Heaven Burning like Hell

By
Ankit Gupta
MMS – 1014
Heaven on Earth, Jammu & Kashmir has been in turmoil for the past two and half months.
The entire valley is burning and is shut down by continuous protest and hartals from the
masses on one hand, and the curfew imposed by the government, on the other.

Violence in J&K has not only killed and displaced many people but has also bought the life
of localities to standstill. The shops, business enterprises and educational institutions are
closed in most parts.

The history of violence in J&K is not new. It is right from the time when India got
independence.The violence arises from time to time due to internal and external disputes. The
J&K is broadly divided into 3 regions Jammu, Kashmir valley and the region of laddhak.
These regions are being claimed by India (controls 43%), Pakistan (controls 37%) and China
(controls 20%). The external dispute is the territorial dispute between the 3 countries who
have tried to acquire more and more regions from each other from time to time. India has
been attacked many times by its neighbour for the same reason. The internal dispute is the
aspiration of the local people to have separate identity of Kashmir. To fulfil this, India has
given special status to Kashmir under Article 370 of Indian Constitution. Under this article
not all provisions of Indian constitution are applicable to the state of Kashmir. The state has
its own constitution and any new law passed under Indian Constitution is applicable to the
state only if it agrees on the same.

The special status given to the state broadly has two opposite opinions. One group believes
that the special status given should be revoked as it does not allow full integration of the state
with India. The other group on the other hand believes that special status to the state is not
being fulfilled. This has led to tussle between the people and the government of the state.
Also, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act of 1958 (AFSPA)is passed by Indian
government. This draconian legislation gives unrestricted and unaccounted powers to the
Security forces in some states where it is applied. The act gives the armed forces wide powers
to shoot, arrest and search, all in the name of "aiding civil power."

The violence in the state from last two months is duefailure of the Indian State to take
action against those found guilty of excesses and human rights violations.  Earlier, in the
Pathribal incident,five youngsters were gunned down as terrorist who were later found to be
innocent. No actions were taken against the army officers whowere involved in killing and
the government did not allowprosecuting them.  In the recent Machil encounter in which
three innocent villagers were killed on the pretext of their being jihadists crossing the border,
no action has been taken. It is this last incident which began the whole cycle of the current
protests.  The prime minister’s assurance that there will be zero tolerance of human rights
violations has not been implemented.The violence has claimed life of more than 70 people till
now. Crowds of stone pelting young men confront the CRPF pickets and the result invariably
has been firing, leading to deaths and injuries.  Every such death has led to further mass
protests.   There is a total sense of alienation and deep anger against the Indian State among
wide sections of the people.

There is an urgent need to find a long term solution by government of India which is being
acceptable by the people and will benefit both the state and country. The Government should
commence dialogue with all sections of people without any pre-conditions to find a solution
to the problem.The government of India as well as government of Jammu & Kashmir should
immediately take initiative in starting the process of dialogue with a view to find a just
solution to the Kashmir issue. More delay will only aggravate the situation in the state and
add to the difficulties. Although, there is no doubt that some elements across the border wants
the situation to get worse and are trying their level best to fulfill the same, the fact remains
that the protest in Kashmir is by the local people which not only includes the young bloods
but also women, children’s and old aged people. People are even defying the curfew imposed
and are ready to face bullets. This point to the fact that the protest is not some subversive
activity being ignited by some extremist across the borders but due to the alienation faced by
the people.The government insists on restoration of peace as a precondition for any kind of
talks. The people on the other hand do not have faith on the government and wants complete
autonomy.

What is required on the part of government is to bring about semblance of normalcy and for
democratic and peaceful political activities rather than setting preconditions for any kind of
dialogue. The most important task for the government is to instill a sense of confidence
among the people of Kashmir keeping all the aspirations in the mind.
BIBLOGRAPHY:

www.wikipedia.com

http://www.hrdc.net/sahrdc/resources/armed_forces.htm#intro

http://indianblogger.com/the-kashmir-issue-roots-of-the-problem/