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Journalism of Courage
Any promise by Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has to be taken with a pinch of salt even if it is relayed by US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. At the moment, India can only hope that the general will 8216;8216;permanently8217;8217; end the problem of infiltration. One redeeming feature of the promise is the possibility that the US will put pressure on the Pakistan president to honour his promise. India has already stated that once it is convinced of Pakistan8217;s sincerity in the matter, it will take appropriate measures to de-escalate tension on the border. Hopefully, all this will not distract the government from initiating a political process in Jammu and Kashmir that will significantly alter the overall situation in the state. The government has barely three months for this as the term of the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly comes to an end in October.
The importance of free and fair elections to normalise the situation cannot be overemphasised, more so when the whole world will be watching how elections are conducted. Though elections are not new to the state, the people in the state have seldom got an opportunity to exercise their franchise in a free and fair manner. Of all the elections held so far in the state, the closest that came to what can be described as free and fair was the one held in 1977. Needless to say, this was not always because the government wanted a party or leader to come to power by hook or by crook. In fact, the last elections would have been more representative if the state had been able to control the anti-democratic forces, which threatened violence against those who participated in the democratic exercise. Such forces will be active this time also as is borne out by the killing of the moderate Hurriyat leader Abdul Ghani Lone. Thus the first challenge the government faces is to keep such forces on the leash.
