Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Sept 23: Maintaining that winning the hearts and minds of people in J&K could constitute the most important Confidence Building Measure between the Hindus and Muslims, People’s Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti today lamented selective response to incidents of similar nature that conveyed an impression of discrimination against Kashmir.
Addressing the National Integration Council meeting here today she said while it was good that Muzaffarnagar riots evoked response at the national level, hundreds of deaths at the hands of Government forces in J&K was nobody’s concern.
Pointing out the fact that the recent Kishtwar incident formed a separate agenda item of the NIC meeting, Mehbooba said though a Minister in the State was sacrificed on the issue, not a single constable was punished for the hundreds of killings elsewhere in the State.
Mehbooba said at every stage Kashmir is sent a message of otherness. Recalling the manner in which Afzal Guru was picked up from 28th number on the death row, she said other condemned prisoners from Punjab and Tamil Nadu of similar nature are still alive courtesy judicial intervention that was denied to Afzal. She said in case of Afzal the course of law was made to look like cruelty which would stay as a wound on the psyche of Kashmir.
Mehbooba said more civilians, all of them innocent, have been killed in recent years in J&K than all the militants, police and security men put together. But neither at the national level nor within the State has there been any indication of remorse or attempt to punish the guilty. “Is this how we build confidence among the communities or promote integration?” asked Mehbooba.
The PDP president said while the Government is doing its duty seriously in finding out truth about the fake encounters in Gujarat, in J&K proved cases have been shelved.
While rest of the region enjoys the fruits of true democracy and accountability, in J&K it is reduced to a six year ritual of electing people under multiple shadows that devalue even that sacrosanct process, Mehbooba said.
While partition and Hindu Muslim acrimony were never part of Kashmir’s independence discourse as in rest of South Asia but for us its fallout continues to be a punishment taking a heavy toll on life, property,prosperity, civil liberties and human rights. “About elections in J&K, we are still at the stage where the then Prime Minister like Atal Behari Vajpayee did in 2002, has to assure of its fairness”, she asserted.
Mehbooba said resolution of Kashmir problem could be a very important measure in addressing communalism in the country. Since J&K is the only Muslim majority State in the country the treatment meted out to it would impact the mood of minorities elsewhere. She said a positive turn in the State would send a message of immense magnitude to minorities and address their fears, concerns and help in neutralising centuries old misgivings.
Complimenting the leaders of regional parties like Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Sharad Yadav and Nitish Kumar for instilling a sense of security among Muslims, Mehbooba said the minority community now at least can rise up for their rights. But the safety of minorities should not be dependent on a political party but must flow from the system, she said pleading for legislative cover to ensure access of Muslims to health, education and employment at par with other communities.
Speaking about the insecurity of women in the country, Mehbooba said she as a woman and the mother of two daughters feels they are safe in other countries rather than their own. She said rape has assumedproportions of an epidemic and women are unsafe at the hands ofeverybody, be it relatives, ordinary persons or men in authority. Shesaid it was a cruel irony that women were feeling most unsafe at a time when outstanding women like Sonia Gandhi, Mayawati, Jayalalitha and Mamta Banerji held important positions in the country’s power structure.
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