Peace under fire

``If this is what a ceasefire means, don't bother extending it.'' This, says SHUJAAT BUKHARI, is the refrain among the Kashmiris, angry at the security forces' actions.

IT WAS an entirely different Sopore this time. All the excitement evident when the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, first announced the unilateral ceasefire in December last has vanished. Nearby Haigam is haunted by the killing of six civilians on February 15. Shattered families equate the tragedy with what happened in Chattisinghpora in March 2000.

Alive to the political situation, ordinary villagers mob an outsider, curious to know the latest. ``The Chattisinghpora massacre was carried out to draw Mr. Bill Clinton's attention to the situation and the firing (in Haigam) on peaceful demonstrators was to derail the peace process,'' was the verdict of an elderly villager, Mr. Mohammad Shaban. He claims to have been witness to ups and downs of Kashmir's history. Something always happens to put the clock back, he says citing the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent when he had a meeting with President Ayub Khan of Pakistan on Kashmir; and, earlier, the death of Jawaharlal Nehru when Sheikh Abdullah was in Pakistan almost finalising a solution.

Residents are unable to understand why even during the ceasefire the security forces cannot stay out of their lives. ``If this is what a ceasefire means, don't bother extending it,'' is a common refrain. Take the case of Jalil Ahmed Shah who died in police custody. His father was gunned down by militants for being an activist of ruling National Conference (NC) in 1999.No doubt he was affiliated to the JKLF, but it is a political organisation. He was stated to be close to the Speaker of the State Assembly, Mr. Abdul Ahmad Vakil. Hardly the profile of a militant.

The trauma did not end there. Six more people were killed in firing by the Army, whose convoy was stopped by thousands of Jalil's mourners. Admitting that fire was opened in Haigam and then in Maisuma as well, where a protest was being held and another youth, Javed Ahmed Nath, was shot, the Army is investigating the matter.

The killings in Haigam, Maisuma and Mahjoor Nagar, where six Sikhs were killed by unknown assailants, have had a terrible impact on the public mood. Take Sopore, whose residents had said goodbye to militancy and engrossed themselves in the apple trade. ``What ceasefire? Does it mean the wanton killing of civilians,'' asks an enraged Mr. Mohammed Iqbal, a shopkeeper. ``The Vajpayee initiative had lit hopes for an early solution which would ultimately take us to peace but it has not moved an inch forward,'' sums up a teacher.

People are not against peace, but they want a comprehensive exercise which will ensure the silence of the guns. ``Dialogue is possible only when guns stop booming,'' said a businessman whose livelihood has been hit by the return of curfew.

The scene is no different in Anantnag. A group of men turn angry on being introduced to a journalist. ``The media needs news and is not bothered about what the people are facing,'' was the response from a youth, Mr. Muzaffar. ``You are talking about ceasefire. Has it worked? It will not even if extended for another year,'' he says. ``What has followed the ceasefire? No initiative. Only the killings.''

The sincerity of Mr. Vajpayee's gesture is still not being questioned, but with no headway being made confusion reigns. The people believe an attempt to win over the militants should have followed. ``Peace with honour'' is what they want.

The people's concern for age-old traditions is still intact, despite the bloodbath which has claimed thousands of lives and seen the minority community migrating elsewhere. Lawyers in Anantnag were upset that they could not see Law Minister P. L. Handoo's body being taken through the streets of his hometown. ``It is a tragedy that there are no mourners at Handoo's house at Anantnag,'' said a member of the Bar. This does not reflect Kashmiriat, rich with communal harmony, he says.

Back in Srinagar, the alienation has only increased. The situation is reminiscent of 1990, with the city under curfew and people taking to the streets demanding azadi. The claims of the authorities that foreigners are not acceptable to the people are also disputed, with thousands of demonstrators chanting ``Lashkar Se Kiya Rishta Lal Ilahailalah'' (Our relation with Lashkar is that of Allah). Note also the procession by thousands demanding the bodies of six Lashkar militants, killed when they attacked the Srinagar airport, for ``honourable burial''.

The State Government finds itself facing a hostile population with allegations of custodial killings on the increase.With the current extension of ceasefire ending on May 31, the scope for a change in the mood lies in an initiative from the parties to the Kashmir issue which will lead to an end to the violence. The summer will prove decisive in defining the road Kashmir takes.

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