The Targeted Killings Ghost of Demographic Change and the role of PAGD: Lalit K Kaul
The
Targeted Killings Ghost of Demographic Change and the role of PAGD
Lalit
K Kaul
The Gupkar Declaration dated October 20, 2020
signalled possible reoccurrence of such ominous events that had traumatized the
Kashmiri Society for more than thirty years. That this group of various
political outfits in the UT of J&K has an appreciable mass following, it
was proved by the number of seats the alliance won in the DDC elections. It
does not require a majority of the residents in a colony to successfully plan
arson and loot; a few handfuls are sufficient to reduce the entire colony to a
graveyard of bodies smeared with blood, decorated with broken limbs and houses
converted in to huge piles of garbage. Unfortunately in our country there exist
such honourable politicians who believe in trading in flesh and blood of people
only if a political mileage could be extracted out of that gruesome exercise.
The Targeted Killings:
Non locals are not/ cannot be allowed to become a
part of the Kashmiri society even if that be for a period that is transitory
and the “outsider” presence is only out of this necessity to earn a livelihood.
The killing of a non local Muslim may hint at the prospect of the killings not
having any communal agenda, but the killing of a permanent resident of
Srinagar, Sri Bindroo, and a Kashmiri Pandit smells of Jihadist intentions.
That the killing spree should start nearly one year
after the Gupkar Declaration, it is indicative of the planning done by the
Gupkar Gang in motivating the locals to go on a killing spree to negate the New
Domicile Law. Arming the locals to achieve the ends is not very difficult for
the alliance as they are known to be supporters of the Hurriat gang even while
they masqueraded as the “mainstream” politicians. In fact, the terrorism in
J&K born out of a confused movement that at the same time desired both the merger
with Pakistan and Azadi (sovereign J&K Nation) was also the nurtured baby
of the so called “mainstream” political outfits who ruled the erstwhile state
and also ensured transit across the border for effecting insurgency in J&K.
The Indian media’s theory that the change of ISI
chief has stimulated the targeted killings has fallen flat on the face of it
because the PM of Pakistan has not yet approved the name suggested by his army
chief and hence the status quo is in place.
However, whatever be the role of ISI the Gupkar
Declaration establishes a kind of link between the so called “mainstream”
parties and the targeted killings. The rationale sustaining this accusation on
Gupkar Gang is: that the aim of restoring so called (nonexistent) Article 370
is not achievable is very well understood by the Gang; the direct consequence
of the so called abrogation of Article 370 is the change in the definition of domicile
that opens it up for non residents of the erstwhile J&K state; the Article
370 cannot be restored back to its pre 5th August 2019 status, but
the implementation of new Domicile Law can be thwarted and hence the killings.
Now, commonsense says that ISI won’t be interested
in domicile parameter, Pakistan having reconciled to the fact of the abrogation
as stated by Pakistan Ministers; so, whose political imperative it is to raise
impediments in the path leading to implementation of the new Domicile Law- the
Gupkar Gang; as that’s the sole way they can reclaim their lost grounds in the
political canvass of the UT of J&K.
The Ghost of Demographic Change is the Inciting
Factor:
The only way the Gupkar Gang can try to impede/stop
implementation of the new Domicile Law is by inculcating fear in the minds of
the locals that it is a matter of very small quantum of time before they would
be reduced to a minority in the Valley. It’s the Fear that spurs an individual
to undertake an activity not thought of prior to the inculcated fear. The
provocating sermons like “loss of identity”, “corrupting influence on the
native culture”, “the threat to Islam”, “usurping of all the state jobs by the
new domicile” etc are bound to motivate, not so well informed individuals, to
take to the path of violence against a State machinery whose might they cannot
match. While the indoctrinated ones raised by the Gupkar Gang may succeed in killing
a few non locals the might of State power is bound to annihilate the
indoctrinated ones, while the leaders live life as usual and continue to
masquerade as “mainstream” politicians.
