NEW DELHI: As the death toll in Kashmir crosses 31 and civil society groups, international organisations and governments express concern calling for restraint, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has appealed for calm in the valley. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has appealed to “parents” in the state to not allow anybody "to play with the future of their children.” In her first televised address since the violence broke out following Hizb commander Burhan Wani’s death, Mehbooba said, “While certain quarters are only interested in playing politics over the dead bodies of the youth, it is the family members of these slain youth who have to live with this pain forever."

On Monday, the United States expressed concern regarding the escalation in violence, but added that Kashmir is India’s internal matter. "Obviously, we're concerned about the violence," US State Department spokesperson John Kirby said in his daily press briefing on Monday. "We encourage all sides to make efforts towards finding a peaceful resolution… This is really a matter for the Government of India to speak to specifically, and I'd refer you to them for more comment.”

United Nations General Secretary Ban Ki Moon called for all sides to exercise “maximum restraint” to avoid further violence. “The Secretary-General is closely following the recent clashes in Kashmir. He regrets the reported loss of dozens of lives and the injuries to many others,” a statement issued by Ban’s spokesperson said.

International watchdog Amnesty International too called for restraint, saying “Protesters and doctors have reported that injured people have been attacked on their way to hospitals, and even in the hospitals. Doctors at Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital in Srinagar told Amnesty that the security forces had fired tear gas shells inside the hospital compound and harassed hospital staff.”

Civil society groups and citizens at large in India have also issued statements condemning the violence and appealing for calm. In an urgent appeal for peace signed by more than 40 citizens from Kashmir and elsewhere in India, the signatories state, “The tragic deaths and maiming of youth due to firing, pellet guns and excessive use of force is unacceptable. Arson, loot and destruction of public property, attacks on the security personal of CRPF and J&K police and sporadic attacks on the vulnerable communities and their places of worship that are continuing unabated, also are unacceptable.

We, the peaceful and law-abiding citizens of Kashmir and other parts of India, with stakes in a peaceful Kashmir and belief in nonviolent resolution of conflict situations, make this humble appeal, first of all to the Chief Minister of J&K: Please take immediate steps to reign in the security forces and issue orders for minimal use of force against the angry mobs.”

A citizen’s statement signed by advocate Vrinda Grover, journalist Sukumar Muralidharan, academics Anuradha and Kamal Chenoy and social activist Shabnam Hashmi reads, “Kashmir’s escalating violence follows a familiar pattern: a killing, a funeral where rage is vented through slogans and stones, and volleys of lethal gunfire in response. In 2010, this cycle rolled on repeatedly through four months, claiming over 110 lives, mostly of Kashmiri youth, including a number who were too young to know.

Nothing has been learnt from that year of catastrophe. The trigger for the current surge of unrest in Kashmir was the killing on July 8 of Burhan Wani, a militant of the Hizbul Mujahedin.

The circumstances of Wani’s killing are yet to be fully explained. It is nonetheless ironic that it occurred on the very day the Indian Supreme Court issued a far-reaching judgment in the context of fake encounters in the state of Manipur, emphasising the illegality of the use of excessive and retaliatory force by the army, security forces and police. These strictures apply even in disturbed areas under AFSPA. Kashmir is an arena where the Supreme Court’s observations that the rule of law would apply “even when dealing with the enemy”, and that indeed, whatever the challenges, “the country’s commitment to the rule of law remains steadfast”, are breached on a daily basis.

Available accounts of Burhan Wani’s life in militancy indicate that he was as a 16-year old, embittered and radicalised during the 2010 turmoil by the casual humiliations heaped on ordinary Kashmiris by the mass deployments of security personnel. He witnessed repeated violent incursions into his home and the harassment of near relations in what are called “crackdowns”, in terminology that has entered the youth argot of the valley. The death of his brother in a police encounter, when he had nothing to do with the militancy, is believed to have further hardened his resolve.

Burhan Wani’s life story should be cautionary warning that the heavy-handed, militaristic Indian approach to Kashmir, has only led to a quarter century of siege and growing alienation.

Wani’s funeral on July 9 in the southern Kashmir town of Tral witnessed a gathering of several tens of thousands. As protests broke out in this and other locations, security forces responded with maximum force. The death toll of thirty in a matter of three days, tells its own grim story.

Excessive and indiscriminate lethal force continues to be used for purposes of law enforcement. This is in brazen contempt of the U.N. Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, which do not allow for departure even in exceptional circumstances such as internal political instability or public emergency. Pellet guns, introduced in 2010 for crowd control, purportedly on the ground that it injures and does not kill, have caused permanent injuries and irreversible loss of eyesight to at least 92 young men.

The upsurge of civil unrest comes after a long sequence of intelligence reports that flagged rising discontent at the new political arrangements in Jammu and Kashmir. The BJP’s arrival in the portals of power and its determined pursuit of a majoritarian agenda, have much to do with this.

Curiously, the intelligence warnings have focused on widening access to the internet and social media as a disruptive influence. This diagnosis which focuses on the symptoms rather than underlying realities, has fed directly into the shutdown of internet services in Kashmir, the thirteenth such closure in three years.

Certain recent observations of the Supreme Court, though made in reference to Manipur, bear repetition as general principles. Mass deployment of the army and security forces in aid of civil authorities always is predicated on the premise that “normalcy would be restored within a reasonable period”. If normalcy is not restored for a “prolonged or indeterminate period”, it would be firm evidence of the “failure” of the civil administration or of the armed forces, or both. Whatever the case, an unending state of unrest could not “be a fig leaf for prolonged, permanent or indefinite deployment of the armed forces as it would mock at our democratic process”.

