AR Bhat
“Silence is no more an Option”
– Anonymous
Battle of narratives has always been an integral part of a society which has often and emphatically changed the course of wars, led to change of regimes, Cultural Revolutions, overthrowing „tyrant‟ rulers, changed perspectives and shaped the opinion of stakeholders in conflict scenarios. Opinion of people matters, and matters more, when they themselves are the Centre of Gravity in situations typified by Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) environment. But these opinions need to resonate to hit the right chords within the people to form narratives, or else they will remain a noise – a very irritating and nonsensical one at that!
Kashmir has seen numerous battles of narratives and have witnessed them turn violent-killing innocents on the streets, rendering many „non locals/ Kafirs‟ as homeless and largely distraught, while the conflict entrepreneurs kept enjoying their privileged perks and ghastly dividends thus leveraged, from their own sunny rooftops. In the times of quick information dissemination and propagation through social media, the conflict entrepreneurs find it even easier to instigate people and run their sick agendas. A small article, speech or tweet by a powerful or influential leader or overnight sensations (likes of Burhan Wani) can result in thousands of people screaming and vandalising government property in full media gaze. Interestingly, the participants and perpetuators themselves would not be aware about the main cause of the agitation! The scene of mayhem created by „The Joker’ in the famous movie „The Dark Knight’ comes to the mind drawing a parallel to this madness. And since, for Kashmiris, every protest is about the mythica l“AZADI”, those pulling the strings use Kashmiri „People of Kashmir‟ as puppets of their manufactured system of so called Azadi revolution for their personal, ulterior and vested interests.Post abrogation of article 370, these agendas have not found much traction with local populace and slowly but steadily the “Idea of India” and “Kashmiriyat” are making inroads in the local mindscape. The unprecedented surge of tourism in the current year and impending „Amarnath Yatra‟ (post a of three years) has also put these conflict entrepreneurs on the
proverbial back foot. The positive role played by security forces in the successful conduct of „Kinetic and Non-Kinetic‟ operations in recent times have resulted in causing a raging desperation amongst the conflict mongers and terrorists. Infiltration attempts have been foiled or eliminated and more than a hundred terrorists have been neutralised on the Line of Control and in the hinterland. So far, 118 terrorists including 32 foreign terrorists have been killed in Kashmir in current year.1Constructive contributions by Armed Forces towards the development in the Valley have also marginalised space and local support for terrorists, who now, have beenforced to resort to cowardly acts of targeted killings of innocent civilians, members of minority groups and even daily wage earners from other parts of the nation.
As history suggests and facts prove, the terrorists have, actually, lost the kinetic battle long ago and their only act of so called acts of „bravery‟ were limited to
„survival‟. As per Mister Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir, the number of active terrorists in the Valley is below 150 in the current year.2Hence, to maintain their limited presence and more importantly their „relevance‟, they often resort to targeted killings of local populace by labelling the victims as ‘informers’ or ‘Kafirs’, terms that would suit their agenda and fuel agitation. However, with improving security scenarios, these killings have only resulted in loss of local support for the terrorists, who are waking up to damaging impact of the ridiculous killings. The only thing that still works for these terrorists is the „Silence of Sane Voices‟ in the valley. In the recent times, they have resorted to killings of innocent, helpless workers and members of minority communities in the region. This year, twenty-four individuals have been murdered in Kashmir including seven policemen and eight civilians, of whom six belong to minority community.
It is easier for the terrorists to execute such killings due to softer nature of target and ease of access to means of killings. Such killings do not even require any specialised training or support element, all that it requires is a radicalized mind, mindless instigation and a vaunted sense of „cleansing the land of Kafirs‟- all of which are available all across venom spewing social media platforms. The terrorists accrue the advantage of spreading terror amongst the minorities, disturbing the fragile social fabric in the region and creating an environment of mistrust for security forces. This also hampers the image of a beautiful, safe and secure Kashmir in the minds of probable tourists and thus assists in flourishing of conflict environment which will only delay normalcy in Kashmir.
