The state of Jammu and
Kashmir has always been volatile and prone to clashes and riots between the
majority and minority communities. However what is deeply worrying is the deteriorating
conditions of the state while various political parties instead of having a
united voice in the parliament, tend to polarize the issue further. Such
politics of convenience of counting and declaring the bodies of unfortunate
victims of riot with their religion is extremely unfortunate for a country
which is so proud of its rich and diverse cultural fabric.
At 11.52 on Monday J&K
Chief Minister Omar Abdulla tweeted, “3 unfortunate deaths – 1 Hindu, 2 Muslim
& we’ve a judicial inquiry with my Minister resigning. Would the BJP care
to recount 2002 response?” By counting the bodies as Hindus and Muslims, Omar
was perhaps trying to send a message that the Hindus were not at the receiving
end in the Kishtwar/Jammu communal clashes and the BJP was only narrating one
side of the story, in effect indulging in false propaganda.
An announcement of
body count on religious lines from the highest quarters in the government is a
new and potentially dangerous phenomenon that began on Monday. The counting of
dead by their religious affiliations was generally given after the temperatures
of clashing communities had cooled down. So far they have talked in terms of “a
particular community/the other community/majority/minority” and such other
expressions. The media too broadly followed the same unwritten principles.
This hedging may have
been considered farcical but it was still maintained lest it provoke a spiral
of retaliatory attacks. Mobile messaging and Internet services in parts of
J&K were snapped as some reports suggested preventing or at least containing
the speed and volume of rumours that is usually spread by motivated groups in
such situations. Both Omar and his father, Union Minister Farooq Abdullah,
brought in a Gujarat parallel to counter the BJP attack on their handling of
Kishtwar. Omar through a series of tweets and Farooq through a short
intervention in the Rajya Sabha said, “In 2002, Gujarat, in the riots period,
didn’t allow people to go to Ahmedabad. They didn’t deploy the Army”.
Leader of Opposition
in Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley in his speech also mentioned the “selective
targeting of a community” and also referred to 1990 when forced migration of
Hindus took place from the valley and for describing current Kishtwar incident.
The debate will continue about whether it was appropriate for Omar and Farooq
to rake up the 2002 Gujarat riots, particularly when the National Conference
was part of the NDA and Omar was a minister in the Vajpayee Government around
that time, and continued to be there after an initial resignation in protest
that was rejected by Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Amidst all this war of
words, even the Left has left no stone unturned as the CPI-M alleged BJP and
RSS of inciting violence in Kashmir and urged the state to take firm steps
against rumour mongers and rioters. “There are reports that activists of the
BJP, RSS (and) VHP are fanning out and inciting people to attack houses and
shops owned by the minority community,” a statement from the Communist Party of
India-Marxist said. “Despite aberrations, the people of the state have maintained
communal harmony and brotherhood till now. Attempts to sow discord among the
people on religious and communal lines must be defeated.” The CPI-M urged the
state administration “to act firmly against elements desperate to disturb peace
and harmony in the state”.
Interestingly, while
leaders of political parties and even media do not have a free access to visit
and report from Kishtwar, Twitter has emerged as the new medium of political
warfare. On the day of the incident, on Friday, it was angry exchanges on
Twitter between Omar and Sushma Swaraj that made bigger news for the outside
world than what actually was happening in Kishtwar.
The only message that
at this point of time I would like to convey to all political parties is to
stand united in the parliament and fight against those who incite violence
rather than playing politics over the graveyards who got killed from which
community. After all blood is blood and it doesn’t matter whether it is of a
Hindu or a Muslim. When a life is lost, it is of an Indian and being the policy
makers of this country, it is your responsibility to ensure the safety of your
citizens and not play the politics of hatred.
For all sorts of
bouquets and brickbats feel free to leave a comment below or mail it to me at
author.vish94@gmail.com
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