Building Bridges Across Divides

For decades India fought a defensive battle vis a vis Pakistan on the legitimacy of Kashmir's accession to India and we acted as though we had a lot to hide. Foreign journalists were not allowed to visit Kashmir. Pakistanis found it difficult to get visas even to meet sick and dying relatives. The idea of soft borders seemed inconceivable.

However, all that started changing after the October 2002 elections which were acknowledged by the world community to be free and fair. Since then thestate has witnessed a new resurgence of democracy with a growing constituency for peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue after 15 long years of bloody conflict. This is a major factor for the new confidence displayed by ourgovernment in dealing with Pakistan. This article aims to provide some glimpses into the processes which are helping restore people's faith in Indian democracy.

Most people in India associate Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s "healingtouch" policy in Kashmir with attempts to win over estranged Kashmiri Muslimsthrough more humane and democratic methods to reduce the violence in Kashmir,rather than supporting an "eye for an eye" policy in combating terrorism.That is why many mistakenly believe he is soft on jehadi militants. Fewrealise it has also meant reducing corruption, providing responsive governance,fostering a process of dialogue across political divides as well as revitalisingthe economy of the Valley by reviving tourism and investments. By foregroundingthe politics of development and empowerment of citizens through devolution ofpowers he has built a large constituency for peace and democracy.

Even though the numbers of Kashmiri Hindus returning to the Valley may notyet be impressive, the processes and means being used for reconciliation deserveattention. As someone who has kept a watch on the developments in Kashmir, Iwitnessed the start of this process from November 2002 onward. It all began withMufti specially flying down to Delhi to host a dinner for Kashmiri Pandits onthe occasion of Shivratri - an important festival for Hindus, especially ofKashmir who are mostly Shaivites. He made a fervent plea to them to return totheir homeland, saying that Kashmir was incomplete without them. Many Pandits treatedthis appeal with cynicism and some even openly derided it then and continue todo so till now, alleging nothing has changed to merit the return of Pandits tothe Valley. True, many still languish in the relief camps in Jammu and manyothers do not wish to return, thinking the peace process is too fragile to betrusted. This, in my view, is a shortsighted view of the dynamic politicalsituation in the Valley.

Mufti’s way of establishing his secular credentials and reasserting thespirit of Kashmiriyat is to avoid rhetorical confrontations with religiousextremists and instead let his positive and constructive actions do the talking,as the following example will illustrate. In December 2002, he had invited asmall group of journalists and a large contingent of tour operators from variousparts of India to come and celebrate Christmas at Gurmarg. On December 25thmorning, he announced at breakfast that he was going to take the visitors to anold abandoned Church about a kilometre away from the hotel where they werestaying. The fact that a man at the top of the terrorist hit list was walkingfearlessly at the head of the group amidst high mounds of snow and stayed in thesame hotel as all other guests, rather than remaining confined to a special governmentguesthouse, sanitised through heavy security, had a visible impact onthe visitors.

People also took note of the fact that a priest had been specially brought infrom Srinagar for a prayer ceremony to be held that morning to celebrate there-opening of the Church. Soon after the prayer meeting, Mufti announced thatthe state government would soon renovate the historic building. And the promisewas honoured without delay. It is noteworthy that there is no big vote bank ofChristians either in Gulmarg or in the Valley whom he wanted to win over.Moreover, this gesture was made despite the fact that Islamic militants inKashmir had started targeting Christian priests for allegedly seeking converts.Without entering into a rhetorical argument with Islamic jehadis, Muftinevertheless gave a clear signal by his symbolic support of the tiny Christianminority within J&K. that the government stood for pluralism and respectfulcoexistence among people of diverse faiths.

Another significant event was the decision of the state government toorganize a major tourism campaign on the Hindu festival of Lohdi, (whichmarks the end of winter) to be celebrated at a hill resort named Patni Top inthe Jammu region. For the first time people all over India saw families oftourists and honeymooning couples enjoying the snow-clad mountains of thishitherto neglected and relatively unknown hill resort. Similarly, the state governmentbegan celebrating Basant Panchami - another Hindu festivalthat marks the coming of spring.

This sent a message not only to Hindus across India that J&K was not an"Islamic state" despite its Muslim majority but also to the people of Jammuwho had till recently felt marginalized and neglected by the ruling regimes inSrinagar. By promoting Patni Top of Jammu as a choice tourist destination torival Gulmarg and Pahalgam, Mufti reached out to the people of Jammu with themessage that the economic growth and development of that region is no lessimportant for his government than that of the Valley. Since Jammu has for longresented the disproportionate dominance of the Valley in the politics of J&K, giving due attention to Jammu’s development provides another dimension ofMufti’s healing touch policy.

The state government’s active involvement in making arrangements forKashmiri Pandits to celebrate Jyeshtha Ashtami at the ancient and highlyrevered Khir Bhawani temple near Gandarbal also sends a signal that Kashmirbelongs to all Kashmiris irrespective of their faith. According to Sushila Bhan,a well-known educationist of Kashmiri origin, the participation of KashmiriPandits in this sacred festival has risen dramatically in the last three years,with busloads of Pandits coming from all over India for this pilgrimage.

