Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Apr 21: Citizens Group has urged the J&K and Central Government to show exemplary restraint in either deploying force or adopting ‘innovative’ measures which can backfire in dealing with protesters in Kashmir valley. At the same time, Group has asked the protesters that they must understand that the path they have chosen is counter-productive.
In a statement, the Group said, “the news of recurrence of violence, student protests and the video war on social media in Kashmir ought to disturb every right thinking Indian. Both the Government and the Kashmiri protesters need to recognize that in democracies the world over, peace in disturbed areas has never been achieved through more violence or by retributive measures”.
“Whether it is the death of 8 protesters on April 9 during the Srinagar by-poll, 200 including troops injured in the accompanying violence and now the student protests the situation in Kashmir is only deteriorating by the day”, the Group said, adding “already we have witnessed far too many deaths, maiming and blindings in the Kashmir valley last summer”.
The Group said that the worst ever voter turn-out of meager 7 per cent in Srinagar by-poll is a warning of the extent of disillusionment prevailing in the Kashmiri voters’ mind. “An erosion of faith in democratic processes may eventually threaten the legitimacy of the State itself. This process needs to be stemmed and corrective measures taken”, the Group stressed.
Stating that dialogue with those who hold differing views is the only civilized way that democratic societies know of reconciling differences, the Group said, “India’s heart is large enough and its Constitution flexible enough to accommodate the aspirations of all its citizens including the people of Jammu and Kashmir”.
“Conditions conducive to a dialogue that can restore reason, calm and sanity must be enabled. For this, the Government of J&K and the Central Government need to show exemplary restraint in either deploying force or adopting ‘innovative’ measures which can backfire in dealing with protesters”, the Group said, adding “the protesters must also understand that the path they have chosen is counter-productive. Stone-pelting or intervening in anti-militancy operations of the security forces will make them easy targets of violence”.
It has stressed that Government of India needs to carefully fashion a strategy of outreach to the people of Kashmir. “Such an outreach should include not only leaders of Kashmiri civil society, opinion makers, public intellectuals and other stakeholders in the State but also the separatist leadership as promised in the Agenda of Alliance between the BJP and the PDP”, the Group further said.
It has urged the Central Government to urgently initiate a political dialogue to prevent the recurrence of violence in Kashmir and restore the faith of the Kashmiri people in democratic processes to resolve their grievances. “A continued reliance on military measures alone to sort out a problem which is entirely political is short-sighted and a great disservice to the nation”, the Group said.
The signatories to the statement of Citizens Group are Justice (R) A P Shah, Yashwant Sinha, Wajahat Habibullah, Salman Haidar, Nirupama Rao, Aruna Roy, Shekhar Gupta, Prem Shankar Jha, Ramchandra Guha, S Irfan Habib, Kapil Kak, Badri Raina, John Dayal, Bharat Bhushan and Sushobha Barve.
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