History of Demographic Change in erstwhile J&K
State:
Any individual possessing a state subject
certificate in the erstwhile J&K state was entitled to settle down anywhere
in the region including Ladakh and rural/urban areas in Jammu and Kashmir. No
bar on buying movable/immovable property. Yet since 1947, one did not come
across a Dogra of Jammu or a non Kashmiri settling down in the Valley. They had
business outlets in Srinagar with headquarters in Jammu. No urbanite Pandit
thought of settling down in the rural areas of Kashmir and in fact due to non
availability of opportunities in higher education/jobs etc (due to policies
implemented during Sadiq era and then post 1975 during the 2nd
tenure of Sheikh Abdullah) the Pandit youth chose to migrate to regions outside
J&K to be finally ousted lock stock and barrel in 1990. This is to make a
point that no non Kashmiri state subject conscientiously chose to buy property
in the Valley even though entitlement was there.
On the contrary, a well designed and politically
planned encirclement of Jammu by the Kashmiri Muslims was effected by the
regimes of Abdullahs and Muftis et al. So, a very conscientious effort was made
to change the demography of Jammu to make it a Muslim majority area. It’s very
easy to see through the nefarious political designs of those who masquerade as “secular
and mainstream” politicians.
What comes out is that the non Kashmiri Muslim
residents of the erstwhile state of J&K including Ladakh had no political
axe to grind and no political goals to reach to deliberately try alter the
demography in the Valley quietly over the years of their existence; something
they could have quietly planned to achieve by buying immovable properties from
unsuspecting populace as it wasn’t going to be an eyebrow raising act; but the
Muslim leadership had this nefarious plan of transforming Jammu from a Hindu
majority to a Muslim majority area.
Why would anyone want to settle down in Kashmir?
In today’s scenario who from outside Kashmir would
be interested in settling down in there? What are the incentives? Are living
conditions going to be better than, say, in comparison to those living in
Noida? Does J&K offer better job opportunities for school/college educated youth
than elsewhere in India? Does agriculture in Kashmir offer better prospects
than in other parts of India? Does Kashmir export food grains? Are there in
Kashmir many private and public sector companies that offer tremendous job
opportunities? Is entertainment industry in Kashmir too big for outside talent
to migrate and try their luck out? Are professional institutions in Kashmir
better than the ones in other states for aspiring students to make a beeline
for Kashmir? The answer to all the above questions is a big NO; so where is the
threat to local population? Labour migrates as they do to other parts of the
country and they are floating population; they would not leave their native
village at any cost.
For the sake of discussion, let it be said that for
all the questions raised in the preceding paragraph, the answer is a big Yes.
Yet demographic change won’t happen.
The Abdullahs Muftis Lones et al would not know
what a population growth tree looks like nor do they have the capability to
grasp it if explained; yet they are out there to spill blood to grind their political
axe.
Even if the people are lifted like packaging
material and dumped all over the Valley by tens of thousands with a singular
aim of breeding as many children as possible while the GOI provides sustenance;
the demography in the Valley will take many hundreds of years to change, given
the present population base of Kashmiri Muslims and their % growth in
population per annum.
The Enemy is within:
TV channels may collect TRP points by blaming
Pakistan and ISI for every unfortunate event that is engineered in India yet
the fact remains that post 5th August, 2019 the enemy is within
insofar as the abrogation of so called Article 370 and changed Domicile Law is
concerned. The 5th August, 2019 terminated the politics of blackmail
in a single stroke and resolved ambiguity about the status of erstwhile J&K
state as had been wilfully created by Pakistan and supported by their agents in
India. The self arrogated suzerainty over Kashmir by the Abdullahs Muftis Lones
Hurriat et al no longer exists post 5th August 2019 and hence the
desperation to create as much turmoil as possible in the hope that it may bring
them back to the centre stage of the Kashmir politics.
While the Home Ministry may go more aggressive with
the military option of neutralizing the killers and may plan to teach a bigger
lesson to Pakistan; the peace in Kashmir is not possible unless the local
political mafia is netted in and put in its place.
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