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| BJP's Kashmir policy has proved counter productive | | News Analysis | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, July 12: The situation in Jammu and Kashmir was never so critical as it has been since September 2015, when the BJP-led NDA Government revered its Pakistan and Kashmir policy and started treading the path charted by Atal Behari Vajpayee and carried forward by the Congress-led UPA Government. Till September 2015, the BJP's policy was: Talks and terror could not go hand-in-hand and Hurriyat leaders will not be allowed to influence the Indo-Pak dialogue process. This is what the BJP sought to make the nation understand between May 2014 and September 2015.
It was in August 2016 that the Modi Government took the first bold decision and the decision was the cancellation of talks between India and Pakistan following the meeting between Hurriyat leaders and Pakistan High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit. The decision was hailed by the Indian nation and it shocked Pakistan and the Hurriyat leaders. The Modi Government did the same in August 2015 and the reason was the same: Meeting between Basit and Hurriyat leaders in New Delhi. It then appeared that the Modi Government had abandoned the Vajpayee's line and adopted a line that suited the national interest and the nation, but it was not to be.
What the Modi Government did after September 2015, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meetings with Pakistan Prime Minister at Ufa (Russia), Paris (France) and his sudden visit to Lahore on December 25, cleared all the cobwebs of confusion and established that its policy towards Pakistan and Kashmir was more soft and accommodating as compared to the Congress-led UPA Government's policy.
As was expected, Pakistan missed not a single opportunity to exploit New Delhi's soft approach. It intensified the break-India activities in Kashmir with the help of its paid agents such as Geelani, Mirwaiz, Malik and a few others. As a result, waving of Pakistan and IS flags and violent anti-India demonstrations in Srinagar every Fridayunder the very nose of the law and order authorities became the order of the day.
It was hoped that the Modi Government would take cognizance of the fast deteriorating situation in Kashmir and intervene to stem the rot, but it acted otherwise. BJP Union Ministers and BJP ministers in Jammu and Kashmir instead of condemning these anti-India events attacked the media.
"It is the media which is blowing things out of proportion. Waving of Pakistan flags is not a new phenomenon in Kashmir. Media should not highlight these incidents. The situation in Kashmir has vastly improved after the defeat of the NC-Congress coalition," the BJP ministers would say in Kashmir as well as Delhi. The point is that New Delhi allowed the situation to deteriorate in Kashmir with the political establishment in the state watching these subversive activities as a mute spectator. The result is the sad and bad state of affairs in Kashmir and feeling of insecurity in Jammu and Ladakh.
The worst part of the whole situation is the manner in which the Modi Government has been seeking to restore peace in the Valley. Experts are questioning its way of handling the situation. One former diplomat Rajeev Dogra on Sunda went to the extent of saying that the "New Delhi's policy is to demoralize and discourage the army and paramilitary forces and encourage separatists and terrorists".
If the Modi Government really wishes to retrieve the situation in Kashmir, it has to pursue the policy it pursued between May 2014 and September 2015. Besides, it has to strengthen the nationalist constituency in the state by empowering it politically and economically. Jammu, Ladakh and 20 lakh refugees in Jammu, including those from POJK, Pakistan and Kashmir, are the nation's backbone in the state and statesmanship demands that they are strengthened to the extent possible so that they as men on the spot defeat the nefarious games of Pakistan and Kashmiri separatists. |
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