09-02-2008, 01:39 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Vox populi, vox dei </b>
The Pioneer Edit Desk
J&K now needs early election
The 'compromise solution' that ended the 61-day protest of the Sri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti was in effect a restoration of the status quo.<b> While the idea of round-the-year transfer of land to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board has been dropped,</b> the same land will be available to the Board for the duration of the yatra. The agreement also restores the right of managing the yatra, religious ceremonies and temporal logistics alike, to the SASB, a non-controversial responsibility that had been needlessly taken away by Mr NN Vohra, the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, within days of his assuming office. It led people to the streets in Jammu, triggering a massive counter-mobilisation of Hindus against the Islamist exclusivism being propagated in the Kashmir Valley. It was always clear where an honourable exit route lay. Worried about the reaction from the separatists -- and their self-appointed chief spokesperson, Mehbooba Mufti -- and the All-Party Hurriyat Conference, the UPA Government needlessly delayed the inevitable. Finally, having cajoled the National Conference and found at least one ally of convenience in the Valley, the Government gathered the nerve to go ahead.
What is the upshot of the Jammu protest? First, it has made clear that the Islamism project in the Kashmir Valley is unremitting. However, it is not immediately likely to turn into a full-scale jihad as it did in 1990, primary because Pakistan and the international mujahideen are engaged in battles elsewhere, across the Line of Control, across the Radcliffe Line, across the Durand Line. For all its bravado, the Hurriyat did realise that in case the Indian security forces cracked down it could not expect the degree of cross-border support and sympathy its foot-soldiers may have garnered 20 years ago. That aside, major powers don't want another Islamic territory carved out in south Asia, and are wary of the Kashmiri cause. Second, the relentless and determined pursuit of a cherished belief by civil society in Jammu -- with white collar, middle class people risking bullets or at least long economic disruptions -- has actually given India strategic depth. Jammu's nationalist rage will work as a corrective to Kashmir's separatist extremism; it will come in the way of Governments in New Delhi giving away too much and too soon. At some point, perhaps after the coming Assembly election, it would probably need to be institutionalised into a power-sharing arrangement. Jammu, which contributes 70 per cent of the State's revenue, should get its due. In the long run, this suits India.
Finally, the entire Hurriyat-PDP campaign against the Amarnath land transfer was an attempt to undermine the coming election in the State. Another smooth round of voting would lower the credibility of the secessionists. It is fairly clear that the National Conference changed tack and welcomed the compromise because it sensed that if the State remained turbulent, election would be postponed. The Abdullahs, hoping to benefit from the anti-incumbency mood against the PDP and the Congress -- which together ran the Government for nearly six years -- obviously want an early poll. The BJP, as the natural beneficiary of the Jammu agitation, has similar imperatives. A free and fair election in Jammu & Kashmir would also be to India's advantage and give it diplomatic leverage. That is why, the UPA Government must not delay -- and urge the Election Commission to announce election dates immediately.
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The Pioneer Edit Desk
J&K now needs early election
The 'compromise solution' that ended the 61-day protest of the Sri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti was in effect a restoration of the status quo.<b> While the idea of round-the-year transfer of land to the Sri Amarnath Shrine Board has been dropped,</b> the same land will be available to the Board for the duration of the yatra. The agreement also restores the right of managing the yatra, religious ceremonies and temporal logistics alike, to the SASB, a non-controversial responsibility that had been needlessly taken away by Mr NN Vohra, the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, within days of his assuming office. It led people to the streets in Jammu, triggering a massive counter-mobilisation of Hindus against the Islamist exclusivism being propagated in the Kashmir Valley. It was always clear where an honourable exit route lay. Worried about the reaction from the separatists -- and their self-appointed chief spokesperson, Mehbooba Mufti -- and the All-Party Hurriyat Conference, the UPA Government needlessly delayed the inevitable. Finally, having cajoled the National Conference and found at least one ally of convenience in the Valley, the Government gathered the nerve to go ahead.
What is the upshot of the Jammu protest? First, it has made clear that the Islamism project in the Kashmir Valley is unremitting. However, it is not immediately likely to turn into a full-scale jihad as it did in 1990, primary because Pakistan and the international mujahideen are engaged in battles elsewhere, across the Line of Control, across the Radcliffe Line, across the Durand Line. For all its bravado, the Hurriyat did realise that in case the Indian security forces cracked down it could not expect the degree of cross-border support and sympathy its foot-soldiers may have garnered 20 years ago. That aside, major powers don't want another Islamic territory carved out in south Asia, and are wary of the Kashmiri cause. Second, the relentless and determined pursuit of a cherished belief by civil society in Jammu -- with white collar, middle class people risking bullets or at least long economic disruptions -- has actually given India strategic depth. Jammu's nationalist rage will work as a corrective to Kashmir's separatist extremism; it will come in the way of Governments in New Delhi giving away too much and too soon. At some point, perhaps after the coming Assembly election, it would probably need to be institutionalised into a power-sharing arrangement. Jammu, which contributes 70 per cent of the State's revenue, should get its due. In the long run, this suits India.
Finally, the entire Hurriyat-PDP campaign against the Amarnath land transfer was an attempt to undermine the coming election in the State. Another smooth round of voting would lower the credibility of the secessionists. It is fairly clear that the National Conference changed tack and welcomed the compromise because it sensed that if the State remained turbulent, election would be postponed. The Abdullahs, hoping to benefit from the anti-incumbency mood against the PDP and the Congress -- which together ran the Government for nearly six years -- obviously want an early poll. The BJP, as the natural beneficiary of the Jammu agitation, has similar imperatives. A free and fair election in Jammu & Kashmir would also be to India's advantage and give it diplomatic leverage. That is why, the UPA Government must not delay -- and urge the Election Commission to announce election dates immediately.
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