Kashmir Violence Begins to Challenge Mehbooba Mufti’s Rule

The new Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti, is facing a severe political and security crisis.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti could not have asked for a more troubled start to her innings as the head of the government in Jammu and Kashmir, one of India’s most sensitive states.

Two major incidents – first a trouble at National Institute of Technology (NIT) in Srinagar and then deadly clashes in north Kashmir that left four people dead in police firing – have bogged Mehbooba since 4 April when she took over as the chief minister of the only Muslim majority state in India.

NIT Trouble Pitted Jammu Against Kashmir

The NIT trouble, which began as locals versus outsiders over the nationalism debate, pitted Jammu against the Kashmir Valley.

Reducing the communal divide between the two highly polarised regions of the state, formed an important part of the ruling agenda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combined.

The agenda was authored by Mehbooba’s father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed in 2015 after the two ideologically different parties came together to rule the state, which has been battling an armed separatist campaign since late the 1980s.

Mufti died in January, leaving the PDP with Mehbooba as its natural choice to replace him as the chief minister. But she was initially reluctant to shake hands with the BJP before she agreed to head the government, with no new concessions promised by the central government in Delhi.

When Mehbooba, 56, finally took oath, violence erupted in NIT after Kashmiri students celebrated India’s loss against West Indies in the WT20 semi-final. Non-Kashmiri students objected violently and took out a march carrying national flags and shouting pro-India slogans.

They demanded that the college should be shifted outside the valley over safety concerns after the police allegedly used force to quell the demonstration.

Handawara Erupts During Mehbooba’s Trip to Delhi

As the tension worsened in Srinagar, Mehbooba made her maiden trip to Delhi on Tuesday, after becoming chief minister. Mufti was going to meet a few BJP leaders whom she had refused to meet in the past.

As she landed in the capital, violence erupted in north Kashmir’s Handwara town after rumours that a college girl was allegedly molested by an army personnel. People protested and security forces opened fire. Two boys and a woman lost their lives in the firing.

A day later, more protests erupted in the nearby Drugmulla village of Kupwara district, some 100 km from Srinagar. Police fired tear gas shells. One of the canisters fatally injuring a 25-year-old man.

In both cases, it appeared that forces had not followed the Standard Operating Procedures on controlling the crowd and giving Mehbooba a major security challenge in only 10 days of her being in the office. The criticism against her, particularly on social media networks, was abound.

People died as a result of firing by security forces and what does the Jammu and Kashmir chief minister do? She continues her self-promoting tour of Delhi. This is the same person who until a year ago would rush anywhere in the valley to shed contrived tears at the slightest provocation.

Omar Abdullah, Former Chief Minister, Jammu and Kashmir

Damage Control: Too Little Too Late

But on Thursday, when Mehbooba returned to the valley she ordered restraint in dealing with mobs. No civilian should be harmed while managing angry crowds, she told the police. But the damage had already been done, giving a peak into what she may have to contend with in the coming years of her governance.

The NIT and the Handwara killings are still burning. How she deals with the crises – both politically as well as administratively – will set the tone of her new role and will also lay the path for the uneasy ties between the “soft separatist” and the “saffron” streams in the state.

Amid the crises, PDP leaders privately admit that Mehbooba is missing her father – a shrewd politician who had seen and battled such challenges during his nearly 50 years in politics.

(This article has been published in a special arrangement with IANS. Sheikh Qayoom can be contacted at [e-mail])