Centre declares no family member of terrorists, stone pelters will get govt jobs
On August 5, 2019, the Government of India introduced a historic reform scheme in J&K. It was calculated to integrate J&K fully into Bharat by reading down divisive Article 370 and abrogating discriminatory Article 35A and converting the 173-year-old J&K State into two Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
To be more precise, the reform scheme, on the one hand, declared the divisive J&K Constitution, 1957, as null and void; scrapped the J&K’s red and white flag; brought J&K under the ambit of all the Central Laws and institutions; and empowered the Union Home Ministry to take into its own hands the J&K’s administration; and, on the other, limited the area of communal strife, coupled with politics of competitive secessionism in Kashmir, by separating Ladakh from the erstwhile State.
It was hoped that the 2019 reforms would reform the Kashmir-based protagonists of greater autonomy, self-rule, achievable nationhood, limited accession, and Indo-Pak joint control over J&K or supra-state measures, but it was not to be. The rattled Kashmiri leaders, without any exception, vehemently opposed the reforms, termed them as an attack on the Indian federal polity and murder of democracy, and described the whole reform scheme as a deliberate attempt on the part of the Government of India to erode what they called Kashmir’s distinct identity and an attempt to change the Muslim-majority character of J&K.
The short point is that the Kashmiri leaders, including those who masquerade as “mainstream” politicians, rejected with contempt the whole reform scheme and resolved to get back what they lost on August 5, 2019.
It is hardly necessary to reflect on what the Kashmiri leaders said and did after the introduction of reforms as everything is in the public domain. However, it is imperative to reflect on what the so-called “Kashmiri mainstream” leaders promised after the Election Commission of India announced the poll schedule on March 16, 2024, for the constitution of the eighteenth Lok Sabha and what the Union Home Minister said to show them their place and further indicate the resolve of the Government of India to eradicate the cult of terror.
It needs to be underlined that Kashmiri politicians considered the announcement of the election schedule as an opportunity to go to the Kashmiri electorate and hold out solemn commitments that a vote for them would be a vote for the restoration of the pre-August 5, 2019 politico-constitutional status and help them secure/ ensure the release of subversives and terrorists kept in jails located in and outside J&K. But more than that, they took the general elections 2024 as an opportunity to openly tell the Kashmiri electorate that, if elected, they would adopt a policy that would be separatist-friendly.
For example, while some of the Kashmiri leaders held out a categorical commitment that they would withdraw the Public Safety Act and force the Government of India to withdraw the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from J&K if they were returned by the Kashmiri electorate to the Lok Sabha, others assured and reassured the Kashmiri electorate that they would streamline CID verification process so that children of terrorists and close relatives of stone-pelters get passports and government jobs without any difficulty.
It would be only desirable to quote verbatim what former Chief Minister and Vice-president of National Conference (NC), Omar Abdullah; former minister and president of the People’s Conference (PC), Sajad Lone; and former minister, and former ideologue of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of Mehbooba Mufti and presently chief of the J&K Apni Party (JKAP), Altaf Bukhari, said during the just-concluded election campaign.
On May 16, Omar Abdullah, inter-alia, said: “…if voted to power, the party (NC) will revise and streamline the verification process for youth, who are ‘suffering unjustly due to faults they haven’t committed’…youth are currently being harassed and subjected to inconvenience regarding police verifications. ‘They are being held accountable for crimes they did not commit…We must fight for the release of the youth languishing in jails outside Kashmir, who are detained without any charges. Only then will the people of Kashmir receive justice…when he (Omar Abdullah) was in power (2009-2014), he focused on halting the blacklisting system. ‘A militant’s son is not a militant, a militant’s relative is not a militant. It’s not justified. Even youths who were not born during the 1990s are being denied verifications, citing that their relative was a militant at that time…‘We will revise and streamline the verification process to ensure that youth do not face undue hardships.”
Earlier on May 12, he had said: “We have repeatedly stated and are reiterating that if the NC is voted to power, we will abolish the Public Safety Act (PSA) law in J&K,”[1].
What did Sajad Lone say? He, on May 20, among other things said: “If voted to power, I promise to erase the FIR and police verification culture that is affecting our youth…The issue is one of the main motives”[2].
As far as Altaf Bukhari was concerned, he raised his concern about what he called “the misuse of power to detain youths and elders under the Public Safety Act, unfair FIRs, and initiation of verifications.” He said: “We want to end the harassment of the common masses and release of the detained youth”[3].
But these constitute only three of the several such examples, which only served to indicate that their attitude to Bharat, subversives, sympathizers of break-Bharat forces, and unruly elements, including stone-pelters, is no different from what it was before August 5, 2019. Put in any amount of effort to find if there was any difference whatsoever in what the Kashmiri rabble-rousers said during the election campaign, you will come out of the exercise minus everything.
It is heartening to note that on May 27, the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, made a huge policy statement. He said that no family members of terrorists, stone-pelters, and close relatives of stone-pelters will get government jobs in J&K.
What exactly did the Home Minister say while giving an interview with the news agency, PTI? He, among other things, said: “In Kashmir, we have decided that if someone joins a terrorist organization, their family members will not get any government job…If someone indulges in stone pelting, his family members will also not get a government job.”
At the same time, however, he said: “The government will make an exception in case someone from a family comes forward and informs the authorities that his or her close relative has joined a terror outfit. Such families will be given relief.”
“Earlier, funeral processions used to be taken out in Kashmir after a terrorist was killed…We have stopped this trend. We have ensured that the terrorist is buried with all religious formalities but in an isolated place…When a terrorist is surrounded by the security forces, he is first given a chance to surrender. ‘We call family members like his mother or wife and ask them to appeal to the terrorist to surrender. If he (the terrorist) does not listen,’ he dies,” the Home Minister, in addition, said while explaining away the Government of India’s policy towards the cult of terror and terrorists[4].
It was expected that the Home Minister’s policy statement would disturb Kashmiri politicians. It did happen, and the same day. Take, for example, what JKAP said while reacting to the Home Minister’s statement. It said: “There were ‘thousands of instances, in which earlier militants or stone-pelters did a tremendous job in nation-building’ after realizing their mistake.” “The statement required a fresh look in view of ground realities,” it also said[5].
In sum, it can be said that the Home Minister’s policy statement would produce the desired moral effect and help security forces involved in anti-terror operations eradicate the menace of terrorism to the extent possible. However, the Government of India would do well to convert Kashmir into a Chandigarh-type Union Territory as the nation just cannot afford to retransfer the state power to those who are responsible for all the troubles Bharat faced in Kashmir between October 1947 and June 2018. Conversion of Kashmir into a Chandigarh-type Union Territory is a national requirement and exigency of the time.
Note:
1. Text in Blue points to additional data on the topic.
2. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
Reference:
[1] If voted to power, will streamline CID verification process: Omar – May 16, 2024, Daily Excelsior
[2] Sajad Lone Vows to Abolish Police Verification and FIR Culture if Elected – May 20, 2024, Srinagar News
[3] Elect Zafar Manhas to defeat ‘divisive forces’: Bukhari in Rajouri – May 21, 2024, Rising Kashmir
[4] No family member of terrorists, stone pelters will get Govt job in J&K: Shah – May 28, 2024, Daily Excelsior
[5] After Amit Shah’s remark on militants’ kin, Bukhari’s party presses for rethink – May 28, 2024, The Tribune
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The terrorists thrive only they are protected by family and friends in the society. The leaders sympathizing with with them are in fact no different from them.
Good decision. How about adding entire village to be banned from applying for govt jobs ?