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India?s problem, Kashmir?s problem
The sex scandal that opened up a can of worms in Jammu and Kashmir more than a month ago continues to elicit outraged protests in the state.
The sex scandal that opened up a can of worms in Jammu and Kashmir more than a month ago continues to elicit outraged protests in the state. New names involved in the call-girl racket and the connected rape of a 15-year-old are being added to a list that includes a deputy superintendent of police, a BSF deputy inspector general and a former additional advocate general. A criminal nexus of this order operating in any other state is bad enough. But for it to have occurred in J&K is worse as there could be even more serious ramifications to the sorry saga. There has been an opinion from some quarters that appalled Kashmiris have taken to the street with redoubled distress because the ‘rest of India’ has not reacted in a manner that suits the magnitude of the crime. There is the other view that Kashmir is like any other state, and that the probe itself, like any similar probe elsewhere in the country, will take care of the matter. The truth we think, lies somewhere in-between these two extremes.
First, Kashmir, whether one likes it or not, is not like any other state in India. Whether one admits to it or not, a spark here can lead to a conflagration. Over the last few years, thanks to the Election Commission doing a good job during the assembly elections, the government’s ‘human touch’ policy, and with the security forces being held more accountable for ‘atrocities’, Kashmiris have slowly but surely been entering a ring of trust with the ‘representatives’ of the Indian State. To not get to the bottom of this sensitive issue, regardless of how heavyweight the names that float up, would be to fritter away a large part of this trust.
The need for a thorough, unbiased probe and subsequent punishment according to the law is also connected to dispel the notion that the ‘rest of India’ is apathetic to a ‘Kashmiri’ problem. The Ghulam Nabi Azad government should realise that protecting the ‘tainted’ will not help anyone in the long run. If the guilty — locals or otherwise — are not decisively seen to be brought to the dock, the people of Kashmir will be given a new handle to look at New Delhi in the old way.
