Mufti Mohammed Sayeed's note of thanks to anti-India elements for ‘allowing’ the peaceful conduct of Assembly election is only the latest in a series of unjust concessions the Indian state has tolerated
The popular saying, “God save me from my friends, for I can protect myself from my enemies,” applies well to the situation in Jammu & Kashmir. In that State, PDP leader Mufti Mohammed Sayeed was just sworn in as Chief Minister on March 1. He now heads a coalition Government in association with the BJP. In his first statements to the Press after taking office, he thanked Pakistan and Kashmiri separatist leaders for allowing the election to happen in a free and fair manner, instead of acknowledging the services of the Indian security forces. This was the Mufti’s opening salvo.
Perhaps, the new Chief Minister needs to be first reminded of the situation in Pakistan. After the ghastly December 16 terror attack in Peshawar, Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif told the nation that terrorists would be dealt with an iron hand and that their days were numbered. He also said that the courts would be set-up for a term of two years and stressed the decision to blackout militant groups on media platforms. Other measures included regularisation of madarssas, repatriation of Afghan refugees and cutting finances to terror groups.
Mr Sharif reiterated that Pakistan will not allow its soil to be used for attacks on its neighbours and expects the same from others in the region. He also said that banned outfits will not be allowed to operate under new names and no armed militia will be allowed to form in Pakistan.
As the Dawn newspaper pointed out, “It was a wonderful speech from the Prime Minister, like a breath of fresh air. Since so many days the entire nation has shed tears of blood, on the tragedy of Peshawar. We can never forget the ruthless and brutal killing of our innocent and most precious kids, but at the same time we are more adamant than ever to fight against all these cowards. They underestimated the entire nation, but like the Prime Minister said, their days are numbered, and we all make sure that they are — Insha Allah”.
Back in Jammu & Kashmir, the Mufti’s speech does not paint Pakistan as a terrorist state. let’s take a look at some numbers here: As per a survey report, from 1989 to 2012, some 14,645 civilians, 6026 security personnel and 22,602 terrorists have been killed in Jammu & Kashmir.
According to a June 2014 report from the Jammu & Kashmir Government, security forces have seized 30,752 AK-series assault rifles, 11,431 pistol and revolvers, 1,027 universal machine guns, 2,262 rocket propelled grenade launchers, 391 sniper rifles and hundreds of other weapons, including light machine guns and self-loading rifles in the State.
The ammunition recovered includes more than 45,00,000 bullets and 63,000 grenades, besides 45,000 kg explosives. The weapons seized include 2,262 rocket projectile guns, 2,830 rocket boosters, 70,071 AK magazines, 11,055 pistol magazines, 1,321 UMG magazines, 150 lMG magazines, 31 carbine magazines and 32 telescopes, used on rifles for better aim.
The data further reveals that a massive quantity of ammunition for these weapons was also recovered during the counter-insurgency operations — nearly 13 tonnes of RDX, over 6,000 IEDs and nearly 70,000 detonators. According to experts, a conventional Army division has around 10,000 men and officers. The seized weapons, therefore, would form the basic nucleus of weapons in two to three divisions and will meet their requirement of small arms, automatic weapons and anti-tank capability.
No wonder, the visit of Indian Prime Ministers to Kashmir valley is either preceded by or coincided with the killing of innocents. Here are a few examples: In January 1998, 23 Kashmiri Pandits were massacred at Wandahama on the eve of Prime Minister IK Gujral’s visit. In May 2002, Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Ghani lone was shot dead, ahead of Prime Minister AB Vajpayee’s visit. A year later, in August 2003, there was a fidayeen attack at a hotel when Mr Vajpayee was chairing an inter-state council meeting nearby.
In April 2005, there was a fidayeen attack in Srinagar when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in the State to flag off a bus service. On December 5, 2014, one person was killed and 13 injured in a grenade attack in south Kashmir, days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rally. Nobody can predict the future. But everybody knows what is in this country’s best interest. According to Balraj Madhok, BR Ambedkar had clearly told Sheikh Abdullah, “You wish India should protect your borders, she should build roads in your area, she should supply you food grains, and Kashmir should get equal status as India. But the Government of India should have only limited powers and Indian people should have no rights in Kashmir. To give consent to this proposal, would be a treacherous thing against the interests of India and I, as the law Minister of India, will never do it.”
Then Sheikh Abdullah went to Jawaharlal Nehru, who directed him to N Gopalaswami Ayyangar, who, in turn, approached Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Finally, it was Patel, despite his own misgivings about the provision, got Article 370 passed in the Constituent Assembly on a personal request from Nehru who, at the time, was on a foreign tour. On the day this Article came up for discussion, Ambedkar did not reply to questions on the subject, though he did participate in debates on other Articles. All arguments were done by Ayyangar.
India has been giving concession after concession to appease the people of the valley even as 3.70 lakh Hindus and Sikhs were forced out of their homelands. Except for giving some paltry settlements to those who were chased out of Kashmir and became refugees in their country, little else has been done for these unfortunate people by the Government for their welfare. India is a secular country where everybody is free to practise their own faith. But nobody has the right to expel others who do not believe in the faith of the majority. It is against this backdrop that the Mufti’s statements must be viewed.