Kashmir Enroute

Kashmir has been at the center of controversy and debate ever since partition. Terrorism, militancy, separatism has been some of the issues associated with it. A large number of commissions and committees have been formed to try and solve the problems associated with the picturesque landscape. But none till now have come up with any plausible solution to bring peace to the lands of Kashmir. The only way forward seems to be the way shown by the Kashmiris themselves in the recent election in the state.

The various separatist leaders of Kashmir had been urging the Kashmiris to boycott the panchayati raj election of this year. They accuse the Government of India of corruption and intent to loot Kashmir. The believe and propagate the belief that the present situation in Kashmir can be attributed to the treatment meted out to Kashmir by the Indian government. They want Kashmir to be a sovereign country. So this time, when the elections came, they asked the local populace, rather threatened them to abstain from voting. But it so happened that the people of Kashmir did not seem to share their opinion and went all-out to vote. It was a massive turnout.

It seems to me that in consonance with the present mood of common people all over the world, the Kashmiris have taken matters into their own hands. They have had enough of the fightings and accusations and want to build their own lives now. They have lost enough Kashmiri lives to this mindless game of politics.

This election shows that the Kashmiris have finally rested their hopes on the working of the democracy that India promises. Instead of depending on the dubious MPs and MLAs to take care of them they have taken charge of their own fates by depending on the Panchayats, the local government, to take care of their needs. After all, who will understand their needs better than they themselves. They have been supported in their efforts by the chief minister, Mr Omar Abdullah’s faith in Panchayati Raj. This devolution of power to the grass-roots had decreased the incidence of militancy in a marked way.

Militancy was able to strengthen its roots among the people as a means to solve their problem. But instead of solving them, militancy has increased the problems faced by the local people and only helped the aspirations of a select few. Panchayati Raj and democracy seem to be the only way out of their problems, and a very good one I must say. If the Panchayati Raj system works, then militancy can say farewell to Kashmir. I am not saying that there will not be militants. There will still be militants among the people of Kashmir but they would find it very difficult to garner support for their cause and work freely.

The cynics may say that there are a large number of examples of panchayats diverting democracy to the material welfare of a select few and the corruption that is prevalent. With due respect to their concern I would like to point out that there is much higher concentration of corruption in the upper echelons of power than in the lower strata. Kashmir deserves a chance and they have earned it by electing to vote despite threats. It is my belief that these people will be able to use democracy to bring peace and prosperity to Kashmir. You may say that my belief is a bit utopian but you will have to agree that in the present scenario it is possible – very possible. Instead of harping on the what-ifs of the upcoming election in West Bengal, we should pay more attention to what has happened in Kashmir and learn our lessons from it.