Narendra Modi is implementing the Doval doctrine in Kashmir

The Modi government’s hardline strategy in Kashmir is a straight lift from the approach suggested by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in 2010. Speaking about protests that year he told policymakers not to overreact and give in. He said the crisis will pass off, “It looks big in the midst of it, they cannot sustain it beyond a point and even if they do there is a price they have to pay.” As an assimilationist strategy it has certain astute aspects but it will eventually harm India and damage Kashmir irreparably.

Kashmir is bracing itself for another crackdown. The Narendra Modi government has made it clear that it wants to take back control of the streets from stone-pelting youth. A security official told the Business Standard “Sooner or later, we will have to retake control in South Kashmir. The longer we wait, the more emboldened the protesters become, the more force will be required to deal with them”.

Source:-hindustantimes

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Kashmir unrest: Two dead, 30 injured in clashes across Valley; strict curfew imposed

Two youth were killed and at least 30 people injured in clashes that were reported Tuesday in Kashmir’s south Bijbehara, Bandipora, Shopian and Kulgam.

Mustafa Ahmed Mir, a 19-year-old, was killed on the spot after he was hit by a tear shell during clashes with security personnel in Bandipora. In Shopian, where clashes also emerged, Shahid Ahmad Shah, succumbed to pellet injuries to his hand and heart. Three people were also injured. Clashes were also reported at Batamaloo in Srinagar after prayers were offered. Eight people were injured in pellet firing in Kulgam, while four were injured in Pattan in north Kashmir.

With curfew imposed across Kashmir, security personnel refused to all people to step out and offer prayers on Eid. With masjid sealed and protests erupting in the Valley, both – Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and former CM Omar Abdullah have not offered prayers on Eid.

Source:-indianexpress
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Kashmir: Shutting major mosques, shrines on Eid will have huge backlash, says Omar Abdullah

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said that the government’s decision to “close all major mosques and shrines in Kashmir on Eid” has “never happened in our history” and “will have a huge backlash”.

“People are saying that it is the rule of Jan Sangh and that’s why the doors of every major mosque and shrine have been locked by this government. People who had gone to offer prayers at Sayid sahib (shrine) in my neighbourhood were shocked to see it locked. People are very angry,” Abdullah told The Indian Express over phone from Srinagar. “We didn’t have such a situation ever in our history. They have closed all the major mosques and shrines and have disallowed people to offer Eid prayers there. They have disallowed prayers at Eidgah, Hazratbal, Maqhdoom sahib, Jamia masjid, even the Sayid sahib shrine in my neighbourhood. It is going to have a huge backlash.”

Source:-indianexpress
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1 Dead In Clashes In Kashmir, Valley Under Curfew On Eid

A man was killed and several people were injured in firing as protesters clashed with security forces on Tuesday morning in Bandipore, less than 70 km from Jammu and Kashmir capital Srinagar. The death toll in violent clashes in the state since July is now 80.

There is curfew in all 10 districts of the Kashmir Valley, but protesters have defied restrictions in many places, taking out demonstrations. Several people have been injured in clashes with security forces across the valley.

For the first time, Eid prayers today are not being held at the famous Hazratbal Shrine in Srinagar. People have been asked to offer prayers at local mosques.


Source:-ndtv
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Kashmir unrest: Miffed Centre to toughen stand against separatists, cut funds and security

While the Centre has decided to scale down the security presence in Jammu and Kashmir after Home Minister Rajnath Singh-led all-party delegation's visit to the state, the separatists leaders' refusal to hold talks has not gone down well with the government. After Singh's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday, the Central government indicated that it will toughen its stand against the separatist leaders.

Reports suggested that the Centre will not only scrutinise the bank accounts of the separatists, but also speed up pending investigations in cases against them. These leaders are also likely to be banned from making foreign trips and Z-scale security provided to them will be scaled down.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs of India Kiren Rijiju said that the government will take action keeping national interest in mind.



Source:-firstpost
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Fear of prolonged violence grips Kashmir as Centre fails to break the ice with separatists

The Home Minister announced that parliamentary delegation leaders who met the Hurriyat leaders did so in their individual capacities, thereby distancing himself from Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s overtures towards the separatists.

