Earlier this month Mehbooba Mufti became the first female Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, following the death of her father and political predecessor, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. But two weeks into her tenure the killing of five civilians by security forces in Handwara suggests little change and mounting challenges. Mark Mistry examines the in-tray of Kashmir’s latest dynastic leader

Mistry, Mark

LSE Research Online

2016-4-27Kashmir has a new Chief Minister, but while the question ofself-determination remains unresolved there is little hope ofchangeblogs.lse.ac.uk /southasia/2016/04/27/kashmir-has-a-new-chief-minister-but-while-the-question-of-self-determination-remains-unresolved-there-is-little-hope-of-change/Earlier this month Mehbooba Mufti became the first female Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, followingthe death of her father and political predecessor, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. But two weeks into hertenure the killing of five civilians by security forces in Handwara suggests little change andmounting challenges. Mark Mistry examines the in-tray of Kashmir’s latest dynastic leader.The formation of Jammu & Kashmir’s latest government took three months and represents acontinuation of the PDP-BJP coalition agreed in March last year. Hitherto the state had been underGovernor’s rule since the death of Mufti Senior on 7 January.The hiatus in agreeing a new coalition, originally formed after inconclusive state elections in late 2014, owed muchto Mehbooba’s manoeuvring to secure so-called ‘confidence building measures’ from her erstwhile political partnersin the BJP, the ruling Hindu nationalist party.That the 57-year-old failed to obtain any concessions (particularly given the economic difficulties experienced bymany across the Valley, exacerbated by the devastating floods of September 2014) from her discussions in NewDelhi illustrates the precariousness of her position. She now finds herself leading a party with her internal authoritydiminished – hardly an ideal negotiating position.The reality is that Mehbooba was dealt a bad hand from the start. By allying the PDP for a second time with a partywhose roots stem from the avowedly nationalist RSS, she has all but removed any lingering goodwill in the Valleytowards her garnered from her visits to relatives of militants killed in Kashmir’s decades-old conflict.Kashmir remains disputed territory sandwiched between India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, whose amassedtroops either side of the Line of Control – the de facto border – once led then US President Bill Clinton to describe itas the ‘most dangerous place in the world’.A fierce insurgency raged from 1989 following elections in 1987 that were widely viewed as rigged. Tens ofthousands have died in the fighting since. Compared to its peak in the mid-nineties the violence has now largelyabated, though infrequent militant attacks on security forces persist. ‘Buried Evidence’ a study by the InternationalPeople’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Kashmir (IPTK, 2009) places the number of people ‘disappeared’(likely into unmarked graves) at more than 8,000. A climate of fear persists throughout the Valley as a direct result ofthe overwhelming presence of Indian Security Forces, estimated at half a million. The CIA World Factbook  todaydescribes Kashmir as ‘the site of the world’s largest and most militarised territorial dispute’. Hamstrung by HandwaraThis being Kashmir, the facts are, somewhat inevitably, disputed. What we do know is that on April 12 Indian ArmedForces fired on a protest killing two young men, Mohammad Iqbal and Nayeem Qadir. People had congregatedoutside an army bunker after a teenager girl had been allegedly harassed by an Indian trooper in a washroombehind the bunker. Subsequent protests brought more deaths, taking the total to five in the space of a few days.Strangely, a video circulated by the Indian Army carried a ‘confession’ from the girl saying that she had beenaccosted by local (i.e. Kashmiri) boys, and not the army man. Equally mystifyingly, the girl and her family wereinitially taken into police custody, according to the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), which1/3defends human rights.Any allegation of Indian Army involvement in harassing women carries special resonance in Kashmir. Twenty-fiveyears ago a ‘search and cordon’ operation of the Indian Army locked down the village of Kunan Poshpora to huntmilitants. More than 20 women were raped in an episode that has been denied by the authorities. Justice has neverbeen done and remains a rare concept in Kashmir, where the Armed Forces Specials Powers Act (AFSPA) remainsin force, granting immunity to soldiers in ‘disturbed areas’. This law is complimented by the draconian Public SafetyAct, which permits administrative detention – as with AFSPA – wherein suspicion is enough justification for years ofinternment without charge.Indian soldiers Kashmir. Credit: flowcommThis lack of accountability, allied to persistent stifling of peaceful protest, are among the reasons cited by theseparatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq for continued ‘anger and alienation’ felt by many Kashmiris. The Hurriyat (M)leader told The Economist last week:“We want to keep resistance peaceful, but it’s very hard when India bans every outlet for protest ordebate, and in fact doesn’t even acknowledge that there is a problem.”Shashank Joshi, a Senior Research Fellow at the UK’s Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defenceand security think tank, said:“While the number of militants in the Kashmir valley is extremely small, it is clear that popularalienation and sympathy for militants has been recrudescing even before recent events. The PDP isunder severe pressure because it has little to show for its alliance with the BJP. A security-ledresponse – absent deeper engagement with separatist leaders, and new political initiatives – is likelyto make things worse”.As happens frequently amid periods of unrest (all too often caused by police or military heavy-handedness leadingto civilian injuries or deaths), pro-freedom leaders languish either under house arrest or at police stations. Theauthorities claim their incarceration is necessary for law and order. Hurriyat (G)’s Syed Ali Shah Geelani, whose2/3words still command respect and attention across the Valley and beyond, remains in ill-health. The aforementionedFarooq, son of the assassinated Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq, was last week behind the closed doors of his Nigeenresidence. And Yasin Malik, of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, was under arrest at Kothi Bagh policestation in Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir’s summer capital.Policing dissent also extends to journalists. Reporters Sans Frontieres, a US-based organisation, ranked India 133out of 180 countries in its latest World Press Freedom Index. The report said: “Journalists and bloggers are attackedand anathematised by various religious groups that are quick to take offence. At the same time, it is hard forjournalists to cover regions such as Kashmir that are regarded as sensitive by the government. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi seems indifferent to these threats and problems, and there is no mechanism for protectingjournalists.”Democracy – really?India boasts of being the world’s largest democracy. Indeed, the administrative spectacle of enabling nationalparliamentary votes remains an awesome undertaking given the challenge of its huge population. But those whorule India should learn to view dissent as a natural bedfellow of a system that allows its citizens to vote. The problemwith Kashmir, as noted most recently by the Australian academic and long-standing South Asia observerChristopher Snedden, is that democracy is not extended to its population. In his book, ‘Understanding Kashmir andKashmiris’, Snedden writes:“In 1947, no-one surveyed them about their post-British desires for J&K’s international status. Sincethen, no-one has asked them in any inclusive or meaningful way about this matter.”Ultimately, until the political question of self-determination is resolved, there is no reason to suspect that MehboobaMufti’s term as Chief Minister will be any different to those of her predecessors. That is, one marred by accusationsof cronyism, corruption, civilian killings by security forces and an inability to secure anything like a fair hearing fromNew Delhi, regardless of which party is in powerNote:  This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of the South Asia @ LSE blog, nor of theLondon School of Economics. Please read ourcomments policy before posting.About the AuthorMark Mistry is a freelance journalist who has reported from Indian-administered Kashmir, andelsewhere across South Asia, for the Wall Street Journal, The Independent and the Frontline Club.He has contributed two previous articles on Kashmir to the South Asia @ LSE blog. He lives inLondon and tweets @mark_mistry. Copyright © 2016 London School of Economics3/3

Kashmir has a new Chief Minister, but while the question of self-determination remains unresolved there is little hope of change

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