Don't blame gun culture, seeds of Kashmir militancy were sown in 1947: report

The beginning of militancy in Kashmir and the subsequent migration of Kashmiri pandits from the valley in 1989-90 was the culmination of a process that had been set in motion in 1947 and it would be wrong to attribute it to gun culture alone, says a recent report.

''The migration of Kashmiri Hindus from the valley was not an aberration or an isolated happening. The seed of the sordid event which had been sown in 1947, 1967 and 1986 was well nurtured to bloom fully in 1989-90. It would be wrong to attribute it to gun culture alone,'' says the report, Chargesheet on Autonomy.

The report -- drafted by the Committee to Build Response on Autonomy -- says the recommendations of the two commissions -- the Sikri Commission and Gajendragadkar Commission -- about restructuring of the district-level administration and giving adequate representation to the deprived sections of different regions, were not implemented.

Even after the constitution of the Ladakh Hill Development Council, its functioning has not been free from conflict. ''Every attempt has been made to make this institution non-functional and redundant.''

The report says the assembly constituencies in Srinagar city where Kashmiri pandits could be politically represented, were restructured. Accordingly, the localities of Rainawari, Habba Kadal and Karan Nagar were ''fragmented'' to reduce them to an insignificant part of the contiguous constituencies thereby depriving the pandits the chance to elect their legislators on their own strength.

While three Kashmiri pandits were returned to the state assembly in 1957, 1962 and 1967, the number was subsequently restricted to only one in 1972, 1977, 1983, 1987 and 1996.

According to the report, the policy of ''discrimination'' was followed from 1947 up to 1989-90 which paved way for militancy and the subsequent migration of the Kashmiri pandit community.

Under the Big Landed Estates Abolition Act, 1950, the landlord did not have the option of working as a tenant. According to this act, land held by a landlord beyond the fixed ceiling was transferred to the tiller without payment of compensation to the landord.

The Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976, however, while providing an opportunity to the landlord to become a self-cultivating tenant, restricted this option to him by imposing the domicile condition.

The report says that because of the domination of various wings of the state administration, particularly some sensitive departments, by secessionist elements, the administrative structures collapsed. This not only facilitated the rise of terrorism in the state, but also helped strengthen insurgency against the Indian Union.

Even the press in the valley acted as a mouthpiece of terrorists and ''glorified'' terrorist and insurgent operations.

Calling for a careful study and analysis of the period from 1947 to 1957, the report says a verbal campaign was launched in 1947 that Kashmiri pandits had ''greener pastures'' outside the state. ''This had a double-edged effect on the entire population of the valley. For pandits it resulted in destabilisation while for Muslims it created a separatist psyche.''

It says the term ''greener pastures'' was given currency as a ''cover-up mechanism'' for the slow but steady migration of Kashmiri pandits from the valley which proved ominous for their future prospects.

UNI

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