This has further weakened Mehbooba’s position as a leader in Kashmir. Mehbooba had written a letter to the separatists to come forward and engage with the parliamentary delegation. This development will further complicate problems for the ruling alliance of the PDP-BJP led by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

That the BJP was not on board Mehbooba’s decision to invite Hurriyat for talks was reinforced by Home Minister Rajnath Singh's statement that Mehbooba had approached the separatists in her individual capacity.

For people like Umar Wani, a resident of Rajbagh area of Srinagar, the failure to initiate talks is a big disappointment. “BJP’s Ram Madhav says Kashmir can ask for the moon within the Indian Constitution. Then why doesn’t the BJP leadership offer the same to Hurriyat? If they reject, the blame will come on them,” Wani told Firstpost after Home Minister Singh’s press conference.

“But right now, they are offering nothing. Why should the Hurriyat talk to them? There has to be a starting point for talks. I fear the situation will worsen now,” he added.

Hurriyat leader Abdul Gani Bhat told Firstpost that said that unless India and Pakistan do not engage in a sustained meaningful dialogue on Kashmir, the issue will never be resolved.

“They have to listen to the heartbeats of Kashmir. We got honored guests from Delhi and met them and later saw them off very gracefully. We were not against insaniyat. We had taken a collective decision not to meet them because they had no mandate,” Bhat told Firstpost.

Kashmir is unlikely to see the return of the normalcy any time soon and the cycle of violence is likely to prolong following the failure of the central government to break the ice. More than 70 people have been killed in the past 58 days, triggered by the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani. There is no ray of hope that the unrest is turning weak, but with every new killing, injury or arrest, the people are getting angrier.

Dr Peer GN Suhail, director of Centre for Research and Development Policy (CRDP), a policy think tank based in Srinagar, said that there is no harm in talking to anyone but the dialogue has to be result-oriented and not just for photo-op.

“Since the parliament delegation did not have any mandate and there recommendations would not have been binding on the Government of India, talking to the delegation would have yielded results,” Suhail told Firstpost.

Despite all this, the situation in Kashmir will return to normalcy because as the Darbar shifts to Jammu and winter sets in, the chill automatically will calm the temperatures. But this will be temporary, because the seeds of angst buried under snow often sprout in summers in the form of another summer agitation.


Source:-firstpost
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'Geelani Sullied Kashmiriyat': PDP Leader On Hurriyat Snubbing MPs

Jammu and Kashmir Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu has lashed out at pro-Pakistan separatist Syed Ali Shah Geelani, saying he has "violated the tenets of Kashmiri culture" by slamming his doors in the face of visiting lawmakers from Delhi who tried to meet him on Sunday.

Left leaders Sitaram Yechury and D Raja and Sharad Yadav of the Janata Dal United, members of an all-party delegation visiting Kashmir, were turned away from the gate of Mr Geelani's Hyderpora residence in Srinagar, while his supporters raised anti-India slogans.

Mr Drabu, a senior leader of the ruling People's Democratic Party and author of its alliance agreement with the BJP, told NDTV that the behaviour of Mr Geelani, 86, was "unacceptable". Kashmiris stand for social graces and Mr Geelani showed none, he said.

"I am not Kashmiri because of Article 370. I am Kashmiri because of my values. Geelani sullied Kashmiriyat," Mr Drabu said in the most stringent attack yet by the PDP on the Hurriyat Conference.

Mr Geelani and other separatists, members of the Hurriyat Conference, have rejected an invitation from Mehbooba Mufti to join talks with the team of Parliamentarians from Delhi, who are on a two-day visit in search of a solution to the crisis in Kashmir, torn by violent protests and clashes that have left over 70 people dead and more than 10,000 injured in the last two months.

It was made clear that Ms Mufti's invitation was sent in her capacity as PDP chief and not Chief Minister of Jammu and KAshmir; there is no offer to the separatists from the Centre or state government.

