Mohammad Tabish – The author has been a student of International Relations at OP

Jindal Global University

Dear Reader,

This is a sad letter. It talks about the reality, as cruelly as it looks in the mind of its
author. There is a restlessness in his fingers. He is trembling at the sight of a child’s
first encounter (eye contact) with the army. How should he write? …about the
violence of the last two decades which began with the destruction of childhood
…what is even hard to contemplate!

He is skeptic on the use of force - force as a tool to separate the problem and treat it
as a specimen in an interrogation laboratory. Force can’t solve a problem. Force can
only cause temporary normalcy. Force creates compromise. A conversation on
Kashmir should begin. Innocence needs to be treated with innocence. A stone pelter
is not a sibling of a terrorist. Youth and security have to part ways. We are not
fighting a war, rather an approach based on love and mentorship needs to be
conceived. The youth can’t be branded into categories or sub categories.

He could imagine that decades of turmoil and disturbance have affected stability and
governance in the state of Jammu & Kashmir. However, the focus of authorities
mostly remained on the armed struggle and insurgency. Any major intervention into
the problems faced by the youth remains absent. Even the national youth policy
developed under the mentorship of Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth
Development remains silent on recommendations or to say – facilitation – for the
youth of J&K. In fact the youth of this state have been constantly kept detached –
knowing unknowingly which I can’t contest – into an idle space which I perceive to
be dangerous. There is a need of reckoning. Why the youth is disenchanted? How to
engage them in a political processes, economy and society? The response of
authorities is dismal.

He could clearly foresee a gradual alienation of youth towards extremes of the

system. How they are being consumed in anger? And what can be worse than
alienation? A mind locked in a room can’t flourish. It can’t aspire for prosperity.
There is only one imagination and that is to emancipate, what in Kashmir parlance
becomes ‘aazadi’. The government has to become serious and ensure investments in
the youth of this downtrodden state. We stand on a crucial juncture and there is no
scope for deliberate accidents such as the ramming of (18 year old) Adil Ahmad
Yatoo by a paramilitary vehicle. This is not just one killing, ironically this is setting
up of a chain reaction of bloodshed and hopelessness. This is not only the killing of
Adil Yatoo but also the killing of 22 years old Thirumani who was on a vacation
tour in the valley. It is not possible to separate the two from each other. In fact both
share similar fates but in two different circumstances originating from a common
problem. Both are accidents and both are murders.

He believes that the differences between the people of Jammu & Kashmir and India
are as valid as the light of the day and dark of the night. Delhi can’t just ignore the
Kashmir problem and should stop looking at Kashmir through Pakistan. In fact, the
state of Jammu and Kashmir is one of the many states in India that has given its
electoral power into the hands of ruling BJP government. It is one of the rarest
possibilities to have emerged in the last many decades of Kashmir history that a right
wing hindutwa party has been put to power. If not now – then when can the dawn of
peace and stability emerge out of the mighty Himalayan Ranges that guard the valley
from the rest of the Indian mainland? For that matter Modi has the right mandate in
the center as well as in the state, to make that move and once for all put an end to
the vintage Kashmir problem. The valley is a test for the Indian Democracy and all
eyes are focus on the sole aspirant that is Modi himself. The recent news of setting
up of dialog with stakeholders in the valley brings lot of good news and makes any
ordinary Kashmiri optimistic. It is time for boli to overcome goli.

Conclusion:

The state can’t be expected to play the role of a harsh father without giving mother
a chance. The youth is not an expert on sciences of politics, international relations,
government affairs or governance. It is the moral responsibility of the authorities to
involve them into state affairs and connect over a confidence building process.
Policies projected to improve situation in the state of J&K have to come out of closed
rooms within its real stake holders. Tactics such as, cease fire during the holy month
of Ramadan won’t solve the issue rather it will delay permanent normalcy in the
state or pause the ongoing mayhem for a brief period of time. Instead we should
focus on initiating a discourse on the nuances of Kashmir dispute and gradually
move ahead on a political platform. People have to start speaking and a right set of
people have sit and have the appetite to listen. A discourse which is clear in its terms
and agenda. Young people who are potential agents for setting up the socio-political
infrastructure are insecure to come out. Their voices remain frozen in the absence of
free spaces where one could bring forth his or her aspirations. Military can solve the
issue, it can only contain the problem. It is clear by now that central government is
not tackling with a handful of people whose concerns have been of
underdevelopment or lack of employment opportunities. In recent times we have
seen a brigade of young highly qualified recruits in the extremist camps who are not
even trained to be there and this is frightening. And that is worrying for all of us.

All yours faithfully.