First let me begin this with a few notes on AFPSA , one of the more draconian laws passed by the Indian parliament in 63 years. ( http://www.hrdc.net/sahrdc/resources/armed_forces.htm ) Interested people can visit the site for more details and study on AFPSA. This law needs to be revised so that it complies with Indian law and international standards to the bare minimum extent. The required amendments are listed in conclusions of the study .
Now coming to the paradise on earth – Kashmir, As pointed out by siddharth varadarajan in his recent post http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article551897.ece the immediate trigger for current turbulence was killing of 17-year-old Tufail Mattoo, who was killed by a tear gas canister which struck his head during a protest in Srinagar in June against the Machhil fake encounter of April 30. Many observers , as he points out , blame this squarely on security forces . Indiscriminate use of force where by the forces use poorly designed canisters and live ammunition for crowd control. This has also plenty to do with administrative propoganda of demonising LeT and Pakistan behind every attack in Kashmir. The way women and children turned out in numbers for the protests show this . Even though army had taken steps against officers involved in the scandal , it remains proof that they had the nerve for such a heinous act just because they were confident that they would get away with it. (http://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/2010/Jul/17/this-rage-has-a-reason-13.asp ) . Many human rights activists say this is just the tip of the iceberg! They had the supreme confidence from Pathribal fake encounter case in which CBI conducted inquiry against the convicted but the Ministry of Defence denied permission for criminal proceedings and has taken the matter all the way to the Supreme Court in an effort to ensure its men do not face trial. What was the message that went out as a result? . It looks more or less the repetition of the old case. Had the centre took an exemplary stand against the rotten apples that has spoiled the armed forces in kashmir , we could have seen a different scenario in kashmir altogether. The impunity of few armed men has put the lives of police forces in the state at huge risk! http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Politics/Nation/articleshow/6278377.cms is another report into the same.
Even though Omar Abdullah is not an extra ordinary administrator he can not be blamed for the current crisis in Kashmir. This has lot to do with over securatization of kashmir than anything else. http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/article531907.ece :- he should have the courage to put pressure centre to do away with the draconian legislature. The Chief Minister also briefly flirted with the idea of setting up a ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ of sorts; however, it remains one of his pet grand ideas and has never materialised !Mainstream politicians in the Valley forget what has always been true in the case of Kashmir: peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of justice, as famously pointed out by Martin Luther King Jr. The politicians of Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi should have had the wisdom to capitalise on the positive post-2008 atmosphere by promoting substantive conflict resolution processes in the State. The absence of a political reconciliation process has convinced the people, especially the youth, that their trust has been betrayed by the elected leadership.
For the indian side more and more kashmiri youth turning to the Hurriyat led side is not a good sign! Democratic upsurges can not be suppressed with bruta force for ever. The hindu echoed similar comments through its two editorials on this matter : http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article495465.ece , http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/article522202.ece No amount of economic largesse will tempt this generation to buy unconvincing political arguments. When disillusioned youth fight for a meaning to their political existence, the political parties of Jammu and Kashmir ought to pay attention, for it is these youths who will decide their fate. (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article527024.ece )
We also witnessed pathetic response from the opposition BJP which was renewing its stance on Article 370 (http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_advani-slams-centre-for-kashmir-siutation_1420690 ) While we should remember the fact that he did not have the political courage to do that while he was the home minister. Bringing this up at this point and criticising the centre at this point is perhaps politically right but ethically absurd stance.
Presenting a selected list of kashmiri blogs : http://kashmircries.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2010-05-29T10:02:00-07:00&max-results=3 ,http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/suhasinihaidar/218/54001/jammu-and-kashmir-seize-the-moment.html ,http://bluelegends.sulekha.com/blog/post/2007/06/a-photo-blog-on-the-realities-in-kashmir.htm