Not surprisingly, partly as a result of this and other equally courageoussymbolic incidents, Kashmir started witnessing a big revival of domestic tourismfrom 2003 onwards. The vast majority of these visitors are Hindu. The fact that10 lakh tourists, including young honeymooning couples, visited J&K thisyear is in itself proof that people all over India are getting the message thathis "healing touch" includes re-repairing the strained bonds betweenKashmiri Muslims and Hindus all over India.

Tourism is not just an industry for Kashmir, as it is for Bangkok. Itprovides a vital emotional link between the people of Kashmir and the rest ofIndia. To get tourists to start visiting again when a large number of Kashmirishad themselves abandoned the Valley, and migrated to safer places like Delhi andBangalore, is no small achievement. This is especially credible because the mediaimages of Kashmir are still dominated by bomb blasts and grenade attacks.

Mufti has also been very creative in conceiving new ideas for bridge-building thatappeal to everyone’s enlightened self-interest. For example, during his recentvisit to Kargil along with Deputy CM Mangat Ram, while traversing the area wherea little known pool of water called Draupadi Kund is situated, he proposed thatit be developed as both a pilgrim centre and a tourist attraction for theregion. As per the legend associated with this Kund, Draupadi, the tragicheroine of the Mahabharat, had her last bath here before she died forlorn in theHimalayas.

Kargil is a Muslim majority region of J&K. Celebrating sacred sitesconnected with Hindu mythology encourages the flow of Hindu pilgrims to thearea, thereby promoting greater interaction between Muslims of that isolatedregion with Hindus from the rest of India. In this way, a vital economic and culturallink would be forged between the two. While travelling with them, I was struckby the fact that this and several other such proposals came from Mufti, a Muslimbattling the wrath of jehadi Muslims rather than from Mangat Ram, who isexpected to represent and be sensitive to Hindu interests.

Similarly, he assured the Buddhist minority of Kargil that he would take uptheir demand for opening of the Kargil-Skardu route to enable them to visit theBuddhist sacred sites, such as Taxila, located in Pakistan. This adds anotherconstituency to encourage the Indo-Pak peace process.

In the Muslim dominated regions of J&K it has become a common feature forpoliticians of all hues, to try and establish their mazhabi credentialsby starting their political meetings with Islamic invocations or prayers. Thishas probably been adopted as part of the many attempts to placate Islamicmilitants. It has also become common practice for political leaders, not just ofthe jehadi variety; to hold their public meetings near major mosques tocoincide with the end of Friday prayers so that they have a ready made audience.PDP cadres told me Mufti discourages them from using such tactics to attractaudiences and never does it himself.

I have attended more than two-dozen public meetings addressed by Mufti. Notonce did he start off his speech with religious prayers, though many of thelocal leaders hosting the event did so. However, it was interesting to see himinvoke the name of Allah to promote secular causes that strengthen values ofequality, gender justice and corruption free governance. For example, herepeatedly dwelt on the urgency of promoting girl’s education by telling theaudiences at public meetings: "It is the hukum of God that no one bedenied education. Therefore, it is your sacred duty to educate your daughters."In addition, he would remind politicians and government officials that Allahdoes not forgive those who indulge in corruption. Other than in these twocontexts I did not ever hear him introduce religious overtones or symbolism,even when addressing meetings in areas where Islamic fervour is palpable.

Mufti may not have succeeded in bringing back all those Pandits who left theValley under the shadow of the gun but a small trickle of them have quietlystarted returning to Kashmir in response to the efforts of the state government to offer them help in returning to their homes. A special housing enclave withspecial security has been built to provide a home to Pandits who wish to return.Those who lost their businesses are being helped with loans and subsidies torestart their enterprises. These efforts have not been as vigorous as KashmiriPandits would like to see happen but given the little time he has had to calmthe raging fires, their importance should not be underestimated, consideringthat the previous regime did not even raise the issue, leave alone try to solveit.

This all round reconciliation process needs to be understood and documentedbecause the valuable insights one gets from the conflict resolution strategiesbeing adopted successfully in Kashmir may be useful for other troubled regionssuch as Manipur and Nagaland. However, none of these gestures at ethnicreconciliation and redressing regional imbalances would have a chance of successif Mufti were not widely perceived as someone whose personal integrity is aboveboard and someone who is making an honest attempt, against heavy odds, toprovide honest and responsive governance after decades of mismanagement,corruption and callous disregard of people’s well being. The battle for peace,justice and respect for diversity can only be won when combined with goodgovernance. Corrupt, authoritarian and incompetent rulers often resort todivisive politics, pitching one community against the other, promoting a siegementality among citizens in their desperate search for a captive vote bank orsectional endorsement to keep them in power.

Madhu Purnima Kishwar is Editor of Manushi and a Senior Fellow with the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi.