President’s rule. It’s one of the dirtiest words in Indian politics. Right up there with Emergency. It was a tool of suppressing democracy. Indira Gandhi, and later Rajiv too, used it to remove opposition party governments in states. Without any reason except a desire to punish the opposition, they used to summarily dismiss the governments and have elections when it suited them. President’s rule, justifiably, has a bad name.
There is another example of President’s Rule too, however.
One that will be closer to the hearts of nationalists and patriots. Punjab of Khalistan era. To those who remember it, Punjab at times seemed like a lost cause. Then came KPS Gill. Without the President’s rule and the freedom from local political interference it’s unlikely that he would have been able to do what he did. What he did was an efficient root and stem elimination of all violent extremists.
The KPS Gill of Kashmir will probably come from army, not police, but even with AFSPA in place it requires something more.
The system of political support and patronage needs to be completely dismantled. The mollycoddling of the violent extremists has to stop. Those on the streets indulging in violence against the armed forces have to be dealt with as enemies of the state. If they are minors, the parents should be held responsible for their safety not the armed forces.
It need not be all brute force, either. The administration needs to run smoothly as well. Ms Mufti has clearly demonstrated ineptness in that area as well. Maybe it is not possible for a politician in this scenario to govern with confidence. Maybe the threat of displeasing the separatists makes it hard for a politician to undertake measures to build the infrastructure or run schools efficiently. Maybe someone who doesn’t need the support of the separatists should oversee those tasks for now. Indian Administrative Service, for all its problems, has men and women of exceptional ability and the knack of getting things done. Putting the right people, backed by the might of an unshackled security apparatus, might just be what Kashmir needs right now to run as a state.
Of course, looming above all these points is the tiger in the room: Prime Minister Modi. The reason these steps inspire confidence is that Kashmir then becomes a state under direct supervision of Mr Modi. He has the knack of picking the right people for any job. He has demonstrated his administrative skill time and again. He has remained impervious to trials and criticisms of media. Above all, he has the trust of the people to enable him to take tough decisions.
The situation is dire, let’s make no mistake. We may be at the beginning of a prolonged war of attrition with our media and a few “intellectuals” firmly set against the interests of our nation and the start of IS support for the terrorists of Kashmir. We may, however, also be on the cusp of a solution. A tough, fair solution that penalizes violence without mercy. Pockets of separatist mindset may still remain, as they probably remain in parts of Punjab and diaspora, but we must make the violent struggle too costly to even be contemplated.
Ms Mufti has proved that she can’t do this. Is it time for the Centre to take another bold step in national interest?