The Kashmiri people are once again confronted with the spectre of state violence looming over every backyard and street. The last two months have witnessed the rape and murder of young Neelofar and Asiya in Shopian (the role of the CRPF is suspected), indiscriminate firing on youth by CRPF personnel in Baramulla, the disappearance of Basharat Ahmed of Larkipora, the murder of Asrar Mushtaq Dar– not isolated incidents, but an integral part of every Kashmiri’s mindscape for decades now. Shopian erupted – not after the incident, but after the obfuscation by the state and the wilful destruction of evidence by the police.

Six months ago, the popular participation in the Assembly elections and the victory of the NC-Congress had been termed a vindication of the Indian State over insurgency and unrest in Kashmir and proof positive that the massive street protests in Kashmir in the wake of the Amarnath controversy did not truly reflect Kashmiri democratic sentiment. Now, six months since the Omar Abdullah government took the reins, innumerable such incidents of disappearance, custodial death, rape, and murder have continued unabated. And the triumphalism of the UPA Governments at State and Centre stands shaken by massive street protests once again.

During the investigation into the rape and murder of Neelofar and Asiya in Shopian, the police did not follow procedure, misled the families of the victims, and allowed crucial evidence to be squandered. The doctors who first performed the autopsy also tried to term it a case of drowning, while actually recording observations which contradicted their own verdict on the matter. When protests in Shopian intensified, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah gave a press statement insisting that it was a case of drowning, in spite of the fact that initial investigations had indicated that the nullah in which they were found was shallow, and there was clear evidence of assault. The protests were so widespread and public opinion on the matter so strong, that Abdullah had to recant his position, after which he instituted the Justice Muzaffar Jan Commission to conduct an enquiry.

A one-man enquiry commission, in any case, commands little credibility. The report when it came, did critique the laxity and deliberate destruction of evidence by the police, but failed to identify those responsible. But most shocking of all – it cast suspicion on the victims themselves and their families. Justice Jan, however, alleged that the police had tampered with his report and added 300 pages of their own report to his findings! A popular democratic movement forces a Government (elected by them) to order a judicial enquiry – only to find that the police has ensured that the enquiry ends up questioning the motives of the victims, their families and protestors. After this unprecedented piece of deceit, what credibility can the Indian State and the UPA government claim in Kashmir? Omar Abdullah and P Chidambaram ought to answer.

The shades given to the disappearance and murder of Asrar Mushtaq Dar by the police and by the media are of the same feather: they both claimed the case ‘solved’, proclaiming this to have been a crime of passion. Dar was reported missing from Malkhah on July 3, his body recovered four days later. There were protests in the region over this incident, believed by many to have been a custodial death. His family still expresses disagreement with police claims.

While there have been massive protests against atrocities of the army and paramilitary forces and the AFSPA right across the state, they are not the central thread of the dominant narrative that has emerged. The state and the central government, and the media seem to be spinning quite another yarn. Chidambaram told a private news channel, “The present disturbance in the Kashmir valley is a post-election phenomenon and the losers seem to have taken it badly.” (Quoted in Greater Kashmir, 15 July 2009) Government officials have used the findings in Dar’s case to vehemently suggest that all the protests are motivated. One even said that “involvement of the friends of Asrar in his murder should serve as an eye opener for those who indulge in agitational politics without ascertaining the truth.” The fact that the Government displayed scant respect for ‘truth,’ even for the findings o a judicial enquiry set up by itself, is of course something no one in the Government feels any need to talk about. Farooq Abdullah has said, “Vested interests want to keep Kashmir on the boil.” Sonia Gandhi and Omar Abdullah have said the protests are an attempt by separatists to ‘destabilise’ the elected Government. The media of course has gone hoarse packaging its coverage to discredit and insult the anguish of the Kashmiri people. Almost all leading dailies, on several occasions, have termed the protests that swept the valley as being propelled by ‘separatists and second rung mainstream politicians’.

The intensity of the movement alone puts paid to the claims made by the central and state government and the media. The suggestion that there is a ‘separatist’ hand in people’s protests is an insensitive and irresponsible attempt to deny the agony of those suffering the free rein of state terror by armed forces. Chidambaram has merely hinted that the Government might consider a ‘phased withdrawal’ of the AFSPA. But precedent suggests that such statements by the UPA government are insincere ploys to quell popular resentment: in Manipur in 2004, Manmohan Singh had made similar promises, but failed to act even after the Jeevan Reddy Committee recommended that it be scrapped.

The people of Kashmir have made it clear that ‘democracy’ does not, for them, connote the Omar Abdullah Government. Rather, democracy can make a tentative beginning only when the Government frees the Kashmiri people from the ever-present shadow of military repression.