Muhammad Ahseem

The disquieting revelations about the government approaching former dreaded Ikhwani renegades Qasim Khaar and Padam Shri Mumma Kanna for help to curb the ongoing mass movement has shocked even the most secular and liberal of the masses.

In its desperation to put an end to the current crisis the beleaguered government seems to leave no stone unturned to gain any control over the situation, that so far has remained out of bounds for it. It also indicates the security agencies working on ground have actually run out of options. Indiscriminate use of bullets, tear gas shells, pellet guns and marble catapults are fast losing the efficiency to instil fear among the hardy Kashmiri youth and the new weapon seems to recreate the fear of Ikhwanis among the masses. Media reports indicate that Ikhwani cadres are being activated by the duo.

The Ikhwan legacy is evocative of the worst kind of human rights violations. Recalling the era when these beasts ruled the roost in many parts of valley sends shivers down the spine. In the last over twenty years of armed conflict these renegades, while enjoying complete impunity and the patronage of army and other security agencies, committed the most horrible crimes in the garb of counter insurgency operations.

One wonders as what to make of Omar Abdullah’s ideas about the constitution of Truth and Reconciliation Commission to account for the human rights violations in Kashmir, he expressed in his initial days in power. All his fantasies of reaching out to the common man turned to be farce. And now fiddling with the idea of using Ikhwanis against the masses, the government is actually falling to the nadir of morality. The double speak of both the state and the central government is more than obvious now.

Over the past many days concerns, at least verbally are being shown towards the Kashmiri community over the killing of 65 youth at the hands of paramilitaries and a will, howsoever weak, is being expressed to resolve the vexed issue. This found echo in the words of Omar Abdullah several times who considers Kashmir a political issue, in need of a political settlement. However, the news of engaging Ikhwanis, makes claims of settling Kashmir problem politically a sham. The motive of the governments in New Delhi and Srinagar seems to mute the Kashmiri voice beyond the audible limits of the rest of the world.

The hammy politics that New Delhi has been playing with the people of Kashmir by calling them their own and offering them skies on one hand and subjecting the people to the worst kind of suppression on the other seems to be intended to befool the world community.

In their cry for freedom the agitating youth of Kashmir who are leading the present uprising have already been pushed to the wall by police and paramilitaries. Now engaging the Ikhwanis, who are notorious for killings, torture, rape, extortion may prove to be the tipping point for the brimming anger on Kashmir streets. Youth may resort to arms again. Engaging these Ikhwanis directly in the present state of crisis would lead to repercussions beyond the imagination of the governments in the state and the centre.

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