Amidst surprise and even conflicting interpretations across the country and abroad over its decision to withdraw from the not-very-effective Jammu and Kashmir government, the BJP has sent a strong message. But why such a strong message, and what indeed is the message?
Many analysts have sought justification for the action within the developments in J&K—like the recent ceasefire in the state that its coalition partner PDP welcomed and wanted to be continued. The analysts also factored in the responsibility of the state government to let the Amarnath Yatra through without any untoward incident.
But these are not the essence. For, the annual Amarnath Yatra, as its history in recent years has shown, would have gone on successfully despite attempts by militants and terrorists to disrupt it.
The country’s enemies gave the impression abroad that the people of Kashmir were supporting the terrorists who infiltrated and occupied central places in villages and towns, so that any attempt by the security forces would inevitably cause civilian casualties, which the Islamists can then exploit. The uncompromising stand that the Centre and the security forces have taken in such situations made it clear that anti-national forces cannot fight the military, as the Army Chief General Bipin Rawat recently said.
By provoking and sponsoring young men to pelt stones to prevent security forces from neutralising the infiltrators, pro-Pakistani elements expected to drive a wedge between the people and their elected government and broadcast it to the world that the people are for separation. That is the impression that the handful of separatists and Islamist fundamentalists want to be created. But what is the reality?
Aurangzeb was a soldier of the Rashtriya Rifles posted in Kashmir. On the eve of Eid he was returning home when terrorists abducted and killed him. His bullet-ridden body was the ‘gift’ the terrorists gave to his father Muhammad Hanief. This pained the father, but Hanief said: “I and my sons will also sacrifice (ourselves) for the nation. We want the goons to be wiped out.”
His 15-year-old son Aasim joined him and said, “I will join the Army like my brothers and father.” It was right for the Army chief to go to the village to meet the family and console them and also pat their father’s back for his brave stand for the nation. Several other instances like this and the long lines
of Kashmiris at Army recruitment camps reveal the true nature of the people of the state.
Those in the rest of the country, along with Mehbooba Mufti’s PDP, have been urging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to join the peaceniks who want dialogue with the Kashmiri separatists. The Centre, whether ruled by the UPA or NDA, has repeatedly sent teams of senior officers or others for talks and dialogue but all to no avail.
But the crucial question is why all such earlier attempts to talk to the separatists and Islamist fundamentalists have failed. A little flashback will help put the vexed issue in perspective.
The problem goes back to 1931 after young Sheikh Abdullah had returned to the Valley, after having been radicalised at the Aligarh Muslim University. He started his public life by rousing passions at a mosque against the Hindu maharajah. (The ugly tradition continues uninterrupted even today in some mosques.)
Pandit Nehru extended full support to the Sheikh in the latter’s ‘struggle against feudalism’. After the accession of the state to the Indian Union, Nehru banished the maharajah to Mumbai and handed the state to the wily Sheikh. It took Nehru a good six years to see through the Sheikh’s charade and real intent. In a midnight move in 1953, Nehru sacked the Sheikh and put him in jail to foil his attempts to declare the Valley an ‘independent’ state with an Islamic tinge. But it was too late. The damage had been done.
Coming back to the BJP’s decision in Kashmir, it is obvious that the party has decided to be itself and face the forthcoming general elections in 2019 with its own basic policies before the people. The June 19 step might be a powerful message to the country that there are limits as to how far the BJP and PM Modi can be pushed.
More than that, the message could also be that the BJP will not compromise on its basic agenda and it won’t mind going to the polls under its own banner and with its own agenda. With four more states set for Assembly elections during the end of the year, the party has to be clear about the ideological road it intends to take.
The next general elections have to be held around May 2019. Just five or six months before that, three major states, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and one state in the Northeast, Mizoram, will see the term of their Assemblies end, and elections will be held there.
Unlike the Congress, the BJP is a mass party with a cadre that has a strong ideological commitment and lifetime dedication to issues such as the integration of J&K with the rest of the country, construction of Ram Temple, ensuring social justice (especially to Dalits and Scheduled Tribes) and unity and integrity of the country. Adjustments with disparate political outfits invariably result in diluting commitment to these core beliefs.
Perhaps the real message that the party delivered on June 19 through its withdrawal from an uncomfortable alliance is that it will not sacrifice its basic commitments for the sake of power.
Balbir Punj
Former Rajya Sabha member and Delhi-based commentator on social and political issues
Email: punjbalbir@gmail.com