The brutal killing of two innocent youth near Sopore in north Kashmir has once again raised the pitch of “Azadi”. People in thousands have defied the curfew and come out on the roads chanting “Azadi” slogans. This may be the beginning of a new turmoil and this time there will be no false promises to peter it out! But do people really want to create uncertainty and upheaval? Certainly not! On the contrary the vast majority truly desires peace. The massive participation in the last assembly elections had shown that the common man wanted peace and to achieve that he was prepared to go all the way. He had intentionally voted for development but of the peaceful kind. It was probably understood by him that with the development would end the harassment he had been suffering daily and this would bring in peace with honour and dignity. Little did he know that the jungle which Kashmir had turned into during last couple of decades had produced many man eaters who did not believe in peace. Conflict in Kashmir has become a commercial enterprise. The continuous turmoil has given rise to a large number of the “Beneficiaries of Conflict” for whom any attempt at bringing in peace sounds a death knell for their lucrative commercial enterprise. Who are these beneficiaries? They are within Kashmir, outside in the sub-continent and even beyond. As the common man everywhere has a stake in peace so have these people a stake in the conflict. First come the security forces and the defence establishments on both sides of the divide. Peace entails heavy losses for all these entrepreneurs of conflict. In Kashmir valley and some areas of Jammu the security forces have an exceptionally heavy presence especially in civilian areas. The draconian legislation, Armed Forces Special Powers Act and the Disturbed Areas Act have given them absolute powers without any accountability. They are exempt from all judicial scrutiny. It is a well established fact that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Apart from the draconian powers, they have yet another impregnable cover of “National Security”. It is also universally known that when a wild beast like a tiger tastes human blood, it turns a man eater. This is precisely what has happened in Kashmir and brunt of these forays is being faced by the innocent population for no fault of theirs.

There are higher stake holders in Delhi who too derive benefits from this conflict. It is reported that the postings of security personnel including officers in the disturbed area of Kashmir fetches very high prices! Everybody has a share in the pie. Similar is the situation on the other side. The world famous agencies there thrive only in a situation of conflict. Without turmoil they become redundant. To keep the conflict going requires massive unaudited investments without any accountability. It is probably the only enterprise where the interests of a special brand of stake holders on both the sides merge! Posting in conflict zone entitles all people to sizeable risk allowance and many other perks. There are special allowances for cordon and search duties, curfew days, and for participation in encounters. Then the fatal risk and injuries are also heavily covered. Any fatality fetches a huge sum, almost half a million rupees for the next of kin, and jobs for eligible issues along with free education for minors. Security grid is the largest enterprise in the conflict ridden Kashmir. There are supposed to be more than 5,000 vehicles on security duty alone. After the security personnel come the bureaucrats of the central services and the personnel of the central government establishments serving here. They too are enjoying a host of perks including risk allowances. The expenditure on these security related measures runs into hundreds of crores. During last couple of decades the central service officers have been living in Srinagar during summer months in posh tourism establishments as the guests of the government. This arrangement had been resorted to in early nineties when militancy was at its peak. Those days this was the only way of keeping these people who were running the government in secure zones. Now that the situation is normal it should have ended long back but then no one wants to give up such perks! In view of the still uncertain situation which has a habit of flaring up off and on, one may even concede this luxury for the necessity of keeping the state running.

However, there is absolutely no justification for the next breed of beneficiaries which is the politicians of all hues and shades. Most of these have made hay while the sun was shining in the true sense of the phrase! The mainstream politicians have never had any stake as regards the welfare of the people. They always had a one point programme. To capture power for their own self-aggrandisement. No one ever thought about the long term interest of the common people. The goal has been to gather as much hay as they could in the limited time made available to them by their masters who have been changing them off and on depending upon their utility. These people know that they are useful only till the time the situation is uncertain. In a truly democratic and peaceful set up where the honest and upright people would be the leaders, they have no chances at all. Thus for them return to peace means the end of the road! Similar is the situation of the politicians towing external lines at the behest of a different group of masters. They are useful to them in preventing the return of peace. Their cash keeps on flowing as long as the pot is boiling. The situation of conflict has been attracting massive covert investments from various sources within the sub-continent as well as from beyond our borders. The stakes of people against the return of peace are quite high even though physically they may be in a minority. It is a pity that a vast majority which is earnestly pinning for peace is being held hostage by a powerful minority with massive resources. However, the human endurance has a limit and it does break down sometimes. This has happened quite often in Kashmir. On reaching a breaking point, the masses have again and again swept away the beneficiaries of conflict. Unfortunately, they have returned every time because of the external support and the lack of total commitment on the part of popular leaders. Will this vicious circle ever end? Yes, only when the masses every where realise the truth and rise up to sweep away these stake holders of the perennial conflict. This awareness can be brought only by the members of the civil society who had been so far fence sitting. However, during last couple of years there has been a marked change in their attitude. Civil society is becoming more and more involved in peoples’ grievances. The people themselves have also been becoming increasingly vocal and active in a non-violent way. They are now refusing to take it lying down. Earlier repeated massacres would not move them so much as a couple of innocent deaths do now. In fact, this increasing awareness and hyper-activity of the people has even forced the mainstream parties to modify their tracks. For the first time they are becoming exceptionally vocal in regard to violations of human rights. Kashmir’s weather is shaped by western disturbances coming over Iran and Afghanistan. These disturbances combined with the global warming may result in an exceptionally hot summer in Kashmir this year. The only silver lining to these ominous clouds is the global meltdown of the economy which has started reaching our shores after Obama’s take over. This may act as a coolant and give peace a chance!