J&K: Iron Fist vs Velvet Glove

J&K government’s soft policy has overturned the people’s verdict against terrorism

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

BJP general secretary and spokesperson

The Congress and the PDP should not think that the mandate they received in Jammu and Kashmir was for a soft stand on terrorism. Rather, the people of the state, braving terrorist bullets, intimidation and the boycott call given by separatists, ensured a victory for democracy. Even in the so-called separatist strongholds, people came out in large numbers to cast their votes. To shut one’s eyes to this is to act against the interests of the state and the nation.

The Congress is a national party but, unfortunately, in J&K it is behaving like a regional outfit. The soft stand it has adopted on terrorism in the state will rebound on it elsewhere in the country.

It is completely untrue that the J&K government consulted the Central intelligence agencies before releasing the terrorists. An important leader like Sonia Gandhi should not have misled the nation on this. No responsible officer of the Central government - neither the home minister nor the home secretary - gave clearance on the issue. Informal consultations with some local officers don’t count. And after the state government released the terrorists, the Centre sent a strong letter to it expressing its disapproval, as such actions can only be counter-productive. Conflicting statements and actions by political parties will only boost the morale of the terrorists.

True, the common minimum programme of the Congress-PDP coalition says it will not use POTA and that it will release terrorists. But the Congress, before agreeing to the CMP, should have considered the consequences of honouring such promises. It is also untrue - as is being put out - that the Congress consulted the prime minister on the CMP.

Rather than follow a policy of appeasement towards terrorists, the Congress-PDP government must tackle issues such as development and unemployment. Of course, one should try and bring such elements into the national mainstream, but despite the best efforts of successive governments this has not happened. But it is also a fact that there are now only a handful of people left who have a separatist mindset.

Does the Mufti government want to spend time on this handful, or in the vast majority in the state who have rejected terrorism? To release hardened terrorists will be an injustice to those boys who have laid down their arms, and will create confusion in their minds. The Congress-PDP government should be given time to prove itself, but not to appease Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.

Agreed the core issue in J&K is terrorism, but it won’t disappear by releasing those jailed for terrorist acts without proper screening. The Centre has suggested the setting up of a screening committee to separate the innocent from the guilty. The NDA government has offered full cooperation on this and though law and order is a state subject, it would be useful for the state to consult the Centre on how to deal with terrorism. After all, the NDA government has had a great deal of success in checking terrorism - it has been a major achievement of the government that public support for it had gone down. The state government should, therefore, rethink its policy.

The recent attack on the Raghunath temple in Jammu was an attempt to communalise the atmosphere there as well as elsewhere in the country. I salute the people of the state - as I salute the people of Gujarat after the assault on Akshardham - that they did not retaliate. And while one cannot say that the government’s soft stand on terrorism led to the Raghunath temple episode, the release of terrorists, combined with the disbanding of the Special Operations Group and suspension of POTA sent out a clear message that the government there is soft on terrorism. People are trying to compare the attack on Akshardham with that on the Raghunath temple, but it is not a fair comparison. Those how attacked Akshardham wanted to provoke post-Godhra-like riots, but the attack on the Raghunath temple happened because the morale of the terrorists was high.

The Mufti government has to create a sense of security and tackle effectively the socio-economic problems so that people from outside the state can be encouraged to go there and an atmosphere of normalcy is created. This will help to further reduce local support for separatist tendencies. Already, the proportion of foreign terrorist groups has hugely increased as compared to the home-grown variety. If restoring normalcy becomes a priority, that will completely overshadow the few terrorist acts which will continue - one cannot expect them to end overnight.

A dialogue with Pakistan isn’t possible as long as that country does not accept responsibility for sponsoring terrorism here. But war, too, is not a solution. The US carpet-bombed Afghanistan, but Osama bin Laden is still at large. But the Indian way has met with some success - the fact that terrorist groups no longer find it possible to operate from Indian soil is proof of this. And this has not happened by being soft on terrorism.

(As told to Smitta Gupta)

Source: The Times of India

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