Dealing with targeted terror, restive Pandits
The BJP counts Kashmiri Pandits and other non-Muslims in J&K as its core support base. The recent delimitation of constituencies was arguably aimed at levelling the playing field so as to give non-Muslims a fair chance at ruling the Union territory. Yet, with elections just a few months away, it is this section that has turned restive. The issue is not about livelihood but of life, as targeted killings, mostly by hybrid terrorists under the security radar, has triggered a massive wave of panic.
While the minorities employed in Kashmir sought transfers out of the Valley, the administration went halfway by shifting them from their current postings in remote villages to district headquarters in Kashmir that have better security cover. Relocation out of Kashmir would have been read as capitulation. It would go against the Centre’s policy of muscular response to terrorists and their handlers in Pakistan. But losing the non-Muslim goodwill is also not what the BJP had budgeted for while re-engineering the state into a Union territory after withdrawing its special powers a few years ago. It’s in a catch-22 situation.
With the first big wave of terror and exodus of Pandits from their hearths and homes in the Valley in the early ’90s still fresh in people’s memory, Delhi apparently does not want to be seen as validating a fresh round of ‘ethnic cleansing’ through transfers out of Kashmir. The violence has, however, derailed its development agenda and employment generation initiatives that were the main talking points for polls.
A fresh round of resentment has broken out as a list of 177 transferees to various district headquarters in Kashmir was leaked online. Pandits argue they may feel reasonably safe at home in towns in the Valley but travel for work or school is fraught with risk despite better policing. Unsurprisingly, many of them have already relocated on their own to Jammu, deciding against letting themselves be live baits for terrorists.
The upcoming Amarnath Yatra would be yet another security test. Going forward, if India can boldly explore ties with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, it could as well take the initiative to restore diplomatic relations with Pakistan so as to change the security dynamic in Kashmir. The earlier the better.