'Important To Win Hearts And Minds'

The problems of Jammu and Kashmir are problems that have remained with us since 1947. It was not my intention when making a Statement to lay out a road map to the solution of those problems. It could not have been done in a statement that describes the current situation nor is it possible to deal with those problems while replying to clarifications on that statement. The statement was intended to capture the current situation, how we intend to deal with the current situation and, therefore, I should be very happy to answer questions that pertain to the current situation.

It is often forgotten that beginning 2004 and up to the middle of this year, except the year 2008, Jammu and Kashmir has not witnessed serious civilian strikes. I underline the word ‘civilian’. We have had incidents involving terrorists and infiltrators on the border, maybe even inside the border but, if you leave that out, the state has been largely peaceful and there has been no civilian unrest since 2004. 

2008 was an exception when the Amarnath Yatra triggered a controversy and lives were lost. In fact, a hundred lives were lost that year. But, otherwise, I think, it is well to remember that very, very few lives were lost in those years. In 2005, it was actually one, in 2006 it was six, in 2007 it was two and in 2009 it was only seven. I think, in large measure or at least in substantial measure the fact that there was no civilian unrest in Jammu and Kashmir is owing to the policy pursued by the UPA-I government and the policy that was pursued by UPA-II beginning May 2009. The Amarnath strife was a separate issue and I don’t wish to go into that now.

I do not think raising issues like 'abrogate articles like 370' offer a political solution to the Jammu and Kashmir issue or 'send more paramilitary forces, send in the Army'. I think, this is not the policy of the UPA government and with great respect to the Leader of the Opposition, some of these demands were articulated in a memorandum submitted by the principal opposition party to the Prime Minister yesterday. We beg to differ. This is not the approach that we should adopt for Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India under very unique circumstances. That is why on my first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after I took over as home minister I said:

‘This is a unique problem. There is a unique history to the problem and therefore, we must put our heads together to find a solution, a unique solution to this unique problem’.

That is what I said.

Be that as it may, I think, it is important to win hearts and minds in Jammu and Kashmir. The fact that there is no civilian strife for five out of six years gave me a lot of encouragement when I embarked upon the path of quiet dialogue. The quiet dialogue did yield result. Between May and December 4, 2009, there was hardly any civilian strife. I am not attributing it entirely to the quiet dialogue. But, certainly, the quiet dialogue contributed to the fact that there was, largely, peace and order in Jammu and Kashmir. The dialogue was interrupted on December 4, as I said in my statement, when Fazalul- Haq Quereshi, a moderate leader who favoured dialogue, was very seriously injured. Since then, I confess, we have not been able to resume the quiet dialogue. But, it is my intention to do everything possible to resume the quiet dialogue.

It is true that Pakistan appears to have altered its strategy in influencing events in Jammu and Kashmir. I do not think there is any let up, as such, in infiltration nor is there any let up in sending militants into the valley. But, as the hon. Leader of the Opposition pointed out, our capacity to deal with infiltration and militancy is, certainly, much higher today than what it was a few years ago. Our intelligence is, certainly, better equipped. And, therefore, we have been able to foil these designs. It is possible that there is an altered strategy. It is possible that they believe that relying upon civilian unrest will pay them better dividends. But, I am confident, if we are able to win the hearts and minds of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, even those designs can be foiled.

There are a number of issues which deserved to be addressed. The most important is, our own pronouncements and our own promises to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The larger issue of solving the problem of Jammu and Kashmir, the problems that are raised by Pakistan, is a larger issue. We will keep that aside for the time being. But, there are our government's pronouncements and our own promises to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in that part of Kashmir which is with India. And, I think, it is important that we deliver on our promises and we follow-up on our own pronouncements.

There is intense debate on these issues, as they should be. There is an intense debate in the country. There is an intense debate in many fora, including Parliament. There is intense debate within the government too and that is only to be expected. In a coalition government, intense debate is to be expected. But, I have not yielded on the argument that government must deliver on the promises that it made, the government must follow-up on the pronouncements that were made. One amongst them is the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act. I cannot brush aside other points of view. But, it will be my endeavour to work with everyone else and find a way in which we can deliver on our promise on the AFSP. Likewise, we have said that we would like to reduce the presence of security forces if conditions improve. In fact, we did it in 2009. A significant number of armed forces personnel were moved out of the valley. A significant number of paramilitary forces personnel were also moved out of the valley. When the situation warrants, we may have to send more forces. But, when the situation warrants, we may have to withdraw the forces too. And, that is the policy of the government of India.

The UN Secretary General did not make the statement attributed to him. In fact, it was made by one of his staff members who happens to be a national of Pakistan. The UN Secretary General's office has flatly denied any such statement.

In the immediate short-term, this is an area in which I agree with the Leader of the Opposition and many others, we must bring an end to the violence on the streets of Jammu and Kashmir. I think it requires firm action by the security forces as well as the government of Jammu and Kashmir reaching out to the people.

