This is another summer of unrest in Kashmir which has kept the Valley boiling for the third day. Unlike the summer of 2010 when the separatists ‘Azadi’ agenda moved forward with ‘Go India Go’ and ‘Quit Kashmir’ slogans given by Syed Ali Shah Geelani to the ‘protest politics’ became popular, this year in 2016 the way Valley erupted with pro-Pakistan and anti-India slogans blaring from the loudspeakers of mosques, the direct incitement to fight against the security forces and keep the agitation going further with appeals to youth to join Jihad against India shows that separatists want to test the strength of bonding between BJP-PDP. The developments are crucial indicators of coming events and the influence of Jihad imbedded in the psyche of a generation which has grown in turmoil over two decades. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti appealing security forces to exercise restrain politically may score some points but practically the proposition looks out of place especially when the security forces are facing a mob involved in stone throwing and arson. What is intriguing is how could such a large crowd get hands on such large quantity of stones? Is it that stone quarries are supplying stones directly to separatists or to the youth much ahead of any ‘operation retaliation’? State Government has to find out from where the stones are coming in such large quantity? Restraining the security forces is not going to help solve the problem rather such statements coming from CM’s office make the separatists and their sympathisers more bold and adventurist against security agencies. The PDP’s entry into the State’s politics changed the character of power politics in many other ways. Seeking to make space for itself in the context of the dominance of the National Conference on the one hand, and the overwhelming influence of separatist politics on the other, the PDP located its politics in the context of the conflict situation, specifically responding to the common people’s sensitivities. Its discourse of a ‘healing touch’, aimed at providing succour to people troubled by prolonged aggression and violence, not only helped it to gain popularity but also facilitated the process of making power politics relevant in the given situation. Such disturbance especially during the ongoing Amarnath Yatra looks as if it is part of a larger plan of Islamisation and marginalisation of Hindu community.
