The peace process within Kashmir

On reflection it also appears that the issues that had precipitated the clash in the first place were not of a fundamental nature. Take the issue of the gradual withdrawal of forces from the state and AFSPA. As General V.P. Malik, former chief of the army, pointed out in a recent article in these columns, forces were withdrawn from principal towns of the Valley in 1996 but were recalled following a deterioration in the situation. Even during the recent controversy, 11,000 BSF forces were withdrawn and replaced by the Central Reserve Police Forces CRPF.

But before the proposal to recruit one lakh persons into the state police, which can then take up the job of the army 8212; as the PDP president argued in a public meeting 8212; is implemented, its full implications need to be studied. After all, most of the cases of custodial deaths and fake encounters that have recently been exposed in Ganderbal, Rajouri, Kishtwar and Jammu involved the state police.

The security forces did commit many excesses in the initial years of the insurgency. But realisation soon dawned at the senior levels that this approach was counter-productive and a number of measures were taken to discipline such behaviour. There is, in fact, no evidence to suggest that the police is more disciplined than the security forces.

More important than the number of security force or police personnel deployed, is the assurance that their presence does not pose a threat to the lives and dignity of citizens, especially women. This, in turn, demands certain policy changes. First, the crude method of measuring the performance of the police or security forces by the number of militants they kill should be immediately scrapped. It provides a direct incentive for killing 8212; even those who are innocent. Further, while it is mandatory on the part of district authorities all over India to report every case of custodial death to the National Human Rights Commission, why is J038;K state exempt from that mandate? It is clearly a misuse of Article 370 to deny J038;K8217;s citizens human rights8217; safeguards available to those in the rest of the country.

The State Human Rights Commission has been made a 8220;toothless tiger8221;. It has been headless for the last one year and it has several vacancies which have remained unfilled. In its latest report, it has listed a large number of complaints against the state government which stand in the way of its effective functioning. The Commission has no investigating agency. An IGP was appointed when the Commission was set up in 1997 to help independent investigation, but the officer was soon withdrawn. Similarly, the State Women8217;s Commission has been headless for the last four years and is non-functional. It is mandated to defend the rights, dignity and honour of women and to protect them from all assaults. But how can it function without proper direction? J038;K8217;s Accountability Commission, too, has remained headless for over a year and is yet to become fully functional. The national Right to Information Act is not applicable in the state, nor has the state8217;s RTI Act incorporated crucial provisions of the Central act.

Politicians keep talking of providing the healing touch to J038;K. But if their words are to have any meaning, leaders would need to usher in important structural changes at the administrative and political levels. It needs nothing less than a peace process within the state which, in turn, hinges crucially on reviving defunct institutions and guaranteeing human rights to every J038;K citizen.

The writer is director, Institute of Jammu and Kashmir Affairs