Telling kashmir right

Telling kashmir right

India’s fight against religious fundamentalism wasn’t articulated well. We mustn’t fail again.

The visit of 27 European parliamentarians to Jammu & Kashmir reveals a determined government push to mould international opinion on its attempts to restore normalcy after Article 370 was nullified. This is well and good. Pakistan is on a diplomatic offensive telling a tale of great “atrocities” and “human rights violations” in Kashmir; this needs to be countered. One reason why the Kashmir problem has festered for so long is that Pakistan has so often diplomatically outmanoeuvred India on the international stage even as it conducts a ruthless proxy war in Kashmir – because New Delhi has not told its side of the story well. This must change. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and foreign minister S Jaishankar had highlighted India’s contention that Article 370 was not a permanent measure and that subsequent security arrangements were necessary to prevent terrorists from unleashing violence. That’s a decent start.

It’s also important that New Delhi creates enough facts on the ground to complement its story. Allowing more delegations to visit J&K will convince the international community that India’s sole interest remains in normalising the situation, even as it confronts a tough security predicament with the killing of truckers ferrying apples, grenade attacks on civilians and LoC infiltration attempts. With the Block Development Council elections concluded successfully, government mustn’t delay the release of political detainees.

If New Delhi has run into tough criticism lately – notably, a recent US Congressional hearing on human rights in South Asia focussed almost exclusively on Kashmir – it could also be due to developments elsewhere in India which belie its democratic and secular image. Those developments in turn could feed into Kashmir’s unrest as well. A clear articulation of secular values which will not succumb to fundamentalism can convince all nations that India’s fight is no different from theirs, as well as win hearts and minds in Kashmir. From the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits onwards, India has taken hard knocks from Pakistan-backed terrorists with extreme Islamist ideologies. But successive governments were hesitant to call out the religious motivations internationally.

The Modi government has greater clarity on India’s war on terror and strategic interest in Kashmir. But its hardline Hindutva agenda on non-issues such as NRC and Citizenship Amendment Bill are squandering goodwill as well as hard-earned brownie points over Islamabad. The government must instead focus on putting Kashmir back on its feet and telling India’s story better, while reversing sectarian moves elsewhere.