Kashmir

Kashmir is burning and bleeding, and I am praying. The government's move for all party consensus is much appreciable. But I wonder whether it's out of concern for Kashmiris or out of apprehension that other parties may use any withdrawal of AFSPA to gain political mileage. I fear it's the latter. Sitting in Delhi, it's just not possible to understand the pains and sensitivities of Kashmiri population. Look at any of the photographs published in the papers - of angry young people of Kashmir - and you won't find a single face which is out on the streets for fun. It's not like a typical protest in Bihar, UP, Telangana or Delhi, most of which are stage managed. There, one would find people grinning and having fun while a few of them (probably paid) would be shouting slogans. Kashmir is different. There is anger, concern, resentment, fury, demand, and unity in the people, in lots of such people, and in each one of them.

I fail to foresee a solution in either autonomy or enforced control, nor anywhere mid-way. We need to look for a solution out of these two boxes. If I were the PM I would have put up my chair and table right in the center of Lal Chowk and invited leaders to show up for talks if they are interested. Kashmir desperately needs a charismatic leader. None of the Geelani's, Abdullah's and Mufti's really command the hearts of Kashmiris. Not any more.

If not a common objective, a common enemy can sometimes unite people. This is what vested interests seem to have used in Kashmir. In Kashmiri's minds, especially Kashmiri Muslims, the objectives are unclear. Some want autonomy, some want freedom, some want referendum and some favor complete accession. But in all cases, there is only one party on the other side, and that's India.

If not charismatic leadership, the other things that have the potential of reducing and probably resolving the conflict in Kashmir, are education and economic development, beginning with the former. We need to start paying lot of attention on these areas and design policy packages on utmost priority, keeping a long term view. And yes, the only immediate solution is to find a scapegoat to divert public attention, in this case being AFSPA, as if AFSPA is the only and real culprit. How long would such deceptive decision making last!?

I am not an expert on Kashmir, but above made common sense to me!