Kashmir youth completely alienated; Don’t believe in idea of India any more: Yashwant Sinha
NEW DELHI (INP):The former Indian External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, has said “the youth of Kashmir are completely alienated, they do not believe in the idea of India anymore.”
He was speaking at a talk organised by the Observer Research Foundation to discuss a recent report by the Concerned Citizens’ Group on their observations in Kashmir. The Citizens’ Group, led by Mr. Sinha, included Kapil Kak, retired Air Vice Marshal; Wajahat Habibullah, former Chief Information Commissioner and former Chairman of the National Minorities Commission; Sushobha Bharve of the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation; and Bharat Bhushan, senior journalist. The members visited Kashmir in October last year and spoke to a cross-section of the Valley’s residents to understand their sentiments.
Mr. Sinha said, “Their bitterness hits you like a missile.” The young people in Kashmir have lost their fear of the Indian state and do not mind being killed or jailed, as long as they achieve Azaadi. This disillusionment was worrying, Mr. Sinha said and demanded intervention and dialogue.
The increased use of force by the Indian state against Kashmiris in the agitations and protests seen in 2016 indicates a failure of the state, said Mr. Sinha. “When the youth of Kashmir, who for the first time agitated with no defined leader or leadership, asked for self-determination, India’s response was to use force. First, the Kashmir Police, then the Central Paramilitary Forces, then the Army.” Mr. Sinha referred to a quote by political philosopher T.H. Green that he remembered from his days as a political science student in college: “Will, not force, is the basis of the state.” In Kashmir, he said, it is the other way round: force is being used, instead of will.
The panelists spoke of the use of pellet guns against agitators in Kashmir. Many have been blinded, including young children. Ms. Barve spoke of the pioneering work by Mumbai’s Dr. Sundaram Natarajan in treating pellet gun victims.
“In my time working for the government, I have known pellet guns to be used only in Kashmir,” said Mr. Sinha, “in which even innocent people can be injured and blinded.”
Other instances of unrest in the country, such as in Chennai at the Marina Beach and in Haryana in the jat agitation, have not been met with such action — no judicial enquiry has been held against police excesses in Kashmir, unlike Tamil Nadu, said Mr. Sinha.
“Kashmir is as much a part of our country as any other. We cannot turn our backs on it. If my son listens to my neighbour instead of me, is it not my fault?” asked Mr. Sinha. “We have to take responsibility, instead of dismissing it as an issue, and we have to attempt to resolve it and listen to Kashmiris’ suffering.”
Mr. Sinha said the path forward to help Kashmir is to initiate person-to-person contact and for doors to open toward listening to Kashmiris’ grievances.
“We are not talking or communicating now, and we need to,” said Mr. Sinha. He referred to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s statement of dealing with Kashmir with “insaniyat” – this, he suggested, is the path forward, as well as initiating dialogue with the people of Kashmir.
