The arrest of a person accused of involvement in the killing of 35 Sikhs in Anantnag district in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday last will, hopefully, unravel the mystery of one of the most outrageous incidents of its kind in the state. The massive demonstrations the Sikh community had organised in various parts of India to protest against the dastardly attack on their brethren are a pointer to their injured feeling. Condemnation of the incident has come from Sikh groups all over the world.In India, people cutting across political and religious affiliations, are one in denouncing the mass murder. Union Home Minister L.K. Advani was quick to deny rumours that the killings were the handiwork of some security personnel seeking revenge. There are also reports that a wireless message from across the border intercepted by intelligence agencies had indicated that a strike against the Sikhs was on the anvil. It only implies there was an intelligence failure, although this too was disputed by Advani. There is a perceptible difference of opinion between the Central and state governments in the evaluation of the incident, though both Advani and BJP spokesman Venkaiah Naidu have ruled out the dismissal of the Farooq Abdullah ministry and imposition of Governor's rule.Even as these differences persist, the Kashmir Sikh Joint Action Committee, an umbrella organisation of Sikhs in the state, has demanded an inquiry by a "non-government organisation like Amnesty International" into the whole incident. It is also significant that all the slogans the Sikh demonstrators in Delhi had raised were not against Pakistan and its mercenaries alone. In other words, there are sections among the Sikhs who do not believe the government version that the security forces had nothing to do with the killing. The Sikhs of Kashmir have also rejected the government offer to provide them with arms on the ground that this would not give protection to anyone. The very idea of arming ordinary people is repugnant and is tantamount to dereliction of duty by the government.In fact, in insurgency situations, it has been proved that the presence of arms only attract the attention of the militants. Needless to say, providing security to the people is one of the primary functions of the government and it cannot shy away from it. The mechanism of village defence committees the government talks about cannot be an end in itself. It can only complement the work of the security forces.Given the diabolic intentions of Pakistan-sponsored terrorists, who have in the past never stopped short of anything in their bid to create anarchy in the country, it is quite possible that their attempt in killing the Sikhs was to cleanse the Valley of non-Muslims and thereby provoke a violent reaction from the community, both within and outside the state. However, the commendable restraint the Sikhs have shown has defeated this strategy. It is now the government's responsibility to provide security to the 1.5 lakh Sikhs in Jammu and Kashmir and instill in them the confidence to stay on in their native villages and abandon all thoughts of migration. Central to all this is a thorough inquiry into the killing so that there is no room for suspicions of any kind.