It is not my purpose to find fault, to apportion blame, but I think some lessons have been learnt. I think the government of Jammu and Kashmir is now reaching out to the people. The Chief Minister has visited the injured people in the hospitals. Ministerial delegations have been sent to various district headquarters. We have advised the government to ensure that the District Magistrates and other civilian officials are more visible, more present and more accessible to the people.

In the last 48 hours, there has been a declining trend of incidents. I am not saying that this is the beginning of the end of violence. I hope it is, sincerely. There is, certainly, a declining trend, but there is no comfort in the fact that there is only one death a day. Loss of one life diminishes all of us. The loss of one life diminishes the credibility of governance in this country, but it is my sincere hope that our appeal, the appeal made by all the hon. Members belonging to all sections will be heeded by the people of Jammu and Kashmir. 

There was a period in 2004-05 when the streets of Jammu and Kashmir did not hear the word 'azadi'. On the contrary, youth came and said, "We want an MBA programme in the University. We want an IIT to be established here. We want an IIM to be established in Jammu and in Srinagar." It is unfortunate that those voices have been muted and the voices of azadi or Quit India have been raised. But I sincerely hope that this is only a passing phase and we will hear the voices of young Kashmiris saying that their destiny lies with India and that they want to be part of the India. I am sure that the voices that we heard in 2004, 2005 and 2006 will be heard once again on the streets of Jammu and Kashmir.

The immediate task is to restore law and order. No government can allow the law and order to collapse. That means, the government has collapsed. So, we have to restore law and order.

The Armed Forces have acted, as I said in my Statement, with a great degree of restraint. Over a thousand security personnel have been injured. And, they have been injured in the eye; they have been injured in the head; they have been injured in other sensitive parts of the body. Stones have been thrown by crowds running into a few thousands and if a few thousand stones are raining on police post or a platoon, you can imagine the kind of injury which they will suffer. I think they have acted with restraint. They have used lathis, they have used tear gas; then, they have used rubber bullets. In fact, some of the deaths have occurred because the rubber bullets can also kill if they hit a wrong spot in the body. To the bitter end, they have used the regular bullets too and they have killed. We continue to advise our security forces to act with restraint, but security forces, as I said in my Statement, have to act not only in self-defence but also to protect police stations, police outposts and government offices.

So, we will resume the political process. The answer to the problem of Jammu and Kashmir lies only through the political process and only through dialogues with all sections of the people.

We will resume the political process. Yesterday, we received a message that an All Party Delegation from Jammu and Kashmir wishes to call on the Prime Minister and I am happy to say that the Prime Minister has agreed to receive the All Party Delegation. We hope the delegation will come soon. In fact, we will be very happy to receive the delegation even as early as Monday.

Secondly, we are contemplating convening a meeting of leaders of political parties in Parliament. The date and time will be fixed by the Prime Minister's Office. We will let you know. So, let us meet here first, and, certainly, we will take on board your suggestion that a Parliamentary Delegation should visit Jammu and Kashmir. All this is part of reactivating the political process. Simultaneously, I have once again pressed upon all our interlocutors in Jammu and Kashmir that I am willing to resume the quiet dialogue. What happened on December 4 was indeed a rude interruption but we have to get over that. We have to pick ourselves up, we have to find the courage that allowed us to hold a dialogue earlier and I sincerely hope that moderate leaders will resume their dialogue with the Government of India.

If Mr. Gilani's statement of day-before-yesterday marks a shift in his position, I do not know. But if it marks a shift in his position, I think, we should welcome that shift in his position. I think we should accept at face value his statement until the contrary is proved. I don't think there is any reason to doubt people's statement. If it is a shift in his position, I would welcome that shift in position and I would be very happy if Mr. Gilani also joins the group of leaders who wishes to hold a dialogue with the government of India in one form or the other.

There are some good signs. This year up to the 3rd of August, we have had 5,10,781 tourists visiting the state. That is a larger number than last year. This year until the 3rd of August, 4,11,407 yatris had darshan at Amarnath shrine. Last year the total number until the end of the yatra was 3,92,000 and we still have another 17 days for the yatra to conclude, and I think that the number will cross 5 lakhs. So, there is something else happening in Jammu and Kashmir also that the people of that state are welcoming the yatris, are welcoming tourists, people who depend upon tourism for their livelihood, people who depend upon the yatra period for earning their income for the rest of the year, those who supply ponies, those who supply food and those who carry the dollies. I think there is something else also happening in Jammu and Kashmir, a story that is somehow not reflected in our discourse or in our media. So, while, unfortunate events have happened in the streets of Jammu and Kashmir, something else is also happening in Jammu and Kashmir.

It is important that the cycle of violence must come to an end, and, let me conclude by appealing to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, especially, young men and women, especially parents:  Please work with us and put an end to this current cycle of violence so that we will pick up the threads, we will reactivate the political process and we will through dialogue find solutions that will bring equity, justice and honour to all sections of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.