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One chilly day in January, Inayat Khan, 16, left his house in Srinagar’s Dalgate locality for a tutorial class. Hours later, he was dead. Khan’s killing, in alleged CRPF firing, triggered angry street protests. For weeks, protesters pelted the police with stones. Two more youths — 17-year-old Waqim Farooq and 16-year-old Zahid Farooq — were killed when the police retaliated.
The violent protests have followed a distinct pattern over the last few years, even as militant violence in the Valley has ebbed to a 20-year low. This is how it happens: an incident sparks stone-pelting followed by police action which leads to injury and sometimes death. Often, the stone-pelting degenerates into a full-blown riot; a police clampdown brings calm but only until the next cycle of action and reaction.
The police maintain that the separatists “orchestrate the stone-throwing protests at a few places to keep the pot boiling’’ because the back of the militant movement is effectively broken. The police claim is backed by casualty figures: civilian deaths plummeted to 74 in 2009, compared to 707 in 2004. That’s when the violence started to dip, following the start of the India-Pakistan peace process.
Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah says intelligence agencies have recorded conversations from militant control centres seeking updates on stone-pelting. “This could just be out of curiosity. We’ll not be irresponsible to only point fingers at people across the border,’’ he told STOI from Jammu. Omar believes a combination of factors is responsible for the stone-pelting and it would be naïve to say it’s only driven by vested interests. “It’s important to underline that only a few places in the Valley are troubled, while Gulmarg and other places are buzzing with tourists. I can count the troublespots on my fingertips — old town Baramulla, Sopore and a few places in downtown Srinagar.’’ Incidentally, these are separatist-dominated areas where the National Conference has been traditionally weak.
But activists say the problem is not quite that simple. They want the anger to be “contextualized”. The protests, they say, are a manifestation of the government’s failure to end the security forces’ impunity for abuse of civilians. “These boys have grown up fearing the uniform and now express their hate by stoning,’’ says Meenakshi Ganguly, senior South Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch. “They’ve grown up witnessing violence and are the product of widespread abuse and oppression,’’ she says. “Accountability would ensure that vested interests would no longer be able to incite violence.’’
The word on the street is an unequivocal ‘yes’. Riyaz Ahmed Khan, a 16-year-old from Rajouri Kadal neighbourhood, often joins the stone-pelters. He admits the constant presence of securitymen is an irritant. Riyaz Bhat, 16, says he has no ambition but to “fight for my motherland (Kashmir)”. Bhat lives in a congested lower middle class locality and his father, a coppersmith, can barely make ends meet. The story of yet another 16-year-old, Firoz Ahmed Khan of Maisuma in old Srinagar, is no different. This is often described as the ‘ground zero’ of the stone-throwing protests. Khan lives with his family in a small house shared with three other families. His father, Zahoor Khan, sells second-hand clothes on a Srinagar pavement. Rather than lofty aspirations for the “motherland”, the teenager admits he pelts stones at the police to vent his frustration. “We’re allowed to put up our stall only after paying hafta to the cops,’’ he says. “Even after that, they take away part of our earnings.’’ His mother, Mymoona, worries about her son’s safety. “I try to stop him. But he’s innocent and gets carried away,’’ she says. “My son was locked up several times but he refuses to give up.’’
In an interaction with this paper last year, Omar admitted the security forces’ mindset needed to be altered. “The cops (who were) comfortable with the lathi have retired over the last 20 years. Now, we have police personnel trained in a counter-insurgency mindset. We need to switch back to a law and order mindset,’’ he said. “You can’t deal with stone-pelters with live ammunition.’’
Analysts say the relative calm in the Valley hasn’t translated into a tangible political resolution. Nor has there been any progress on the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, an election promise made by both the PDP and NC. This fuels the anger. Add to this the feeling among many Kashmiri youths that there’s no future for them. “From here, it’s a small step to the depression that has become so common,’’ notes Briton Justine Hardy, who runs a mental health clinic in Srinagar (see accompanying essay). She says the state continues to produce many graduates and quality education is available. “Yet there are no jobs for the vast majority, which leads to boredom; in a generation conditioned by violence, this can make the young fodder for radicalization.’’
New Delhi’s largesse in terms of addressing economic isolation has meant little, thanks to pandemic corruption. J&K is ranked the second-most corrupt state in India. Even though it gets more money than most other states, little actually gets to the end-user.
Experts also underline the need to bridge the gap between the government and its people. “The government needs to strengthen its base at the grassroots level and ensure the developmental programmes reach the common people,’’ says columnist Javid Iqbal.
The death of an 11-day-old baby, after stone-pelters clashed with his parents in Baramulla, has led to a backlash against stone-pelting, with even the hawkish Syed Ali Shah Geelani condemning it. The separatist leader, who has often described the stone-pelters as “resistance forces”, said, “We will take a stronger line against the youth; no civilized society would allow it.’’ The influential local daily Rising Kashmir questioned the separatists’ silence and called for outright condemnation of the stone-pelting. “(The) community elders (should) admonish the youth who are part of such frenzied mobs who show no respect to civilian lives and treat them as if they’re combatants,’’ the newspaper editorialized. It said the stone-pelters had even attacked ambulances.
A local resident, Inayat Ahmed, says most people want to get on with their lives. “Offering a better future is the only way to ensure that youngsters aren’t radicalized.’’
