cross-LoC trade and people-to-people linkages envisaged in the so-termed 4-point mutually agreed between Musharraf-Vajpayee and Musharraf-Manmohan Singh during 2003-2007 -- the so-called golden period in India-Pakistan and Centre-Srinagar/Jammu relations -- appropriately repackaged, is a viable way forward.

It would be a long haul, but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has to make the effort sincerely and resolutely. 



REDIFF RECOMMENDS</s>They discuss composition of all-party delegation that is to visit the State soon

A day after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and called for a panel of eminent persons to be sent to the Valley for a dialogue, Home Minister Rajnath Singh discussed the Kashmir situation with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Minister of State (MoS) Jitendra Singh and BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday.

A Home Ministry official said the Ministers reviewed the ongoing unrest in the Valley and deliberated on the composition of the all-party delegation, which is expected to visit the State in the first week of September.

The meeting continued for two hours at the residence of the Home Minister.

Emerging out of the meeting, MoS, PMO Jitendra Singh said, “We had come here for margdarshan (guidance). He [Rajnath Singh] is a senior leader and that is why we came here.”

“The Ministers also discussed the salient points discussed between the Prime Minister and the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister,” said the official.

Amid Prime Minister Modi’s overtures to the people of Pakistan occupied Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan, the government is all set to announce a Rs. 2,000-crore package for displaced people of PoK living in the country.
A curfew has ended in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir after 52 days of protest allowing for an all-party delegation to visit the state on Sunday.