Freedom Shrinked On R-Day in Kashmir

When the rest of India celebrates freedom the people in Kashmir find the space of freedom shrinking in and around their localities and this year the freedom was shrinked more than last three years. Though the venue of flag hoisting in Srinagar was shifted to S K Cricket Satadium in high security Ram Munshibag area adjacent to high security gupkar road where the residential bungalows of the present Chief Minister, two former chief ministers and top incumbent ministers are located but the security drill undetaken by the government forces ahead of republic day amid apprehensions of a suicide attack by a woman was intensified in Srinagar. Apart from the high intensity security dril of the government forces ten days before the republic day celebration the authorities suspended the calling and data facilities of the mobile phones and the high intensity of the frisking in and around city centre Lal Chowk forced most of the newspaper offices to wind up their work much before the scheduled time. People of every section in every area in Srinagar and major towns in Kashmir valley were forced to stay indoors in view of the heavy deployments in their localities. The shrinking space for freedom on the eve of republic days is also an indication of the government’s failures in restoration of peace and normalcy in the aftermath of the summer unrest in the year 2016.
With a popular government trying to enforce its writ through heavy deployment of the police, paramilitaries and the army the attempts to restore normalcy are unlikely to show any improvement in the coming few months. Though government has announced amnesty for one time stone pelters but the tendencies of youth joining public protests near the encounter sites in not dying dow and instead the youth are moving away from the university and colleges campuses to their areas to join militant ranks only to indicate that all does not go well with the hand holding of youth in Kashmir. Very recently Army Chief General Bipin Rawat virtually tried to prvoke youth in Kashmir with a statement on the teaching of students in Kashmir schools. Though Education Minister Altaf Bukhari in a befitting response tried to the army chief told him that his job is to defend borders but not to interfere in the teaching of schools in Kashmir. Unfortunately the Mehbooba government is trying to restore calm in Kashmir through Cordon and Search Operation much popularly called CASO but the unprecedented increase in the intensity of the participation of the youth in public protests near the encounter sites show the intensity of the anger brewing up among youth against the arm twisting methods used by the government for restoration of peace and normalcy in Kashmir. Methods used to shrink the space for freedom in Kashmir wether on the eve of republic day or a normal day have to given up if the Mehbooba government has little bit of interest in giving peace a chance to the people in Kashmir valley.