This is an archive article published on October 24, 2019

Opinion Shadow in the mirror

Questions about the lockdown in Kashmir raised at home, and abroad, need to be addressed, not managed

Prashant Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan Supreme Court, Contempt of Court Prashant Bhushan

October 24, 2019 04:48 AM IST First published on: Oct 24, 2019 at 04:48 AM IST

US Congress panel on Kashmir, Jammu and Kashmir bifurcation, Article 370 abrogation, Gumanitarian crisis in J&K, special status kashmir, kashmir lockdown, Ilhan omar kashmir NRC,

If the government believes its August 5 decisions were correct, it must be able to convince the people of the Valley without locking them up.

On Wednesday, the world’s largest democracy was put under a lens by the world’s oldest democracy, and India did not come out looking good. At a US congressional hearing on “Human Rights in South Asia”, the discussion was mainly on the situation in Kashmir.

That India figured in such a hearing is embarrassing in itself. The focus was not so much on the validity of the central government’s decision to revoke Jammu & Kashmir’s special status, as on the manner in which it has been done.

Congresswomen and men asked the questions and raised the concerns that many, including Kashmiris, have done in India — over the prolonged detention of politicians, businessmen and others, the cutting off of phone lines and blocking of access to the internet in the Valley.

Over the nearly three months that these restrictions have been in place, India’s justification has been that such steps were necessary to secure the Valley from “Pakistan sponsored” terrorism. The members on the panel were appreciative of India’s concern, and acknowledged Pakistan’s reputation on this front, but were still unconvinced that these required the draconian measures implemented in the Valley.

The Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, who represented the Trump Administration at the hearing, was factual in her efforts to present an unbiased picture of India’s actions and the ground situation, but was constrained to say “a humanitarian crisis” was unfolding in the Valley. She underlined that Delhi had not allowed US diplomats to visit Kashmir. But the government has not allowed even Indian politicians to visit the Valley.

There is an electoral exercise underway in the state for local government even as every known politician of the Valley is under house arrest. It is hardly reassuring that there is an impression that politicians can be released if they sign “good behaviour” bonds. This is enormously problematic, as is the Centre’s apparent permission to the BJP to carry out political activity in the state while denying it to all other players.

There have been suggestions that the US hearing was the result of failed “media management”, or, to quote the External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, the “English-speaking liberal media” did not present a fair picture.

The truth is, media spin will not be enough to make the questions go away. If the government believes its August 5 decisions were correct, it must be able to convince the people of the Valley without locking them up. This it must do not because some politicians in the US are asking questions, but in India’s own interests.