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‘Should I help hush up murder and rape?’

— Photo: Nissar Ahmad

Mehbooba Mufti: We have shown that we can deliver on our promises and represent the people’s desires and aspirations.

In the short years between its birth in 1999 and the 2003 elections to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly, Mehbooba Mufti’s charismatic leadership drove the People’s Democratic Party from obscurity to power. Her spirited, polemical, and often-fiery rhetoric drew criticism but also popular support. But the almost-fairy tale success story began to unravel last year, after the PDP severed its alliance with the Congress and ended up losing power. Many commentators said the PDP was set to disintegrate.

Now, though, the PDP has adroitly leveraged popular anger against human rights violations to regain lost ground. In this interview to The Hindu, Mehbooba Mufti discusses the fallout from the alleged rape-murders in Shopian, her own position in the violence that followed, and how the peace process in J&K might be rescued from the crisis that has beset both the State and neighbouring Pakistan.

You will recall that when Omar Abdullah took office as Chief Minister, he acknowledged that he was very fortunate — fortunate because the situation had become better than it was for his predecessors. Militant violence had come down, encounters had come down, and the people who voted in large numbers in the Assembly elections were expecting a positive political change. But what did they get? On day one, a deaf-and-dumb boy was shot dead outside the Chief Minister’s house. What did the official machinery do? Debate whether he was killed outside the Chief Minister’s house or the last Chief Minister’s house! It’s not as if human rights abuses disappeared after we took office in 2002. But the way we handled things convinced the people that the government was on their side, not their enemy. Now, look at the situation: two women are raped in gruesome circumstances and the government won’t even file a First Information Report.

I only told the media what the families of the victims told me. I was sitting with the mother and sister of one of the victims — who said that she had a huge injury on her head and that something red, which looked like sindoor, was smeared on her hair. This was not a claim that came from me. But leave the sindoor issue aside. They also told me about several other terrible injuries the victims had sustained, which has since been confirmed by the forensic experts and the Justice Muzaffar Jan Commission of Inquiry. There was no doubt that the victims were raped. Why was the government dragging its feet on the investigation? Now, even in Delhi or Bangalore, if there are atrocities against women, people protest; they are very angry. But here, instead of asking the government why it delayed filing an FIR, people say I am adding fuel to the fire or toeing the separatist line. Should I help hush up rape and murder?

From the outset, I have asked for a proper investigation. First, I asked for an FIR to be filed. Now, I am asking for the guilty to be arrested. I also want political measures to be taken to address the public anger you see today — that is, demilitarisation. The troops have been here for twenty years, and have done their job. They have played their part by bringing down violence. Now, their presence has become a cause of friction with local people across Jammu and Kashmir.

See, it’s not just Shopian. There is a general climate of resentment against the Army and the CRPF. Just the other day, a CRPF man was beaten to pulp in Srinagar. Whatever happens, the first thing people presume is that the Army or the CRPF must have done it. Secondly, these forces were needed at a particular time and in a particular context. But now, even officials say there are only 500 militants. There are hardly any encounters. It is time to give the Army an honourable exit from Kashmir.

You will recall that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced troop cuts even when he first visited Kashmir, in 2003. Some 10,000 troops were pulled out, that’s all, and then it all came to a halt. Again in 2007, when our alliance with the Congress had reached a breaking point, a committee chaired by the Union Defence Secretary was set up to address the issue. Well, nothing very much happened. I think the Prime Minister is sincere but I am sorry to say there is a very negative mindset in New Delhi on this issue. They feel an iron fist is needed to deal with Kashmir.

Nations talk not because it is a pleasant way to pass the time, but because there is no other choice. People in Jammu and Kashmir are angry. If we do not address their concerns, every six or eight months, you will have a crisis. It will undo all the hard-won gains of past years.

Even though we are in opposition, we speak for the people of Kashmir. Our true strength is not reflected in the seats we have got. Our contribution to strengthening the peace process is by representing the people. People used to revile mainstream parties in Jammu and Kashmir for being agents of Delhi. Today, we have shown that we can deliver on our promises and represent their desires and aspirations.

Corrections and Clarifications

The answer to the fifth question in an interview "'Should I help hush up murder and rape?'" (Op-Ed, July 1, 2009) said that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced troop cuts even when he first visited Kashmir in 2003. Dr. Singh visited Jammu and Kashmir for the first time, as Prime Minister, on November 18, 2004.

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‘Should I help hush up murder and rape?’

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