Much outrage is being expressed over a new book, The Meadow, authored by Adrian Levy
and Cathy Scott-Clark, which puts the blame on a high profile abduction and killing of five foreign tourists in Kashmir in the late 90s on the Indian Army and security agencies. The first assumption ,of course, is that this is indeed true, since, as an eminent journalist pointed out in his piece, this has never been spoken about at all — which is a rarity in a world that is notoriously known for ‘open secrets’. Let us leave that assumption aside and look at the realities. The fact that Kashmir has been in the throes of a covert and many a time overt war, funded and sponsored by Islamic interests abroad(notably our neighbour), is indisputable. This is a reality
since the first attempt in 1947 and the last one at Kargil in 1999 (Read, India, Pakistan and the SecretJihad by Praveen Swami). The nature of this overt war has kept pace with the realities of the world. It was open terror in the late 80s and early 90s which resulted in the brutal exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits —a sordid episode unprecedented in independent India.Over time, thanks to the patience and persistence of Indian authorities, the relative decline of the neighbor into the abyss of a terrorist state and its occupation with its other border, the worldwide recognition of the terror threat has contributed to the decline of the violent movement.The movement has sought to sustain itself on the basis of other means of outrage, as seen in the stone throwing episodes a couple of years back, which were proved to have been funded by interests inimical to India. A significant part of this is how the Pakistani ISI has cultivated the high and mighty in India for the throwaway price of a few junkets and sought to keep the so-called freedom movement alive in the media by saying the right things. This came to light most recently with the Ghulam Nabi Fai episode.What is clear is this: That the part of the entire Jammu & Kashmir afflicted by this Islamic in surgency is a very small one and is largely reflective of an Islamic movement than a movement based on real democratic freedom (where all religions thrive and all people are equal etc. — which is my definition of freedom).The driving out of the Pandits has made this clear to everybody. This movement seeks to destroyKashmiriyat (whatever little is left of it) and replace
it with some version of ‘Islamiyat’. The fact that one is conflated for the other is a failure of our discourse.
The fact is also that there is a significant part of the State that is under Pakistan and China’s control,
where civil liberties practically do not exist. There is a long story to be told, but the fact of the matter is this:
Counter-terrorism is not pretty. Wars have to be fought. As we have seen from India’s own experience — in
Punjab or with the Maoist movement — we have had to use all tactics in order to win this war. After all, the
terrorists and their sponsors do much worse and it is in the Government’s interest to protect its citizens by
what ever means.The Narasimha Rao Government, in a way, did many things that irreversibly changed the direction of India. And this is perhaps one of them. Books typically sensationalise stories for a variety of reasons. But, here is the point: If it were true, it is a feather in the cap of Indian authorities. However, let us not use the book as an excuse to flog Indian agencies for the atrocities in Kashmir. Do remember that until terrorism began, there were no soldiers in the State or in the Valley. It would have been just one of the many States in India that happen to have an international border
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