Mr Yechury and some other opposition leaders had attempted on Sunday to meet the separatists, but were turned away by each. They finally managed to have a conversation with Mirwaiz Umar Farooq at the Chashm-e-Shahi guest house, where he has been detained, and reported that the Hurriyat Conference has taken a decision "not to talk of anything tangible".

"We are hopeful that something positive will happen. Our signal to the people of Kashmir is that we have come here to share their pain. We have gone out of our way to meet the Hurriyat leaders," Mr Yechury said on Sunday evening.

The all-party delegation's visit ends today.


Source:-NDTV
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Kashmir all-party delegation aims to find solution for restoring peace in the Valley

Security jawans fire tear gas shells to disperse protesters who staged a protest march towards Lal Chowk in Srinagar on Thursday. PTI

Senior Congress leader and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the delegation was ready to hear "everyone".

The visit "will be beneficial for Kashmir and for the country," he said, adding everyone wants peace in the state.

Azad said it will be an opportunity for the parties and Kashmiri people to interact.

CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, another member of the team, said the all-party delegation should have gone two months ago "but let's hope that even now, we can make a difference".

LJP Chief and Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said that the MPs are going with an open mind and want to interact with anyone who wants to talk within the framework of the Indian Constitution. "We are ready to talk," he said.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said all parties were cooperating with the government and their sole aim was restoration of normalcy in the state.

""We will try our best to bring back normalcy. We are cooperating with the government. It is the responsibility of the government to deal with the situation very intelligently.

"All parties are cooperating for that. So we hope that it will be resolved," he said.

Reaching out to separatists, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday invited their top leaders for talks with the delegation.

Mehbooba wrote letters to the leaders in her capacity as PDP chief, seeking their cooperation by engaging with the delegation.

Apart from the Home Minister and Minister of State in PMO Jitendra Singh, those who are part of the all-party team include Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, his Lok Sabha colleague Mallikarjun Kharge, senior Congress leader Ambika Soni, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP), JD-U leader Sharad Yadav, CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and CPI leader D Raja.

NCP's Tariq Anwar and Trinamool Congress' Saugata Roy, Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut and Anandrao Adsul, TDP's Thota Narasimham, Shiromani Akali Dal's Prem Singh Chandumajra, BJD's Dilip Tirkey, AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, AIUDF's Badaruddin Ajmal and Muslim League's E Ahamed will be party of the delegation.

TRS' Jitendra Reddy, N K Premchandran (RSP), P Venugopal (AIADMK), Tiruchi Siva (DMK), Y B Subba (YSR-Cong), Jaiprakash Yadav (RJD), Dharamveer Gandhi (AAP) and Dushyant Chautala (RLD) are also in the team.

BSP and Samajwadi Party have also extended their support.


Source:-firstpost
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Counterpoint: Is it really so difficult to hear what Kashmiris are saying?

Among a series of articles that have been written on the Kashmir uprising of 2016, Chitralekha Zutshi’s piece, "The new wave of anger in Kashmir is not just about poor governance but about preserving an identity", published recently in Scroll.in, took me by surprise.

The author makes two broad assertions: first, that the “new militancy” in Kashmir lacks elements that can be called “politics,” and, second, the “new anger against India” is about “preservation of an identity” newly tinged by a “particular religious colour”. Put together, the author’s argument can be summed up as suggesting that the militancy in Kashmir in its new form has no concrete demands that can be politically met but rouses protest based on perceived threats to signs of religious identity.

Having just finished more than a year of fieldwork in Kashmir, not to mention growing up among the youth who are out on the streets protesting, I could not shake off my disbelief upon reading such assertions.

The article in question is riddled with broad and deeply flawed generalisations. But since there is a paucity of space, I will only lay out a few points that relate to the author’s main arguments, and try to address them. I don’t want to simply dismiss these arguments by presenting facts that I believe don’t fit the author’s perspective (even though representing facts in their proper context is important), but ask the readers to open their minds to alternative ways of understanding the Kashmir uprising.

