Panun Kashmir delegation meets Vohra, reiterates homeland

KS Correspondent

SRINAGAR, Apr 25: A three-member delegation of Panun Kashmir, headed by its Chairman, Dr Ajay Chrangoo met Mr. N.N. Vohra, the Centre's interlocutor on Kashmir, this morning. It made a detailed presentation on Kashmir and the problems of the displaced Pandit community. The other members of the delegation were Mr. Kuldeep Raina, General Secretary and Mrs. Nancy Kaul, General Secretary, Daughters of Vitasta Women's Wing of Panun Kashmir. The meeting lasted over an hour.

Homeland Reiterated :

The delegation told Centre's interlocutor that no serious thought was being given to the return of Kashmiri Pandits to their homes in the Valley. The manner in which the J&K government is addressing the question has boomranged on Kashmiri Pandits. Dr. Chrangoo said, "The return of our community is being addressed more as a cosmetic, non-serious exercise rather than with the seriousness such a human problem deserves". The members impressed upon Vohra that the Kashmir government's appeal to the Pandits to return would evoke the right response only if a safe zone with Union Territory Status was carved out north and east of the river Jhelum. "The Union Territory Status is essential because we want the Indian Constitution and all the Central laws to be applicable to the places where we live and not laws with intermediary interpretations, as happens in Kashmir", Vohra was told.

The delegation held that last month's Nadimarg massacre in which over two dozen Pandits were killed was partly triggered by media reports that the Kashmir government was mulling plans for the return of Hindus to Valley. The members told Vohra, "It has to be a political dispensation of a far greater magnitude than the platitudes which the Central and State governments have become used to".

Panun Kashmir delegation talked about the genocide against the community. It made a strong plea for the provision of employment opportunities and improvement in the condition of migrant camps in Jammu. It demanded that Centre should build economic and psychological stakes for the displaced community in the state. Only then could it return to Valley. The members demanded that in no case the ratio of its employees should be allowed to fall below 1990 strength. It may be recalled that there were 13000 state government employees of Pandit community in total employee strength of 3.5 lakhs. They also referred to Centre's indifference to their plight. One and a half year back, the Prime Minister had announced raising of relief from Rs 2400 to Rs 3000. It has still not been implemented. Panun Kashmir demanded that relief should be raised to Rs 5000.

The delegation accused State government of building psychological attrition on community and worsening its plight. It referred to PK' delegation's visit to Sangrampora in 1997, where S.P. Budgam told them that the State government had not taken local administration in confidence on Pandit delegation's visit. NC government had virtually imperilled their security and BSF had come to their rescue.

On the policy of tokenist return of Pandit community, the delegation said the government was trying to delegitimise the communal and subversive role of separatists and was legitimizing the creation of monolithic Islamic state. Return of Pandits was not possible unless it was linked with ethnic-cleansing process and ideological contours of separatists ideology.

Dr. Ajay Chrangoo told Mr. Vohra that no single-track approach would help retrieve  Kashmir. The Centre had to gear up social groups who were opposed to separatists. He argued how Panun Kashmir was a valuable strategic option for retrieval of situation.

Secular Nation-Building:

The Panun Kashmir delegation pleaded that the crisis in Kashmir basically reflects the failure of the secular nation-building process. Dr. Chrangoo told Vohra that if the solution to Kashmir problem has to be found then the communal politics has to be defeated.

The delegation explained how Kashmir was a military problem and in the present Political scenario, there was no space for political dialogues. The PK Chairman told Vohra that by responding to military problem with peace, the government was compromising peace and surrendering peace to those who violated it.

Three genres of secessionism:

Dilating upon this, they explained that there were three streaks of secessionism in Kashmir’s Muslim politics. One demanded independence, second was for annexation of State by Pakistan while the third one, represented by NC was demanding autonomy and a semi-sovereign state, with two constitutions. The three variants of separatist politics only complemented one another. GOI has been making mistakes by patronizing one variant of communal-separatist politics to fight another.

Expressing pessimism over Centre’s approach the members of the delegation argued that in the absence of an alternate ideological pole of politics in Valley, the fight against secessionists has remained hamstrung.

