The concern over human rights violations is not as grave in any part of the country as it is in Jammu & Kashmir, the state standing at the core of conflict between India and Pakistan for the last seventy years. Though army commanders bat for a political solution to long pending Kashmir issue but the incumbent government in Delhi commanded and controlled by BJP under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pursuing a military policy resulting in the killing of militants and as well as civilians. Army commanders have several times in the recent months publicly made it clear that they can kill militants but not the militancy unless and until the government does not address the issue to find a political solution to the political conflict in Jammu & Kashmir state. Knowing that the denial of recognition to their political sentiment drives youth to encounter sites and militant ranks the governments in Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir don’t look at the situation in Kashmir through the prism of political sentiment of the people but through the prism of law enforcement and while looking at the fragile situation in Kashmir through the prism of law enforcement the government tends to curb militancy and stop militant recruitments. Even after killing more than 200 militants in Kashmir the army commanders say that still more than 200 militants are active in Kashmir hinting therein that no end to militant recruitments is in sight in the state. The never ending militant recruitment is an indication that denial of recognition to the basic political sentiment has made the militant recruitment a spontaneous process.
As long as there is no effort to address the public concerns on strategies over anti-militancy operations and crowd control policing presently pursued by government forces in Kashmir, it is almost impossible to improve the prevailing human rights situation in the state.
As army generals themselves admit the fact that civilian killings in conflict with the counter militancy strategies devised to avoid civilian casualties in conflict situations , the government has an institutional and administrative responsibility to devise strategies for stopping the killing of civilians both in encounters and as well as crowd control policing. Since Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) has become a failed experiment for the government forces fighting militants and stone pelting angry crowds on the streets in Kashmir, the government has no other option but to think about in the strategy presently followed in both anti-militancy operations and as well as crowd control policing. Silence over civilian killings and incidents of pellet injuries in street clashes can’t silence the critics keeping a vigil over the human rights situation in Jammu & Kashmir, but a change in strategy to find a better alternative to Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is the only way to improve the worsening human rights situation in Kashmir. As long as there is no effort to address the public concerns on strategies over anti-militancy operations and crowd control policing presently pursued by government forces in Kashmir, it is almost impossible to improve the prevailing human rights situation in the state.
