When the Padma awards for 2010 were announced,Ghulam Mohamamd Mir from Jammu and Kashmir made it to the top of the list for his public service. Nobody knew this outstanding Kashmiri. Not even the state government. This led to wide speculation about the awardees identity. The closest memorable name was that of former Congress Minister Ghulam Ahmad Mir,except he had been arrested for his involvement in the Srinagar sex scandal a few years ago. The government,meanwhile,asked J&K polices intelligence wing to look for the awardee,and they took four days to solve the mystery. Mirs only identity,even in his native Magam village,has been his feared but derogatory nickname Muma Kanna a name that had become synonymous with extortion,torture and extra-judicial murders across Kashmir during the initial years of militancy.
Kannas entry into the dangerous world of counter-insurgency had to do with more than simple patriotism. He had informed a local CRPF camp about an improvised explosive device in his village in 1989,when the militancy was still in its infancy. But once the militancy took a serious turn,the government suddenly encountered a total lack of ground support for counter-insurgency,and announced hefty awards in lieu of information. Kanna joined,promising to be an informant. Soon his ambition transcended that role,and he set up a private militia ostensibly to fight militants. While Kanna did help security forces,he simultaneously brought together a group of notorious criminals who started a wide ring of extortion,torture and even murder. The police still talks of Kannas wrath across central Kashmir and how his torture chambers forced dozens of local boys to join the ranks of militants. The story of a local militant,Mustafa,is revealing. Mustafa was a Class 8 student when Kanna and his gang started harassing his family for money. They got no help from the police,as Kanna ruled central Kashmir then. Villagers still
recall when Mustafa ran away from home to pick up arms with the aim of taking revenge,soon after they misbehaved with his mother in front of him. Mustafa was finally killed in a fierce encounter a few years ago.
So when a Padma was conferred on Kanna,it came as a rude shock in Kashmir,especially as zero tolerance to human rights violations has been the focus of recent politics and
public discourse since Prime Minister Manmohan Singh began his first term. The award has two major connotations it is seen as the Centres open endorsement to the Valleys brutal past where private militias had become notorious for extra-judicial killings,torture and extortion in the name of counter-insurgency. It also exposes a fundamental disconnect
between Kashmir and New Delhi. Awarded for public
service,Kanna is only viewed as a public tormentor in Kashmir.
The Padma to Kanna seems part of a series of recent events which points to the deterioration of the Kashmir situation. It also exposes the lack of coordination between the Centre and state governments at both conceptual and policy levels. The Omar Abdullah government has openly distanced itself from Kannas award,saying they have not recommended his name. Why was the J&K government not consulted before such a measure? Was it a deliberate decision or a goof up? Whatever the answer,it only shows a non-serious approach to Kashmir.
Earlier too,the state government and the Centre had talked in contradictory voices on the issue of the ban on pre-paid mobile connections. While the Union home ministry had taken the decision to ban 39 lakh cell connections on security grounds,the state government publicly opposed the move,seeking a review. The Centre later withdrew the ban.
This disconnect is also manifested in the way street protests in Kashmir are being equated with terrorism,which is tantamount to pushing another generation towards guns. In 2008,the gun had been for the first time replaced by protests and slogans,where the violence was limited to stone-pelting,even though police and security forces killed around 90 protestors. While the ruling NC-Congress coalition as well as the principal opposition party PDP avoided equating the stone-pelting with militancy,the response from the security establishment is interesting. The armys northern commander termed the public protests agitational terrorism,while the Special DGP of the CRPF called it gun-less terrorism. Instead of trying to understand the disenchantment in the street,where militancy is fast returning,government agencies are looking for short cuts,and have even coined a new term: Pakistani-sponsored stones. This new strategy may help the government use its iron fist against a new generation of protestors,and temporarily calm the streets. But it will prevent the Valleys march to non-violence and push Kashmir towards the brink again.
muzamil.jaleel@expressindia.com