Omar admits there is much to be done. “The government is trying to address issues (such as employment). (But) it’s all linked to the security environment. It becomes a chicken-and-egg story: Do I first get investments into the state or hope to get the situation better?’’
The violent protests have followed a distinct pattern over the last few years, even as militant violence in the Valley has ebbed to a 20-year low. This is how it happens: an incident sparks stone-pelting followed by police action which leads to injury and sometimes death. Often, the stone-pelting degenerates into a full-blown riot; a police clampdown brings calm but only until the next cycle of action and reaction.
The police maintain that the separatists “orchestrate the stone-throwing protests at a few places to keep the pot boiling’’ because the back of the militant movement is effectively broken. The police claim is backed by casualty figures: civilian deaths plummeted to 74 in 2009, compared to 707 in 2004. That’s when the violence started to dip, following the start of the India-Pakistan peace process.
Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah says intelligence agencies have recorded conversations from militant control centres seeking updates on stone-pelting. “This could just be out of curiosity. We’ll not be irresponsible to only point fingers at people across the border,’’ he told STOI from Jammu. Omar believes a combination of factors is responsible for the stone-pelting and it would be naïve to say it’s only driven by vested interests. “It’s important to underline that only a few places in the Valley are troubled, while Gulmarg and other places are buzzing with tourists. I can count the troublespots on my fingertips — old town Baramulla, Sopore and a few places in downtown Srinagar.’’ Incidentally, these are separatist-dominated areas where the National Conference has been traditionally weak.
But activists say the problem is not quite that simple. They want the anger to be “contextualized”. The protests, they say, are a manifestation of the government’s failure to end the security forces’ impunity for abuse of civilians. “These boys have grown up fearing the uniform and now express their hate by stoning,’’ says Meenakshi Ganguly, senior South Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch. “They’ve grown up witnessing violence and are the product of widespread abuse and oppression,’’ she says. “Accountability would ensure that vested interests would no longer be able to incite violence.’’
The word on the street is an unequivocal ‘yes’. Riyaz Ahmed Khan, a 16-year-old from Rajouri Kadal neighbourhood, often joins the stone-pelters. He admits the constant presence of securitymen is an irritant. Riyaz Bhat, 16, says he has no ambition but to “fight for my motherland (Kashmir)”. Bhat lives in a congested lower middle class locality and his father, a coppersmith, can barely make ends meet. The story of yet another 16-year-old, Firoz Ahmed Khan of Maisuma in old Srinagar, is no different. This is often described as the ‘ground zero’ of the stone-throwing protests. Khan lives with his family in a small house shared with three other families. His father, Zahoor Khan, sells second-hand clothes on a Srinagar pavement. Rather than lofty aspirations for the “motherland”, the teenager admits he pelts stones at the police to vent his frustration. “We’re allowed to put up our stall only after paying hafta to the cops,’’ he says. “Even after that, they take away part of our earnings.’’ His mother, Mymoona, worries about her son’s safety. “I try to stop him. But he’s innocent and gets carried away,’’ she says. “My son was locked up several times but he refuses to give up.’’
In an interaction with this paper last year, Omar admitted the security forces’ mindset needed to be altered. “The cops (who were) comfortable with the lathi have retired over the last 20 years. Now, we have police personnel trained in a counter-insurgency mindset. We need to switch back to a law and order mindset,’’ he said. “You can’t deal with stone-pelters with live ammunition.’’
Analysts say the relative calm in the Valley hasn’t translated into a tangible political resolution. Nor has there been any progress on the revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, an election promise made by both the PDP and NC. This fuels the anger. Add to this the feeling among many Kashmiri youths that there’s no future for them. “From here, it’s a small step to the depression that has become so common,’’ notes Briton Justine Hardy, who runs a mental health clinic in Srinagar (see accompanying essay). She says the state continues to produce many graduates and quality education is available. “Yet there are no jobs for the vast majority, which leads to boredom; in a generation conditioned by violence, this can make the young fodder for radicalization.’’
New Delhi’s largesse in terms of addressing economic isolation has meant little, thanks to pandemic corruption. J&K is ranked the second-most corrupt state in India. Even though it gets more money than most other states, little actually gets to the end-user.
Experts also underline the need to bridge the gap between the government and its people. “The government needs to strengthen its base at the grassroots level and ensure the developmental programmes reach the common people,’’ says columnist Javid Iqbal.
The death of an 11-day-old baby, after stone-pelters clashed with his parents in Baramulla, has led to a backlash against stone-pelting, with even the hawkish Syed Ali Shah Geelani condemning it. The separatist leader, who has often described the stone-pelters as “resistance forces”, said, “We will take a stronger line against the youth; no civilized society would allow it.’’ The influential local daily Rising Kashmir questioned the separatists’ silence and called for outright condemnation of the stone-pelting. “(The) community elders (should) admonish the youth who are part of such frenzied mobs who show no respect to civilian lives and treat them as if they’re combatants,’’ the newspaper editorialized. It said the stone-pelters had even attacked ambulances.
A local resident, Inayat Ahmed, says most people want to get on with their lives. “Offering a better future is the only way to ensure that youngsters aren’t radicalized.’’
Omar admits there is much to be done. “The government is trying to address issues (such as employment). (But) it’s all linked to the security environment. It becomes a chicken-and-egg story: Do I first get investments into the state or hope to get the situation better?’’
