Return of Pandits is imperative

The Government of India has called upon the CM of Kashmir to ensure the “ghar wapsi” of the displaced Kashmiri Pandit community to their homeland. Such a “ghar wapsi” is a strategic imperative to ensure that a credible Indian civil presence is maintained in the Valley. But can the beleaguered community return as part of a larger “Kashmiriyat” family, even if ensconced in “composite townships”? Or will they continue to remain hostages to militancy inside India?

This is the dilemma confronting the Kashmiri Pandits and has to be addressed by the state and Centre. The return of Pandits to Kashmir will be opposed by the pro-Pakistani fifth column in the Valley headed by the Yasin Malik-Syed Ali Shah Geelani gang.

Given the street protests in Srinagar that marked the announcement, the situation could escalate to urban insurgency in Srinagar, combining mobs of stone throwers, with groups of terrorists targeting minority areas. In this context, it would be advisable for India’s Unified Headquarters to prepare for the rocket launchers recently shown off by Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in AfPak that will be smuggled into the city.

Given the history of their exodus, insurgency in Kashmir and the results thrown up by the Assembly elections, the “ghar wapsi” of Kashmiri Pandits will be a watershed moment in Indian history, but it can come about only if the Government of India intervenes directly in the process. Paving the way for their return requires major political restructuring in the Valley itself, even, perhaps, carving out a separate new state of “Panun Kashmir”. This can take the shape of complexes established under protection in the Valley, as safe enclaves. It is an inevitable watershed in history that cannot be put off further. Only the future will tell whether the idea of “Kashmiriyat” really does exist among Kashmiris, or has been obliterated.

Meanwhile, the country watched with a growing sense of frustrated outrage as Massarat Aalam, an active “hate India” leader in Kashmir, calmly strolled out of jail facilitated by a snafu between the Central and state bureaucracies, with babus now shooting off memos to each other.

The failure of the state government to bring charges against Mr Aalam within the specified time is what resulted in his release from prison as directed by the SC. But it has undoubtedly provided a boost to the Pakistani fifth column in the Kashmir Valley, where Mr Aalam stands to replace the ageing Mr Geelani, who has been kept alive, even during house arrest, only by Indian medical facilities and a Kashmiri Pandit personal physician.

Mr Aalam is the emerging face of Kashmiri separatism and the triumphal victory parade led by him through Srinagar could be an ominous signal. For this, the rabbit’s warren layout of Srinagar’s downtown area is ideal, having many features in common with similar battlegrounds elsewhere, such as the Casbah area of Algiers during the FLN offensive against the French in 1966, or the Viet Cong urban offensive against the US in the Cholon area of downtown Saigon in 1965.

The Mufti Mohammad Sayeed government in Jammu and Kashmir is a shaky combine of two totally disparate political parties, the BJP and the PDP. The coalition is headed by a CM for whom personal interest comes before national security, a fact demonstrated in 1989, during his tenure as Union home minister in the V.P. Singh government. Mr Sayeed’s daughter, Rubaiya Sayeed, was kidnapped. To get her released, five hardcore militants of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) were released in exchange.

The drama played out in Jammu and Srinagar involving the arrest, release and re-arrest of Mr Aalam and his return to Kot Bhalwal Jail in Jammu was characteristic of the CM whose reputation for vacillation is well known. The BJP and the PDP are strange bedfellows. The two parties are at loggerheads, but have agreed to come together “in the interests of the people of the state”.

On the face of it, these are admirable sentiments, but can such a patchwork survive the challenges from militants from across the border and agitations by pro-Pakistan elements within the Valley? There can be no other answer to such a question except in the affirmative. The Centre has to ensure that this is so.

The writer is a former Chief  of Army Staff and a former MP