The time is long past, if ever there was one, when a solution to the Kashmir problem could be achieved through force. Continuing recourse to this option and the prolonged and bloody stalemate that has ensued, have fuelled a mood of anger and despair in Kashmir. But with firmer iterations of the military option from the highest political leadership, a dark mood has taken hold in the rest of the country, a doubling down on the current strategy and a tendency to brush off every manifestation of failure with hateful and intemperate rhetoric directed at the people of Kashmir.

We recall the statesmanship shown by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in 2003, when he went to Srinagar during a particularly dark time, held out a “hand of friendship” to Pakistan and said that the dialogue on Kashmir would be held within the paradigm of humanity (insaaniyat ke daayre mein). It is particularly unfortunate that no Union Minister has visited Kashmir in this crisis and that the state leadership and elected legislators are reportedly too insecure to venture out among the people.”

A statement by the Kargil Imam Khomeini Memorial Trust (IKMT) condemned “ the brutal killings of innocent people in Kashmir and appealed to the government to deal patiently to the protesters.”

The Coordination of Democratic Rights Organisations issued a statement saying, “These incidents are reflective of the ground situation in Kashmir, which is one of the most militarized areas in the world today, where six lakh Indian army and paramilitary personnel are deployed against sixty lakh highly aggrieved people. The rise of Burhan Wani as a popular leader of armed resistance is a result of this process, as he embodied and gave expression to the deep frustrations of the Kashmiri youth, suffering for long under the repression of the Indian security forces. The deliberate failure of the Indian state to recognize these frustrations, the constant attempt to externalize the causes of the conflict by claiming that it is fomented by Pakistan and the extreme repression let loose on the population by the Indian army and paramilitary forces has led to this situation that the pent up anger is expressed in these mass protests. And the violence with which these protests are met, give rise to further anger and frustration among the Kashmiri youth, who know that there are no democratic means for venting their grievances or meeting their aspirations. Contrary to claims by the security forces that the militancy in Kashmir is fomented by a handful of militants who have crossed over from Pakistan, Burhan Wani was a local youth who joined armed opposition for the same reasons that thousands of young Kashmiris have been coming out on the streets to pelt stones at Indian security forces. It is no wonder that 40,000 people assembled at his funeral in his home village in Tral…”

“CDRO condemns the repression by the security forces in Kashmir and calls for a sensible handling of the situation by the state and central governments such that further deaths do not occur. The events in Kashmir have shown repeatedly, (for example in April this year when five people were killed in police firing on unarmed people who were protesting against the alleged molestation of a teenage girl by security personnel in Handwara), that it is the high-handed action by the security forces which aggravate an already volatile situation which is marked by absence of politics sans bloodshed. CDRO reiterates that these wars, and never ending military suppression must give way to a political process which alone can bring about a democratic solution and bring peace to a people who have suffered grievously for nearly seven decades under Indian tutelage.”

The Jamia Teachers Solidarity Association says, “India and its politicians must introspect as to why there has been such a mass outpouring of grief and support for Burhan Wani, a militant who was killed in an ‘encounter’. Already news reports confirm that over 30 unarmed protestors have been killed by the police and scores more have been injured. The death toll itself indicates and reports confirm that the lethal force used by the security forces were absolutely disproportionate. Some reports suggest that even hospitals and ambulances are being targeted. This only shows that even that those wishing to express solidarity with Burhan Wani are willing to do so under the gravest of risks.

How can any democracy allow the killing of unarmed protestors? And not spend a moment to reflect on and mourn the situation? Sadly this is not an aberration in Kashmir’s history. Only in 2010 over a hundred were killed while protesting.

In an extremely tense, volatile, tragic and dangerous situation, such as we are witnessing today in Kashmir, what is called for is extreme caution and empathy for those who have lost their loved ones. This would naturally include the family and relatives of the one policeman who has died and the three who have gone missing and to date remain untraced. However, vitriolic voices in the media calling for the burning of so-called terrorists with garbage, and ghoulish celebration of Wani’s killing only serves to escalate an already fragile situation. It leads to the brutalizing logic of merely sending in more troops. Greater militarization of an already extraordinarily militarized zone is surely not an answer to mass protests.

Those screaming about the ‘natural justice’ that ought to be meted out to militants as well as those who have already passed judgment on Wani and others would do well to listen to the voice of the highest court of the land. In the recent ruling on AFSPA, the Supreme Court has clarified that “It does not matter whether the victim was a common person or a militant or a terrorist, nor does it matter whether the aggressor was a common person or the state. The law is the same for both and is equally applicable to both…This is the requirement of a democracy and the requirement of preservation of the rule of law and the preservation of individual liberties”. Rejecting the government’s submission that any arms bearing person in the “disturbed area” was to be defined as an enemy under section 3(x) of the Army Act, the Supreme Court held that “Each instance of an alleged extra-judicial killing of even such a person would have to be examined or thoroughly enquired into to ascertain and determine the facts.”

In deference to this ruling by the apex court, the security forces must therefore be required to demonstrate that the force used against militants, as well as unarmed protestors, was proportionate and justified. Hospitals and nursing homes must remain out of bounds for the security forces or police. We should not be condemned to witness yet more violence and greater militarization.”

Civil society organisations came together to call for a protest to be held July 13 at Jantar Mantar. The text of the event reads: “A range of civil society groups and Indian citizens are appealing to you to join a silent protest demonstration with black bands, to appeal to stop the ongoing killings of civilians in the Kashmir Valley. All are welcome to join. Placards will be prepared collectively in advance for everyone, highlighting the main, urgent, immediate demand to stop the ongoing repression on Kashmiri civilians and work for a peaceful, political solution in Kashmir.”

(Photo by Saqib Majeed - photojournalist based in Kashmir).

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