J&K unrest: Rajnath visits worst-hit Anantnag after top-level meetings

Srinagar: After holding a marathon meet with top officers of J&K police, central paramilitary forces, Army, intelligence agencies and the civil administration in summer capital Srinagar earlier during the day to review the law and order situation in Kashmir Valley which deteriorated with each passing day after the killing of a militant commander earlier this month, Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh has visited southern Anantnag for an on-the-sport assessment of the situation.

Anantnag was worst hit in violence and most of over 50 deaths in security forces’ firings and other actions to quell massive protests and stone-pelting mobs during past fortnight were reported from it and neighbouring districts of Kulgam and Pulwama. Two policemen have also been killed in mob violence.

Accompanied by ruling PDP leaders, Mr. Singh met some local players and families of the youth slain in police firings to have a firsthand account of the situation. He was also briefed on the ground situation by local police officers and those from various Central forces. He is currently addressing a press conference at the Arjun Lounge of the Srinagar Airport before flying back to Delhi.

Earlier on Sunday, Singh had separate closed-door meetings with the leaders and representatives of various mainstream political parties including main opposition National Conference (NC), PDP and BJP of the ruling-combine, the CPIM and some smaller groups. The Congress refused to meet the Home Minister. So did key trade union organizations and civil society groups.

While the Congress said that in view of the “deteriorating situation” it decided not to meet the Home Minister and also alleged that both Union and State governments are responsible for the present turmoil, the trade unions and civil society groups maintained that holding any meetings with Singh was 'meaningless' when 'the government continued killing and maiming innocent people.'

Read: Kashmir unrest: Rajnath Singh meets local leaders, trade unions boycott meet

The NC delegation which was led by party working president and former Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, asked the Centre to initiate a sustained dialogue with Pakistan as well as separatists groups in Jammu and Kashmir for evolving a consensus for a mutually acceptable solution to the political issue. It also said it would be a travesty to treat the current unrest in the Valley as a mere law and order problem.

The party presented a memorandum to the Home Minister, expressing deep disappointment at the Centre’s “failure” to recognise the problem in Kashmir “as a political problem which requires political engagement both internally and externally.” It said that while it was “palpable and shocking” to see the continued failure of the state government in dealing with the situation, “it would be a travesty to simplify the current unrest in the Valley as a pure law and order issue.”

It further said the tried and tested formulations of New Delhi in dealing with political sentiment in Kashmir “operatively and militarily”, rather than “thinking out of the box”, has further exasperated the situation and created an unprecedented sense of disaffection and cynicism especially among the youth that could have adverse long-term implications.

The delegation hoped that the Centre would consider the consequences of refusing to acknowledge the political sentiment in Kashmir and take immediate steps to initiate a sustained political dialogue with Pakistan and internal dialogue with stakeholders and a cross-section of leadership in the Valley. “A continued failure to address growing political alienation in Kashmir goes against the interests of the people of India,” they said.

Registering its anguish, grief and sorrow over the painful loss of lives in the Valley in the current unrest, the NC condemned the PDP-BJP’s state Government’s “evident insensitivity and blatant inefficiency in dealing with this heart-rending situation.”

More or less similar views were expressed by CPIM’s Muhammad Yusuf Tarigami who also said that the nature of the unrest ought to be recognised and dealt with essentially politically instead of using military might to suppress it. He reiterated what he said at an all-party meeting called by the Chief Minister here on Thursday that what has been unfolding in the Valley is not exclusively a law and order issue and urged the Home Minister that the problem should not be taken or examined in isolation.

Earlier on Saturday the Home Minister held a series of closed-door meetings with lesser know local players in an endeavour to end two-week long unrest in Kashmir Valley which has also left a couple of thousand civilians and over 1,500 security personnel injured.

In the evening, he held “extensive discussion” on the prevailing situation with Governor, N.N. Vohra, at Raj Bhavan here. About half an hour later, Chief Minister, Ms. Mufti also joined them. The discussions continued over the dinner,” official sources said.

The Home Minister is accompanied by the Directors General (DGs) of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) which along with J&K police are greatly involved in the effort to contain the unrest. During past fortnight about 5,000 additional personnel from these central forces were rushed in from Delhi and other parts of the country.

Soon after his arrival in Srinagar from Delhi on a 2-day visit for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation on Saturday morning, Singh began his endeavour by holding brief meetings with senior officers of J&K police and various central forces and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), necessarily to receive briefing on the latest ground situation from them. This was followed by a series of closed-door meetings with the members of select civil society groups, trade union organisations and clergy.

Read: Pakistan played 'key role' in fomenting trouble in Kashmir: Rajnath

While Singh was holding meetings with officials and select activists and members of lesser-known civil society groups and trade bodies at Nehru Guest House in the foothills of Zabarwan range to know their views on Kashmir unrest and seek their cooperation in assuaging the situation it, about six kilometres away a huge crowd of slogan-chanting residents carrying black and Pakistan national flags emerged from curfew-bound central Srinagar and made repeated attempts to relocate to the civil lines area on Saturday evening. But J&K police and CRPF personnel in riot gear came their way and fired teargas canisters to push them back in alleyways of what is often referred to as 'downtown Srinagar. Curfew in Srinagar and five other districts of the Valley entered the 16^th day on Sunday whereas the restrictions in rest of the Valley were eased or lifted completely on Saturday afternoon.

Official sources said that those who had met the Home Minister on Saturday included Sanjay K. Tickoo, the president of Kashmiri Pandit Sangarsh Samiti (KPSS) which represents a few thousand Pandits who stayed put when majority of the community fled the Valley in 1990, representatives of the Houseboat Owners Association, Shikarawalla Association and Sunday Market Traders’ Association.  Former IAS and other bureaucrats including Khursheed A. Ganai and Muhammad Shaffi Pandit also called on him to put their viewpoints across given the experiences they have gained while serving in Jammu and Kashmir in different capacities. A delegation of minority Sikh community and one Prof. A.R. Shawl who claimed to be a “researcher” also met the Home Minister.

A group of Muslim clerics who are enrolled as paid imams at government-controlled Muslim Waqf Board were also transported in an ambulance to the Nehru Guest House to meet Singh. 

Even as their locus standi has been questioned by those who refused to meet the Home Minister, these people also are reported to have urged Singh that the situation should be dealt with tenderly instead of using iron hand and that all stakeholders should be involved in a comprehensive dialogue process to arrive at an amicable solution to the problem. This view was endorsed by two former senior bureaucrats who met Singh. They also suggested the Centre and the J&K government should together initiate some “more appealing and soft-hearted” measures to ease the anger persisting in the Valley.