Outlining various steps that need to be undertaken for setting the things right in Kashmir, the members of the delegation presented a three point solution. One, the Central government must desist from enacting symbolic/tokenist return, and link it with broad aspects of the problem. Second, Centre must not succumb to the politics of blackmail, resorted to by either mainstream Valley groups or the separatists. In this context they upbraided Central leadership for giving long rope to Sheikh Abdullah in earlier years and bungling of Chief Ministership issue recently. The nation had to pay heavy price for it. In 1989-90, when Mufti Syed was Union Home Minister, lowering down of security forces’ presence created a situation where people in thousands came out in streets to stage secessionist demonstrations. Again recently, Vohra was told, disbanding of STF undermined counter-insurgency efforts. Third suggestion was the Centre must contest and not cover up communal politics. The members minced no words in telling Centre’s interlocutor that they were not going to legitimize religion-based politics in the state. They asked Mr Vohra how was Centre going to build stakes ‘high for the separatists.

The Panun Kashmir leadership apprised Mr Vohra that they had raised similar issues when they met Mr KC Pant in May 2001 at Srinagar. They said Kashmiri Pandits had become civilisational and political frontline victims in the ongoing proxy-war. In Kashmir the challenge is not correcting so-called historical wrongs but re-establishing secular nation-building principles, they added. Referring to the contradictions in Centre’s approach, they said “Kashmir has been projected as the refutation of two-nation theory, but sad story was it has been governed on two-nation principle”. They warned this contradiction will not only destroy the J&K State but also undermine the entire polity of India.

The delegation lamented that India had allowed itself to be cornered on the issue of human and civil rights in Kashmir, because it allowed a selective discourse on human rights to flourish in the country. This discourse only concerns itself with “excesses” of the state and takes it out from the compulsions imposed on the state by the terrorist environment. GOI failed to place Kashmiri Hindu displacement in proper perspective. The members also referred to the role of NHRC, which was undermining the position of patriotic victims of terrorism.

Interaction with Media:

Later the Panun Kashmir delegation met the representatives from Kashmir’s print and electronic media and had lively and frank interaction with them. In the troubled history of Kashmir, Panun Kashmir had few chances for interactions with Valley’s media. Dr Ajay Chrangoo, head of PK answered questions, asked by media-persons.

Q: Doesn’t homeland demand entail a communal division of Valley?

AC: This is the only secular political approach existing in Valley, as it links the survival of Kashmiri identity with free flow of Indian Constitution. Kashmiri Pandits have found, over the years, they were living in a defecto Muslim state. They have now resolved not to be part of any political process, which promotes or camouflages Muslim communalism.

Q: How can the Valley Muslims be dubbed as communal? Didn’t they protest strongly over Nadimarg massacre?

AC: We have to understand the whole process in a balanced way. We know it very well that the local Muslims were involved in all the major massacres that have taken place. Why are Kashmiri Muslims trying to wish away this reality and after each massacre trying to give an impression that only foreign mercenaries were involved. If foreign mercenaries alone are involved, isn’t it a more serious indictment of Kashmiri Muslim society, because a widespread societal connivance is required for foreign terrorists to operate. We have also in mind how lakhs of people joined Sheikh Abdullah’s funeral. After a few years only, his grave had to be protected.

Q: What has led to the present crisis?

AC: It is failure of secular nation-building process. The crisis in Kashmir can be reversed only through reversal of process of communalisation of Kashmir’s social milieu. GOI’s emphasis has been totally misplaced.

Q: How can a 2 percent minority lay its claim to a large chunk of land in Kashmir?

AC: What is the basis of our demand has to be addressed? You cannot have a correct census of our community, when violence rules the roost. The figures of displacement, available with GOI project our population strength to be around 350 thousand. In this various diasporas of Kashmiri Pandits have not been counted.

Q: Doesn’t this homeland demand visualise expulsions of Muslims from the demanded territory?

AC: Indian Constitution and its free flow does not exclude anybody. How do you assume that there are no Kashmiri Muslims, who want to live in such a dispensation? Conversely, we can ask whether those, who believe in separatism, have any dispensation for those who do not believe in autonomy, “azadi” or outright secession. Where will these people go in case these separatist proposals fall through?

Q: Do you have a final solution in mind?

AC: The lesson of this century is that final solutions do not work. Final solution of jews led to the creation of Israel. Final solution for Palestine is almost on the brink. Palestinians are on the verge of getting homeland. Final solution for Kurds also failed. The reality of Kurds’ attaining homeland has become a distinct possibility. I can assure you, each massacre against Pandit community and every bullet fired at a Kashmiri Pandit will not only build the logic for homeland. It will in fact deliver it.

Panun Kashmir delegation later flew to Jammu to brief the press about its talks with the Centre’s inerlocutor.