Rehabilitation
of "Internally Displaced" Persons
by N.C. Bali Democracy
is being restored by the democratic set-up that has taken over the administration
of the state of Jammu and Kashmir after an election that was prophesied
as never possible. History has a passion for repeating itself and so the
cub of Kashmir has again occupied the seat of power held by his father
known as the lion of Kashmir.
There is nothing
new or innovative about it. The cabinet is old wine in old bottles with
the exception of Dogra scion of the royal family joining the fray and successtully
also. Bedfellows of today have been antagonists of yesterday. That is politics.
Amongst the
proclamations of the new government is "the rehabilitation of the internally
displaced (ID) persons", (Thank God, the blatant lie of their having come
out of their own accord for green pastures promised by the former governor
has finally been nailed).
All those that
have read of "Return of the Natives" with dignity and honour have expressed
satisfaction that the government is seizcd of the issue and is considering
discussing the package schemes with I.D. representatives. This is, however,
taken with a pinch of salt. First because nobody, not to say of any party,
condemned the forces that killed, maimed, looted, burnt and dismembered
the bodies, gouged the eyes, heart and entrails of the l.D. victims. Statistics
can, in such cases, never be verifiably accurate but the consensual data
collected shows 2000 dead, thousands tortured and scores of rapes, hostages
and abductions.
Destruction
Wrought
Besides, the
loot has been universal and arson has claimed over 25,000 thousand dwellings
and houses. Those of the houses that have been left untorched have the
structures ol dilapidated walls only with gaping holes for doors and windows
and are shorn of all fittings, including electric and watertaps. As for
household and personal effects, these are conspicuously absent. Personal
libraries and collections of books, audio and video tapes alongwith televisions,
video and audio tape- recorders, music systems, stereos, kitchen ranges
and kitchen gadgets, all have been pilfered. Recording details of this
rampage and loot will be ludicrous, bizarre and emotionally painful. Those
who fled from the internal tury of the bigots left even their holy books,
photographs of their deceased nears and dears and other cherished mementoes
of remembrances. Yet no one showed any sympathy, shed a tear or uttered
a word of consolation at this outrageous exploitation of the religious
system. It was not uncommon to hear from your Muslim friends that all those
of the minority community, who were killed were informants and traitors,
duly judged by Islamic courts of the Mujahids.
Who can forget
the Doomsday of 19-20 January 1990, when every loudspeaker and every sound
system fitted in each and every mosque was hurling unprintable, blasphemous
calumny coupled with threats and intimidations yelling for the blood of
Pandit kafirs who were forced to assemble at Lal Chowk at "Dooms-nighfs"
midnight hour.
Pretext
of Pakistani Hand
Now the million
dollar question is - were all the mosque sound systems operated by the
ISI or the Pakistanis: were all the killings, rapes, arson and loot perpeterated
by Pakistanis; were all the atrocities and tortures carried out by Pakistanis
and ISI; were the daily processions comprising students, women, professionals,
lawyers, teachers and transporters, shouting, "V for Victory" and asking
wayside people to reciprocate, taken out (in lakhs) to their local U.N.
Observer friends, by Pakistanis? The answer is an emphatic and uncontrovertable
'no'.
The memory
of this nightmare which has claimed untimely deaths of the ID community
in exile in hundreds' more for psyctlolotical maladies than of physical,
more for unbearable climatic and acclimatization problems than for lack
of victuals; more for poor conditions of living in tents and poorer conditions
of lack of prompt medical aid; more for lack of resources and money than
for any other reasons is still stealing the sleep of the Kashmiri Pandits.
Their sons
and daughters have become unemployed vagrants and their scholistic career
has been shattered by an irrational educational policy and the biased Kashmir
University. An I.D. student does not complete his graduation or post-graduation
even in twice the stipulatd time frame of the course. One can reconcile
with death by taking it an act of fate or destiny or the will of the Almighty.
What about the missing. Take an example: D is an I.D.P. whose son had to
flee the valley as his family was attacked twice by vested interests who
wanted to grab his precious and idyllic estate at Srinagar. He came over
and joined his department in Jammu but one day he was called out of his
office at Jammu, abducted and since then he is missing. His young wife
and two children are languishing while his parents have lost their balance
of mind. Numerous representations to the government of India and other
quarters remain unresponded to date.
Deluge By
Militancy
Did the deluge
and militancy come like a thunder clap or a cloud-burst? Do you believe
if? Years of careful planning and preparation had gone to stage it. That
the influx of smuggled arms from across the border to such a colossal extent
went unnoticed cannot be believed. The shooting that took place in the
Rajbagh house of a police top brass. The coming to Nagam bypass stand of
a V.V.I.P.'s daughter in a public carrier (Matador) on the particular day
when she was abducted, instead of her daily used family car cannot be dismissed
as a chance or a casual event. It is unbelievable. The plugging of the
leakage of the dam of militancy could have been done easily on that occasion
but the freeing of an undisclosed number of hardcore militants is still
not explained and remains a mystery.
Let bygone
stories be not retold. We are happy that election was successful and democracy
has been restored but we will have to be cautious, vigilant and in a state
of high preparedness for unforeseen eventualities. The tiger of militancy
that has tasted human blood and turned maneater is yet on the prowl.
Rehabilitation
and security are twin issues in which security, and that too foolproof,
has naturally a priority. Rehabilitation will automatically follow even
voluntarily once it is seen that violence, militancy and terrorism are
finally buried and eliminated. When we see that our elected representatives,
ministers, lawmakers and law enforcers move freely in the state, particularly
in the Valley, without a posse of security personnel and blackcats, the
special squads and other such armed guards around them; when gunfire is
not heard, grenades are not thrown and boobytraps and landmines are not
laid, people will surely think of going back.
Return and
Rehabilitation
Till then any
talk of return and rehabilitation of I.D.P.s is a dream of imaginary wishfulness.
Till then any persuaded "return of the native" may turn to be the rehabilitation
of the "Jews" at "the Auschuwitz Nazi Camp" in which the code word lor
elimination by gas chambers was "rehabilitated". Readers will find this
in the 20-year old research classic work by William Schirer on World War-II
which was named "The Rise and Fall of Third Reich". The daily telegram
from the Auschuwitz Gas Chamber chief to his boss, the Fuerher (Adolf Hitler)
was "... thousand 'rehabilitated' today".
This situation
can be saved when the cub of Kashmir will follow his father's footsteps
and take steps that were taken in the Kabaili (tribal) raid of the Valley
in 1947. The giant poster showed a Kashmiri peasant killing a long, coiled,
head raised for kill, black cobra with his "liven" (Kashmiri spade). The
caption read: "This is a Pakistani spy/ agent. Kill it".
Secondly all
the anachronistic draconian and ante- diluvian religious laws enforced
between 1989 to 1996 on the minorities should be scrapped and finished.
Thus alone can we say with ''Alama Iqbal"
"Sultaniye
Jamhour Ka Aata Hai Zamana.
Jo Nakshe
Kohan Aaye Nazar Usko Mita Do".
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