The situation has led to, hitherto unheard of, mass protests by Kashmiri Pandits in the valley. They are demanding to be shifted from the valley to safer places in Jammu region, and if the situation deteriorates further, we may witness another mass exodus from the valley. But the perceived impact of another mass exodus will be very different this time. Unlike the mass exodus of early 90s which is not present vividly in our cognitive memory, this time the exit will be a state sponsored event and under a worldwide media glare. Kashmir will lose its Kashmiriyat forever, and with that it will lose the essence of belonging with India. It will lose its tourists, its economy, and all its development opportunities to enter the „mainstream‟. And probably or unfortunately, this is the end result, perhaps desired by the terrorists and their perpetuators. Of course, role of Pakistan in the same still remains a primary conclusion. If after all this, the Kashmiri „People of Kashmir‟ themselves do not rise against such cowardly acts, they are only heading for social and national boycott, cultural disaster and an abject state of anarchy.
Through these sectarian and dastardly acts, the terrorists are trying to take this battle to yet another plane of hybrid warfare. The role of security forces in this warfare would be limited to taking reactionary measures, the perpetuators would surely be brought to task, but the situation can only be controlled completely if the „People of Kashmir’ so desires and acts – not just vocally or symbolically but also in means and ways which convey a strong ‘Akhir Kab Tak’ message to the terrorists and their supporters and snap all such ties, declaring such agencies illegal, thereby, severing the umbilical cord which has sustained terrorism thus far. Kashmir has to take charge of the situation. Few elements in the society have realised this and we are
now witnessing locals coming out in numbers to protest against targeted killings in various parts of Kashmir. This is the last chance for Kashmiris to get out of the vicious cycle of corruption, terrorism, nepotism and lack of development. The entire strata of the society have to act as a whole and guide the future of Kashmir in the right direction. The role of parents, teachers and leaders become extremely important to guide their children and pupils towards the right; and thus prevent them from following incorrect, untrue and fake narratives on social media, thereby stopping them to become part of unnecessary protests and unsavoury rallies. The ability to discern between „what‟ and „what not‟ has to be developed by the architects of the New Kashmir. The role of Kashmiri women will be as important to stop their brothers, sons and fathers from becoming part of the evil machinery which has caused nothing but tears, fear and created a dysfunctional society.
Vernacular media too needs to play its part in galvanising the society for the change it wants to see. They need to give impetus on the news, events and rhetoric that projects a positive image of Kashmir and more importantly India and shun any media mileage to negativity that has so gripped the social fabrics of Kashmir. There needs to be an unbiased media organisation, which is mature enough to understand the kind of message that needs to be „projected‟ and brought to fore. The dissemination amongst the masses should be prompt, proactive and thought provoking. They can act as harbingers of peace by refusing to be a part of this conflict economy anymore. At the same time, echoing the popular voice against terrorism will surely have an appeal and prevent misguided youth from taking up arms against innocent civilians.
- The conflict entrepreneurs‟ most potent tool to instigate violence and unrest is the vernacular media and by snatching the space from them, the media can actually hit them where it hurts the most. Persons who try to spread false information and instigate children and youth of a locality through religious schools, local fighting organisations or committees need to be brought to the book. We need to address the falsehood which a local hears or perceive, we need to go inside their streets and enter their houses once we win their confidence.
Kashmir needs to move out of the clutches of its violent past. The sectarian violence, if allowed to continue, would only help in preparing more coffins. It is at the cross
roads of change, a change that may completely alter the future of Kashmir, either to be doomed forever or towards prosperity. Kashmiris need to choose, and be vocal about the change. Silence is no more an option. It will surely require a huge amount of dedication, perseverance, popular support and time, but in a matter of years the
„People of Kashmir‟ will reap benefits from what they do today. Indian Army, as the only organisation from mainland with largest footprints in the region, in terms of time, space, force and mind-set, would surely play its part but it is time for the „People of Kashmir‟ as the Centre of Gravity of this whole conflict to take the centre stage and leverage its gravitational force to set in motion the trajectory of Kashmir towards peace and prosperity.
“Be The Change You Want to See”
- Mahatma Gandhi