Gunfight at DPS Srinagar has further exposed Modi-Mehbooba Mufti alliance
On June 24, when home minister Rajnath Singh expressed hope that Ramzaan would “help” bring back peace and happiness to Kashmir, militants carried out a deadly attack at Pantha Chowk, the gateway to Srinagar.
The encounter took place on the high-security stretch of the national highway at a stone’s throw from the Badamibagh garrison in the summer capital. And, by the time the two militants attacked a CRPF patrol party and subsequently took strategic shelter at the nearby Delhi Public School (DPS), chief minister Mehbooba Mufti was discussing security scenario with J&K Governor NN Vohra.
With the killing of both militants, the 20-hour gunfight has ended. But a portion of the school building stands reduced to rubble. What if the encounter had broken out some two hours earlier, when the school was on?
“Shukar hai. The children and staffers had left… Some staffers who were still there were evacuated safely,” replies Vijay Dhar, patron of DPS Srinagar.
While the encounter is over and schoolchildren safe, how concerned is Mehbooba about Kashmir, where the situation continues to be on the edge since the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani on July 8, 2016.
Well, Mehbooba’s concern can be gauged from the fact that she recently misinformed the state Assembly about the militant attack that left six policemen including SHO Feroz Dar dead in her home district of Anantnag on June 16.
A day after the bloodbath, she expressed “pain”, on the floor of the House. Mehbooba, who is also the state home minister, said Feroz died so young that he was yet to be married - “Uski abhi shaadi bhi nahi huwee thi.”
With these words in the Assembly, ignoring Dar’s wreath laying ceremony that was underway at the adjoining district police lines, Mehbooba flew straight to Jammu to throw a lavish iftar party.
Two days later, she took out time to visit the bereaved SHO’s family only to discover that he was not a bachelor but is survived by his wife and two minor daughters.
What followed was another killing. Deputy SP Muhammad Ayoub Pandith was lynched outside Jama Masjid Nowhatta on Shab-e-Qadr, a blessed night for Muslims, when mobs behaved like cannibals. Mehbooba attended his wreath laying ceremony on June 23 and got a photo op.
In a veiled threat to people, already fed up of her mis-governance, Mehbooba said if things don’t improve, the time is not far off when civilians would again be scared to spot a police jeep, much like in the 1990s.
Somebody go and tell her that if in “1990s people would run away from the police jeep, now they run towards encounter sites”.
As of now, Mehbooba is behaving like New Delhi’s spoilt child, exhibiting her extraordinary incompetence to fester the crisis in Kashmir. BJP has empowered her in way that she confidently declares a slain married man a bachelor, while the director general of police SP Vaid instead of seeking correction, behaves like her mouthpiece.
But then the BJP has reasons to keep the PDP in good humour. It is for the first time that the saffron party has come to power in the state. And, as the BJP’s pointman on Kashmir Ram Madhav says: All is fair in love, war and Kashmir.
On May 22, a hope for peace had emerged when a Delhi-based group of eminent personalities led by senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha called for a ceasefire during the month of Ramzaan, and urged the Centre to use the opportunity to begin a dialogue with all stakeholders in the state. The signatories to the memorandum included former RAW chief AS Dulat.
But there were no takers for ceasefire or dialogue appeals. While Rajnath Singh found a silver lining in the last days of Ramzaan, militants stormed DPS Srinagar ahead of Eid. PM Narendra Modi needs to understand Kashmir was never so newsy but for all the wrong reasons.
The Pantha Chowk attack has yet again strengthened the belief that the armed guerrillas continue to strike at will while DPS Srinagar has been the latest collateral causality.
Over a decade ago, much against the aspirations of some his family members, who were apprehensive of investments in trouble-torn region, Vijay Dhar went ahead with his dream of imparting quality education to the millennial generation of his homeland. And this was how DPS Srinagar was established.
Within years, the schools excelled in quality education to emerge as one of the leading educational institutions with some 5,000 students on its rolls.
But then, in the wake of attack on his school, how does he feel about the situation in Kashmir? “I don’t think there’s anything wrong which cannot be undone. One needs to address the people. The youngsters need to be addressed. They have grievances that need to be addressed,” he says.
By youngsters, Dhar candidly means every youth including stone-pelters and those who picked up arms as militants.
Coming from the DP Dhar family, he believes the government must address the problems of the youth though dialogue. “Instead of saying that you are bad, I would like to go and ask what the problem is… Whether you hold talks (with Pakistan) or not, the solution has to come from us. All of us need to change the thought process and look forward to address the grievances of these youth.”
Though initially unnerved by the attack at his school, he says public response during the hours of the encounter gave him “tremendous satisfaction”.
“One could think of selling off this Rs 200-crore property to live in the Swiss Alps. But I have been rewarded. I feel humbled as people say ‘ye school hamari masjid hai’!”