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Subject: Untying the Gordian knots

Author: Hemant Krishna V.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 20:43:21 12/16/04 Thu Untying the Gordian knots By Hemant Krishna V Talking about Kashmir, my animated friend, who happens to be an IAS aspirant, remarked: "Should I get a powerful cannon, I would go on a macabre spree, pumping lead into the heads of the terrorists", as if the Kashmiri problem entirely lay in the Indian government's failure to afford our fellow a heavy gun. If the 'oh so powerful' Indian army could do little to weed out terrorism in fifty long years, there are bleak prospects of my friend doing it single-handedly. Many of us are left soul-stirred, reading the blood-curdling tales of terror and violence happening every single day in various parts of our country. In the midst of this, making hysterical and frenzied comments as above, has become a national pastime for man. If these statements are to be recorded and played before the terrorists, they may even develop cold feet. But even as we are busily engaged in commiserating with the predicaments of these terror and violence stricken states, these states continue to be sitting ducks for fanatic man-hunters. Bloodbaths continue, unabated; innocent lives are relentlessly put to death; the gut wrenching cries of widows and orphans fail to cease. Where then lies our fault in ferreting out a pragmatic solution to the perpetual frowns of fortune on these states? Let us have a slightly nuanced approach towards analyzing the vagaries of these long-standing deadlocks. Think about it this way: why cannot an LTTE or an ULFA ever jeopardize life in a state like Delhi or Madhya Pradesh, when they have been successfully running parallel hegemonies in Nagaland and Manipur? Why can't Lashkar-e-Tayyba run its terror-factories in the heart of Maharshtra? A cynical answer to the latter would be that Shiv Sena is too strong for LeT. Jokes apart, if one seriously broods over the nature of the disasters plaguing Kashmir, ever since independence or the Northeastern states more recently, logical conclusions may well be deduced. These states, no doubt suffer a geographical disadvantage as they border our country, but that is not a reason good enough to let them turn into virtual slaughterhouses. How can the rest of India make them feel less ill fated? The one and only answer to this question is we should blend with the peoples of these regions, for after all they are as much Indian as you and me. What that these states need is not economic sops, periodically doled out, by the Central governments, nor do they need the high-level committees to ponder over their problems (read with infallible inaccuracy). They need a reason to feel one among us. They should be made to feel associated with India and Indians. The first and foremost step in this direction should be to change the status of these states from being 'exclusive tourist resorts' for globetrotting 'other Indians'. Their art and culture should not be made an area of research, but have to be incorporated in the mainstream Indian culture, which is so diverse and varied. Visits by the Indian Prime Minister to these regions should not be deemed as feathers in the ruling government's cap. A curious observation made by the current chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Mr. Mufti Mohd. Sayed comes to my mind. While commenting on the then NDA government's efforts to organize a 'brain-storming session' in Delhi to chalk-out a solution to the Kashmir issue, Mr. Sayed had said that such sessions should be held in Srinagar and not in the plush ambience of New Delhi. However, his suggestion fell on deaf ears and like always, the meet too ended as a damp squib, unable to shift the scene in J&K. When no useful crops grow on a piece of land, weeds will grow apace, by themselves. Similarly, when the citizens of the rest of India stand aloof from these affected areas, paramilitary outfits will thrive in all prosperity. And then if the Indian parliament enforces an act so as to ban such outfits, the misery of the inhabitants will grow ten-fold. They will be torn apart in the fight between the state army and the native armed forces, to further exasperate the situation, as in case of Manipur. Instead if the lay Indian extends a hand of brotherly affection to the Kashmiris and the Manipuris, the Jihadis, the ULFAs, the PWGs will fade into thin air, all by themselves. This is exactly what my friend fails to realize and so do many of us. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]