Source:-scroll
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Mehbooba Mufti differs from Rajnath on Kashmir crisis, says only 5 per cent involved in violence

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday took different stands over the Kashmir crisis. Singh promised a visit to Kashmir by an all-party delegation, an alternative to pellet guns and reaching out to youths of Kashmir assuring them security and safety anywhere in India. While alluding to separatists, Singh said he has no hesitation in talking to anyone under the ambit of humanity, democracy and Kashmiriyat.

In contrast, Mehbooba Mufti said five per cent people in Kashmir were involved in the violence and they will be dealt with under the law. She said these five per cent have made lives of 95 per cent, who want Kashmir's solution through peaceful means, a hell.
Source:-indiatoday
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PM Modi breaks silence on Kashmir, says sad to see youngsters carrying stones instead of laptops

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Tuesday finally broke his silence over the Kashmir issue. Evoking the Vajpayee model of 'insaniyat', the prime minister appealed for peace in Jammu and Kashmir, at a rally in Madhya Pradesh's Alirajpur district, reported NDTV.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, earlier on Tuesday, also visited Chandrashekhar Azad's birthplace in the tribal-dominated Alirajpur district of Madhya Pradesh and paid rich tributes to the revolutionary leader.


"Be it the Jammu and Kashmir government under Mehboobaji or the central government, we are finding solution to all problems through development," Modi said at the rally.

He said only a "handful of people who have been misled" were causing trouble in the Kashmir Valley, where protests, since the killing of rebel commander Burhan Wani on 8 July, left over 55 people dead and thousands injured.

"Some people are causing Kashmir a lot of harm," the prime minister said. "Kashmir wants peace. Whatever Kashmiris want for betterment of their livelihood, the Centre will provide."

In his speech, Modi made a direct appeal to the youngsters of Kashmir, saying that those who should be holding laptops, bats, balls in their hands & dreams in their hearts are the ones carrying stones.
Source:-firstpost
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Kashmir unrest: Omar Abdullah takes a jibe at PM, asks when will Centre ‘wake up to crisis’ in the Valley

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah has questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence” on the situation in the Valley which he termed as “heart breaking” and “worrying”.

“Heart breaking & worrying in equal measure. At what point will the Centre (read Hon PM) wake up to the crisis
here?” Omar wrote on twitter late last night.

He was reacting to the death of three persons in security forces action after violent protests yesterday.

The opposition National Conference working president had hit out at the Centre for claiming that the situation in the Valley was improving.

“1 (one) more unfortunate death, countless injuries today & the Centre tells the Hon SC (Supreme Court) that ‘things are improving’. Wow!” Omar wrote.

omar tweet

In another tweet, Omar said it was only the ruling coalition partners — PDP and BJP — who agreed with this stand.

“Seriously? By which stretch of imagination? I haven’t met anyone in the Valley except the BJP-PDP ostriches who
agree!” he said.

The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that the law and order situation in Kashmir Valley has improved considerably since the outrebrak of violence following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8.

It said the violent protests having gone down from 201 on July 9 to 11 on August 3.

With yesterday’s three deaths, the toll in the violence in the Valley has now reached 54.
Source:-indianexpress
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No role for third power, we want to have emotional bond with Kashmir: Rajnath Singh

RULING out any role for a “third power” and asking Pakistan to stay away from Kashmir, Union Home Minister rajnath Singh on Sunday set the restoration of “peace and normalcy” as the main condition to initiate talks with those “we have to talk with” in the Valley.
“There is no role for any third power to improve the situation in Jammu and Kashmir,” Singh said at the end of his two-day visit to the Valley.
“We want to tell our neighbouring country (Pakistan) that you are yourself a victim of terrorism. You enter the Lal Masjid to eradicate terrorism. And on the other hand, you ask the youth of Kashmir to pick up guns. This should end,” he said.
Later, making her first appearance before the media after violence erupted across the Valley following the killing of militant Burhan Wani on July 8, Chief Minister and PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti accused Pakistan of instigating youth in Kashmir.
Slamming Pakistan for its “duplicity”, Mufti said, “We have sympathy for Pakistan. But when their own children, from madrassas, take up guns, they use drones against them, hang them… they instigated our youth, saying that if you pick up guns, you will become leaders, you will become martyrs.”
Source:-indianexpress
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