Army Commander General Jaswal’s declaration that the AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) is like a “Holy Book” for the forces is more of a highly charged political statement than an operational discourse. The General had made a political statement earlier also claiming that the stone pelters were indulging in “Agitational Terrorism”. For him non-violent peaceful protests supposed to be an essential part of a democratic set up cannot be allowed in Kashmir. His so called “Holy Book” was, in fact, needed to keep the aspirations of Kashmiris in check. The real truth is that the “Holy Scripture” of AFSPA is needed by political authorities to keep Kashmiris as “Hostages”! Normally, the soldiers are meant to fight and obey orders and not to comment on the political situations. In India unlike Pakistan, the army obeys the orders of the political bosses. Strangely it is the Indian Generals who indulge in politicking through media more than their Pakistani counterparts. It is debatable whether they are themselves the authors of these media briefings which happen from time to time or the strings are pulled from somewhere else?

It is true a war cannot be fought by soldiers if their hands are tied behind their backs. However, fighting a war against a known and visible enemy is different than tackling an invisible enemy and in the present case almost the entire population of Kashmir. The internal conflict in Kashmir for last two decades is alleged to be a proxy war being fought by Pakistan through local Kashmiris with a sprinkling of outside fighters. No proxy or Guerrilla war can be fought unless it has popular support. As Mao once said, a guerrilla is like a fish which moves in water. As long as it has enough clear water, it will carry on. The total alienation of Kashmiris is providing abundant clear water for the fish to move around and strike at will. All the Sadbhavana measures have failed to deprive the fish of the clear water. This is evident from the security measures which are put in place during the visit of a VIP to Kashmir. Almost the entire population has to be virtually imprisoned to ensure the security of the dignitary. This shows how much trust the authorities have on the local people in general. They are not prepared to take any chances as they are not sure if anyone in Kashmir is sincerely on their side! No one gives a thought to the stark reality that they cannot be on their side as long as their very right to life remains suspended.

From their own assessment there are only 600 to 800 militants active in Kashmir. One does not need half a million troops, seventy thousand paramilitary, over a hundred thousand local cops, and thousands of irregulars to tackle such a small band of insurgents. These figures are from a report in Times of India by Josy Joseph. In fact, the reporter calls it the skewed security personnel to civilian population ratio for J & K and claims it to be worse in Kashmir valley. Joseph says that the Jammu based 16 Corps is bigger than the British Army. This is so in spite of there being two other Corps in the state as well! Joseph quotes an unnamed Lieutenant General who states, “We are trapped in the ‘hold’ part of the ‘shape, clear, hold and build’ strategy. We will be stuck there for the foreseeable future. With so much money being pumped in, vested interests have developed all around. A political solution with economic development is needed.” Some years back the then 15 corps commander General Mukharjee had also stated that the army has done its job and Kashmir needs a political solution. These statements appear contradictory to what the Army commander has been saying. In fact, for the first time the Prime Minister also conceded during his recent visit that Kashmiris have a political problem! According to Nirupama Rao, Delhi is looking for “creative” solution to Kashmir problem. She also says the road ahead is long and winding and as fellow travellers, India and Pakistan must tackle the challenges together. The greatest challenge for both is Kashmir which has been hanging fire for last 60 years or so. Both have conceded that there is no military solution to Kashmir. In spite of this their Generals keep on talking in military terms!

The problem does not lie with the army. They are there under the orders of the political authorities. In fact, Joseph in the above mentioned despatch also states that the army if asked would jump at the chance to leave the valley and return to barracks but only if policy makers delivered their end of the bargain! Unfortunately, some of the political leaders in Delhi have another “Holy Book” which they constantly refer to. This is the Kautaliya’s Arthshastra, the real bible of a section of leadership which wants to keep Kashmiris under at all costs. For them keeping Kashmir under the thumb has become an obsession. They are more loyal than the King! Instead of safe guarding the “National” interest they are doing more harm to it. They may have succeeded in temporarily even blind folding the Amnesty International and several other Global Rights Organisations but ultimately one has to concede that the truth has always a tendency to hit one in the face! Even the Human Rights Watch recently demanded the revocation of notorious central legislation AFSPA. For sometime now there has been renewed interest in sorting out various problems plaguing the sub-continent. It is being continuously given out that there is need to build an atmosphere of trust. But one cannot build trust by unleashing mayhem on innocent people. If the leaders on both sides are sincere in their overtures to Kashmiris, they have to take certain decisive steps. Firstly, they must keep their Generals on the leash and ask them to leave the political discourse to politicians only. Secondly, the lid on the cauldron needs to be lifted. At the moment all sides in Kashmir too agree that the violence is no solution to all the problems plaguing us. Dialogue is the only way out. If so, then the vicious cycle of violence in Kashmir has to end. Everything that can end this bloody trail must be done and done forthwith. A simmering cauldron has always a tendency to overthrow the lid unless it is taken off in time!