For years now, public demonstrations of anger in Jammu and Kashmir have largely been directed at the security forces and the state and Union governments, and they have been mostly about human rights violations. Friday saw a rare reversal: this time it was the faceless terrorist who lobs grenades over school walls as part of a day’s work who was the focus of public rage. A political agenda that demands the death of innocents is, by its very nature, morally repugnant, socially indefensible and is deeply violative of the human rights of the most vulnerable — the young.The attack on a school at the heart of Srinagar that had occurred a day earlier invited what could be considered a significant backlash and we need to read this public anguish right. As militant violence in the state climbs the graph yet again, people in the state fear that they will once more be caught in the crossfire. New Delhi needs to signal very strongly that this will not be allowed to happen. Unfortunately, its Kashmir policy suffers from periodic lethargy and remains episode-driven when it should be process-driven. When we last tuned in, the PMO had signalled to the Hurriyat leaders that it was willing to talk to them. This was before the Pervez Musharraf visit. Almost a month later, there has been no progress on that front, and even the earlier talk of declaring an internal ceasefire in the state and creating an ambience for lasting peace has all but petered out. The momentum created by the Srinagar-Muzzafarabad bus has been allowed to flag. If our official policy on Kashmir is that there is no policy, we could end up squandering even the few gains we have made in the state.Today, there is genuine revulsion in the popular mind against the excesses of the militants. But if it has to translate into a lasting resistance to terrorism in any form within the state, New Delhi will have to play a more dynamic role. If rogue groups operating in the Valley, who have sunk to targetting schoolchildren, are to be isolated, the Centre will have to wake up to the public mood in the Valley.
