It's 3 months since the death of Burhan Wani when the Kashmir valley erupted into mass protests followed by curfews & restrictions. About a month back things looked like they were finally getting under control but another round of firings, a death and curfew is back.
Kashmir has always been an interesting part of the Indian political scene and beyond that the whole Indian psyche. We hear beautiful things about Kashmir - the serene valleys, the beautiful Dal lake, an idyllic world - paradise on earth is often quoted but at the same time Kashmir has never been a problem free matter for the entirety of India's existence.
I have been intrigued as to what really drives this conflict and what's the best possible way of ending this conflict. Over the past few months I have read up on history, on opinions (no shortage), on facts and what's happening on the ground to come up with what I believe is the sane/rational way of dealing with an extremely complicated situation which has a lot at stake for everyone. As someone who's never been to Kashmir, I know these may sound as wonkish or impractical ideas lacking reality so am open to feedback on what could work and what's really outlandish.
Azaadi or the Republic of India?
The first and foremost thing needed is to frame the discussion - there is no debate/dispute that we need to talk and engage but it's equally important that we are clear on where the boundaries lie. We have to talk directly with the people of Kashmir and be transparent that we are willing to hear what they have to say and what they want but at no time is Azaadi going to be discussed and nor is Pakistan going to be at the discussion table. Azaadi is an oft-cited demand but do we really know what the Kashmiris want as a result of Azaadi? The Indian constitution and federal structure provides each state with enough freedom (Azaadi) to make decisions that are relevant to the people of the state and the direct participative democracy of India gives it's citizens a chance to make their voices heard on both the state level as well as national level policy. In such a framework why is it that the expectations of the Kashmiri people can't be met when those of 28 other states can be met? The engagement with the people of Kashmir has to be that if they renounce secession and fully participate in the Indian democratic system, they have more to gain than to lose.
Our Kashmir E.Q. - Security Forces
As we get to this point of discussion, the first and foremost challenge for the Indian state and it's institutions is to win emotionally and regain some credibility. For the right or wrong reasons, there is a terrible lack of credibility and there has to be a deliberate plan and actions to win back trust. The people of Kashmir see the Indian state in 2 establishments - the administrative wings of the government and the security wings.
Given the state police, the paramilitary and the military forces are ever present this would be a good place to start to build relations. Let's begin by defining the maximum interactions the locals have to be with like minded locals i.e. the Police force. The state's police force that should be predominantly made of locals, should be given the responsibility of handling as many issues as possible be it traffic management, day to day law and order and even the enforcement of any minor/preliminary crowd control tactics. As locals, they would be able to sympathize with their fellow citizens and their fellow citizens would see them as representative of a responsible and functional state and reduce the animosity on both sides.
The paramilitary forces (CRPF, BSF etc) should be brought in only on special cases when the local police forces have failed. Obviously this means improving the capability of the local police force by several notches but that's an important milestone to achieve. At the same time, as outsiders being brought in to control hostile situations, our paramilitary forces need equally strong training on how to deal with such situations that could easily spiral out of control. We should look to learn and re-apply from Israel which has been living through a similar situation in an absolutely similar timeline. We need to equip our forces to have non-lethal weapons as the first tactic on crowd control while at the same time giving them the armour and protection needed to deal with non conventional attacks be it stones, bottles or even rushing children and women. All of this would leave the army to do what it does best - defend our borders from outsiders and getting rid of terrorists flowing from across the border or carrying out Special Ops to eliminate terrorist risks from within the border.
Our Kashmir E.Q. - Development
For a political party and leader like the BJP and Narendra Modi which campaigned to govern on a plank of development and for which it was rewarded handsomely with a single party majority there's no better state than Jammu & Kashmir to showcase how development can make a marked difference in the lives of people. The people of Kashmir at the end of the day want the same basics that the rest of the country is asking so why should be it handled any differently? Surprisingly, J&K has been a state showered with a number of economic packages but the end results on the ground are nowhere close - let's start by reconciling what happened to the money from packages and who in the system ended up making the most of it while depriving the citizens who needed it the most. In parallel, engage the local community into the administration - be it the panchayats, jobs and development schemes or even paying extra attention to minor issues. Kashmir can be truly integrated into India only when their youth feel there is something for them. Local self governance and engagement in municipal bodies where opinions are heard and actions executed would strengthen the belief in the structure of the Indian systems.
Going Ahead
As we do all of this, it's equally important we keep an eye on the end state - how does this all end and become a "Happily Ever After" story? The only solution to that is to constitutionally abolish Article 370 and complete the integration of J&K into India like every other state at the time of independence. To make this happen, the above steps are crucial because a plebiscite/referendum would be a good basis to justify this integration which would need the people to want to be a part of India. This also means the rest of India, especially the media and the right wing online brigade, needs to tone down the rhetoric and understand the issues and fix them rather than get into a shouting match and chest thumping. We have to treat Jammu & Kashmir as a normal state to get normal behavior and news rather than treating it as an outlier and basket case of propaganda from around the world.
At the end of the day, what trumps everything, is the need for the people of Kashmir to feel they are making progress. Their best chances stand in being with a strong and growing India that gives them the gateway to a million things rather than trying to luck it out alone with no resources and as a landlocked nation surrounded by military super powers or worse throwing their lot with the failed state of Pakistan.
#Kashmir
