Opinion Nirupama Subramanian writes: The con man in Naya Kashmir

But this con man was unique, for the sheer length of time that he kept his “victims” hooked, who his victims were, and for the location in which the hoax played out. Kashmir Valley is one of the most securitised areas of the world. It may be pleasant for tourists, but the terrorist threat still looms large. So much so that officials are only too quick to jump at shadows.

Kashmiri journalists, merely doing their job, have been picked up for “glorifying” terrorists, and kept in prison under the draconian UAPA for months. A religious leader has been in undeclared house arrest for more than three years allegedly because the administration fears his potential as a mobiliser. A political worker trying to mainstream young people vulnerable to militant propaganda was accused of a nexus with terrorists and jailed for two years. With Patel, however, all disbelief was suspended.

Over multiple visits since last November, Patel, who distributed cards describing himself as an “Additional Director (Strategy and Campaign)” in the Prime Minister’s Office, extracted from a willing administration expensive security cover, accommodation in a five-star hotel in Srinagar, as well as a conducted tour of the Line of Control near Uri. He held meetings with government officials, threw his weight around. Not only did he get the administration to book him into a fine hotel, officials seeking favourable postings courted him. Some officials who had doubts about him fought them back, fearful of the consequences of voicing them. In Naya Kashmir, questioning authority is risky business.

Contrast this credulousness of Kashmir’s officialdom with the callousness with which the same system treats the powerless. Consider, for instance, that in the height of winter, officials in Srinagar undertook an anti-encroachment drive without giving prior notice to those who would be affected. Until someone in the hierarchy was confident enough to say that this was not the way forward, and was heard in Delhi.

After the hoax came to light, Srinagar Mayor Junaid Mattoo tweeted: “There is one Kiran Patel per every square kilometer of Kashmir today. And the blame doesn’t rest with an officer or two. Blame lies with the new political ecosystem… ”

He is not far wrong. The desperate efforts to manufacture “pro-India” nationalism in the Valley since the 2019 reorganisation of the erstwhile J&K state have given rise to a new system of patronage that has created space for poseurs. Officials are unquestioningly subservient to this new category of persons who claim proximity to personages at the top of the food chain, in Srinagar, Delhi, or Nagpur.

The J&K media is particularly vulnerable to this trend. In 2020, the J&K Administration rolled out a new policy through which the Information Department assumed powers to decide what constitutes “fake news” or “anti-national” news. News organisations not toeing the line would be punished by denying them government advertisements, the mainstay of most newspapers in India. Officials have also used other heavy-handed measures such as the UAPA and the PSA with the result that even those whose job it is to question now only copy-paste government press releases on their front pages. On the other hand, many with thin journalistic credentials have been quick to offer themselves as protectors of this egregious policy and are even feted for it by officialdom.

Speaking to a news channel, former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti described this new breed of media VIPs as “thugs” who had been given “full authority” and were preventing genuine journalists from doing their jobs. “You know who they are,” she said.

In the same period that Patel held officials in thrall, another episode was unfolding, that has raised troubling questions about the functioning of the Army, an old problem, but this time with a naya twist. In December 2022, a youth disappeared from his home in Kunan village in Kupwara after being picked up by the Army. Three days later, when his family went to the army camp to find out about him, they were told he had escaped.

In February this year, three leaders of the JK Awami Awaz Party, which had come into existence in early 2022, addressed a press conference in Srinagar alleging that the youth had been killed by the Army. They also spoke out against the Administration’s eviction drive. Then, they made an astonishing claim: Their party, they said, had been set up by the Army. The Army was quick to dismiss the claim and declared that it did not support any political group or party. But the incident led to rumblings within.

The party’s website, now no longer available, had videos dating back to early 2022, showing “pro-India” activities from January to March last year, such as a “Tiranga rally” at Lal Chowk and the national flag hoisting on Republic Day. Photographs showed its leaders posing with the national flag at Lal Chowk.

But, said party leaders at the press conference, seeing “what India is doing with Kashmiris” and “to Indian Muslims”, they were now seeking “azaadi”. Quick on the heels of the press conference, the three men, who just months before had planted the Tricolour in many places in Srinagar, were arrested for “anti-national” activities.

Incidentally, two weeks after this, on March 1, the decomposed body of the missing youth was found, 75 days after he had disappeared. The appearance of the body led to massive protests in the Kunan Poshpora area. The police have said they will investigate the matter further, but it is not clear how far that will go.

These elements of “naya Kashmir”, seemingly unconnected, are telling snapshots — of authority that apparently cannot be questioned, that is unaccountable and functions in a climate of impunity, without even the media acting as a check. This is the backdrop against which a conman, who clearly read the room correctly, jets into Srinagar, claims to be in high office, and proceeds to take the entire administration for a grand ride. He wasn’t the first. He won’t be the last.

nirupama.subramanian@expressindia.com