Mahadeep Singh Jamwal
The recent decision of the Jammu and Kashmir government to accord amnesty to the persons involved in stone pelting in the Kashmir Valley on security forces is a decision required to be put for scanning on ‘intelligent minds screening machine’ as to find out which aspect of the decision has the clarity, whether the decision to be appreciated or it is lacking proper application of mind. Although this decision has been extended to Jammu also, granting amnesty to very few and not to all aggrieved involved in ‘Amarnath Land Row’. But we must be clear on the subject that the persons involved in Jammu, were not anti-national or product of separatist’s ideology, but were agitating for discriminatory attitude of Kashmir centric political mind set government. Moreover the withdrawal of cases registered during ‘Amarnath Land Row’ was an agreed agenda by the government of the time, although delayed and not followed by the leaders of that agitation. Whereas the stone-pelters in the Valley, are the people always sloganeering against India, burning the flags of Indian Union, raising the flags of Pakistan as well as ISSI and propagating the ideology of separatists and anti-national elements. Moreover the criminal act of these amnesty seekers from Valley was an act of waging war against the nation and not against any discrimination by the local government or government of the Union of India, neither granting amnesty, as per my memory had ever been any agenda of the election manifesto of PDP. Abrupt and all of a sudden such an important decision is alarming and requires a thought in detail and being an enlightened citizen, the decision of amnesty to this category of people in the Valley is under scrutiny in this write up. If the decision is scrutinised for understanding in real perspective, two logics appear to be on the mindset of the top boss of the State, one sympathetic approach towards these stone-pelters and their future prospect has been taken as an umbrella cover and second one is a political move in a very shrewd manner to show concern and sympathy with the separatist element prevailing in the Valley, whose game plan is executed by these stone-pelters on ground. This also smells of an attempt by the top boss of the State to get bravo from these separatist leaders. The first logic does not sound well, as true loyalist of the people will not let loose the cats out of bag to bite the peaceful society and in this case the sympathy should have been with the victims of these crusaders and not with the law breakers. The second logic sounds well and carries the weight as of appeasing the separatists. Had the CM been so popular and acceptable to the people in Kashmir and in particular to separatists, she should not have secured only 16 per cent of the total votes in the recently won election from Anantnag Assembly segment. There would have no boycott call from the separatists but have openly supported the election. The negligible attendance of the people on the sad demise of late Mufti Ji in their home town was also a matter of concern for the CM, so the present move of granting amnesty to the sympathisers of separatists was a calculated move to appease the people of this ideology.
But a man of mature but sensible brain will conclude that it is a decision taken in haste and by bypassing the established procedure of law of facing trials in criminal cases registered for criminal acts of destroying government/private property worth crores and creating the situations of law and order resulting in deaths of hundreds of innocent falling prey to the outcome of the acts of these stone-pelters. Largely the comments in public domain are against this decision and they are cursing the government in a very bad manner. One has to realise that it is not a decision of the government but one man show of CM of the State through a committee of Director General of Police, Director General of Prisons and Principal Secretary Home. Moreover the time taken by the review committee also raises question as to the application of proper mind regarding correct reviewing of cases of approximately more than six hundred such accused persons. The top most in hierarchy in the administrative block of the government, forming a committee to review the cases also seems to have fallen to the dictates of the CM and have followed the same policy of appeasement of the CM, rather than revisiting the cases of the stone-pelters in a justified and judicious way as the cases registered were under relevant sections of law for the crime committed by these miscreants. Such decisions attracting every body’s adverse remarks are none the less, desecrating the seats of justice. Come what may ultimately the government servants irrespective of their power and post are puppets of their masters and they are supposed to dance to the tune of their masters, if plump posting and other favours are to be accrued, which have become the fashion of the day not only in our State but throughout the entire nation. The mind by the CM was percolated to the Home Department on 4th of July 2016, two days ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr to give amnesty to stone-pelters as an opportunity to rebuild their careers as an Eid-ul-Fitr bonanza. This pep talk of the CM was enough to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr festival in a much rejoiced manner by the stone-pelters and their families but it was a bolt from the blue for the left over kith and kins of the victims who had lost their lives in a sequence to the criminal activities of these stone-pelters.
All voices being raised against the decision of the PDP-BJP Government would have automatically silenced, if the situation would have taken a better turn after the release of these anti-social elements, but the incidents which took place itself on the ‘Eid-ul-Fitr’ as usual after every Friday prayer and what has been happening all these years in the Kashmir Valley is an eye opener for dictatorial individual minds taking improper decision based on political motives than in the interest of society, justice and without application of mind . The clashes and protests were witnessed in several parts of Kashmir which left at least more than two dozen of police men, civilians including journalists seriously injured.
If we track down the amnesty accorded earlier to vicious minds that have created a noxious atmosphere in the Valley and were bent upon to convert heaven to hell has brought no results and their rehabilitation in government jobs especially in Police Department was nothing but their facilitation to escape with their automatic weapons along with the weapons of their colleagues into deep ravines to strike in a more refined and powerful way by re-joining the outfit cadres. But our political clown never try to understand the facts in issue, they consider themselves ‘superman of fantasy’ of the present generation and think themselves so intelligent and visionary as none ever had born in past and will ever born in future but men of wisdom brand them as foolish ever existed. The only vision of these politicians extend up to the house arrests of separatists, they cannot visualise, that when this element enjoy the luxuries of life from the treasury coffers of the tax payers, their ideologies and dictates work in a well co-ordinate manner to give practical shape on the ground. The benefitted cadre by this amnesty is waiting for a little occasion to strike in a very deadly manner to celebrate this bonanza and the havoc which they will create will be a sounding alert and slap on the face of the vested interests in the politics of appeasement policy for anti-national elements for the sake of vote bank. The corrupt minds of criminal attitude element can never soften with these types of offers and gifts but require crushing treatment and hard decisions towards the perpetrators and anti-national elements responsible to corrupt the immature brains. As a matter of concern, so called patriotic leaders, just give hollow statements sitting in air-conditioned offices and residences and common man is left just to laugh on these leaders. Had this move of granting amnesty been objected by the coalition partner in the State i.e. BJP and RSS (reckoning force of BJP), we the people of other region of the State would have welcomed them, but our bad luck, all ministers and MLAs from BJP are even worse than puppets and their mission is to continue on the power seats by supporting the Kashmir based political approach of appeasement of separatists and anti-national element and they are the part and parcel of this political drama being played at Kashmir and it is reminding the common man of the word mongrel. They have not been left in a position to open their mouth by the alliance partner PDP, who is behaving like mongoose holding their head which stand crushed by hitting on the ground in such a bad way that they are not in a position to open their mouth (It is the way adopted by mongoose to kill the snake). It is proper time to strip them and to rebuke for their criminal silence as they are becoming more and more intolerable to Jammuites. Concluding I have no words except to say that amnesty is a deplorable decision and hope good sense prevail upon the decision makers in a real perspective.
