Communal violence in Kishtwar - an analysis
a former BJP state president asserts that as far as the party is concerned, there is no question of it gaining. Often credited with having played an important part in building the BJP base in the state, Gupta was thrown out of the party along with six other MLAs for having allegedly cross-voted for a National Conference candidate in elections to the J&K Legislative Council in 2011. "How can the BJP gain? You need leaders to build on advantages. Where are the leaders in the state unit of the party today? It would be foolish to believe that one visit by Jaitley will result in votes," Gupta says. (Arun Jaitley, the BJP's leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, arrived in Jammu a day after the Kishtwar incident but was detained at the airport before being sent back.) Gupta is also categorical that there is no Hindu-Muslim divide in Kishtwar. "The Hindus and Muslims of Doda-Kishtwar are smarter than all the Geelanis of the world. They know what is best for them. Wait and see, they will soon forget this incident as they know they have to live and prosper together. This incident, I think, was an attempt to divert attention from the mal-administration of the National Conference-Congress government," Gupta says. Agrees J&K High Court lawyer Ved Bhushan Gupta, now living in Jammu but who continues to be an influential voice of the Doda-Kishtwar belt. "What happened on Eid was unfortunate and deliberate. But the bonds that exist between the two communities will not break due to such incidents.
"The Kishtwar-Doda belt is a wonderful place, full of natural beauty at par with, if not more than, the Kashmir valley. The people living here are industrious, many of whom have done very well for themselves despite odds. But now our area is in the news for all the wrong reasons," rues Amjad Hussain Sheikh, a local resident. Located about 230 km from Jammu, Kishtwar, earlier a part of Doda district, was given district status in 2007. While estimates differ, government officials say the ratio of Muslims to Hindus in the population is 55:45.
Unlike Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu division which also have a substantial Muslim population, the Doda-Kishtwar belt in the Chenab valley is different because of its proximity to Kashmir, with a road connecting the area to Anantnag district. Kishtwar is also known the world over for its sapphire mines and saffron. It has to its credit legendary poets like Nishat Kishtwari, Ulfat Kishtwari, Ghulam Rasool Kamgar and Jaanwaz Sahib Doolwal. Ghulam Mustafa Malik, who retired as director, fisheries, of the state, and later died in Afghanistan, was considered an expert in fisheries globally. He was credited with bringing the trout to Kishtwar from Afghanistan.
While the area has produced politicians like Om Mehta who was minister of state for home in Indira Gandhi's cabinet, leaders of the Plebiscite Front (a political party that sought plebiscite to decide the fate of J&K, which was patronised by Sheikh Abdullah) were also from the same area.
While communal tension has never been a real issue here, closeness to Kashmir means Kishtwar was to become a fertile hunting ground for Kashmiri separatists. In the mid-90s, following incidents of militants killing locals to pressure residents, especially those living in secluded hilly areas (most of them Hindus), to provide food and shelter, the state government began setting up village defence committees (VDCs) here.
The members, mostly villagers, were provided weapons, largely rifles, to help them take on militants. The results were instant, at least in the initial years. Many hardcore militants were felled by VDC members, most of whom were ex-servicemen. But then allegations started surfacing of VDC members becoming a law unto themselves, using government-provided arms to threaten members of the other community, or using these to settle personal scores.
The advent of militancy and the emergence of VDCs changed the contours of Kishtwar. "Before the advent of militancy, people of both the communities used to live together peacefully. While there certainly was the occasional communal tension, it never grew too big. Mostly tempers would cool down after the intervention of elders. But once militants from Kashmir started using our area as a safe shelter to escape or lie low, things started deteriorating, resulting in ebbing of trust between the two communities," says a resident who didn't wish to be named. Then, sensing an opportunity to cultivate support in the Doda-Kishtwar region, Kashmiri separatists like Hurriyat hardliner Syed Ali Geelani started demanding disbanding of the VDCs for "terrorising" Muslims.
Hindus believe the Eid attack too, which left three dead and four dozen injured, was pre-planned and aimed at forcing the minority community to migrate out of the area and to push the state government into disarming VDCs. Working against the VDCs is the growing charge that these committees — predominantly comprising Hindus — use the weapons provided to them to browbeat Muslims.
Throughout Ramzan, there were reports of intermittent firing by VDCs in villages around Kishtwar town. In a region kept on the edge by the state's politics, a small incident on Eid day provided just the right spark. Celebrations were proceeding peacefully in the town and villages on the outskirts when a stone pelted by a miscreant in Kuleeth area sparked off clashes, which engulfed the entire town in no time. By the time the Army was called in and curfew clamped, two people had died and over 60 injured, with members of both communities indulging in large-scale arson and looting.
Among the 11 arrested for the Eid clashes was separatist Hurriyat leader Moulvi Abdul Qayoom Matoo. The violence, even many within the Muslim community admit, was set off by a procession led by Matoo raising anti-India and pro-Pakistan slogans. Matoo had been arrested by police for such activities earlier also and sources say he had been behind the appearance of provocative posters in the town carrying photographs of JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat and Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, both of whom were hanged in Tihar jail. In the arson that followed on Eid, anti-social elements targeted properties owned by both Hindus and Muslims. Take the case of ex-MLA Jalal-ud-Din Qazi. Of the 20 shops owned by one of his close relatives that were razed, 18 had been rented out to Hindus.
A senior police officer, who estimates that there are about 10,000 VDC members in Doda, Kishtwar, Reasi and Kathua districts of the Jammu region, calls the demand to disband VDCs
"laughable". "He (Geelani) probably doesn't know that there are many Muslims too who are part of VDCs. Since all these years he and others like him have been unable to find a foothold in the Doda-Kishtwar area, they think this demand could endear them to a section of the locals. But this is a fallacy. While there have certainly been instances of some VDC members acting in a high-handed manner, generally the VDCs have done a great job," the officer says... read more:
