Electoral boomerang

The sustained escalation in violence in Jammu and Kashmir has cast a worrying shadow over the month-long electoral exercise consuming muc...

The sustained escalation in violence in Jammu and Kashmir has cast a worrying shadow over the month-long electoral exercise consuming much of the nation8217;s energies. The despicable murder of the BJP8217;s candidate from Anantnag, the never-ending attacks on polling booths in various constituencies, the threats implicit in the boycott calls issued by militants, the covert support from beyond India8217;s borders to forces intent on sabotaging a democratic process8230; the ripples of this terror campaign could wash away so much more than the parliamentary polls.

Indeed, the very distinction between poll-related violence and other subversive acts like Friday8217;s attack on a police post in north Kashmir when militants made away with arms and ammunition poses its own hazards. Clearly, while the relentless victimisation of candidates and voters alike is part of the destabilisation campaign that has been resuscitated post-Kargil, complacency and a recurrent failure to anticipate on the part of the security forces have added to the gory mess.

Human rights is the catch phrase in any analysis and in every attempt to arrive at a solution to the upheaval in this most breathtakingly scenic region 8212; and that is how it should be. If, however, coercion to vote delivers its own backlashes, if innocent civilians inadvertently caught in a vicious flurry of bullets are bound to be sceptical about changing their lot with ballots, terror too leads to gross human rights violations.

Preventing the ever-feared nail checks by militants may not be possible, but the authorities must foster an atmosphere of confidence for the people to exercise their franchise 8212; something that friction between the various paramilitary forces deployed in the Valley and complacency in preventing the militants from walking into police booths and seizing the booty with such ease will definitely not accomplish. In this context, plans to shift more than two dozen polling booths located near the Line of Control in Jammu for today8217;s election makes sense and addresses voters8217; apprehensions about being showered by unprovoked shelling by Pakistani troops. Polling in Baramulla and Anantnag in the weeks ahead will, of course, be accompanied by greater challenges.

But it is not just the soldier and the cop policing the streets and pathways in Jammu and Kashmir who have to swing into determined action; at the heart of the matter is cross-border terrorism. 8220;The recent upsurge of fighting along and across the Line of Control in Kashmir, especially in the Kargil area, is a reminder of the fragility of the situation,8221; United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in his report released on Thursday and makes a plea for resumption of the Lahore process. It is a piece of wisdom that must be impressed upon the men in Islamabad intent on persisting with this war of attrition. In this era of hectically negotiated IMF loans, it8217;s a task a world suddenly sensitive to possible flashpoints in South Asia should surely have no difficulty in undertaking.