Rumours and terror are all Kashmir has

Whispers of war have driven fear into Kashmiris, who've learnt to heed rumours for survival, unable to trust the news or government

Saturday was filled with rumours in Srinagar. Supplies are disappearing from shops as residents stock up on essential commodities, petrol pumps have emptied, the government has cancelled medical leave, and 100 companies of security forces, including the Border Security Force (BSF), have been the deployed; there is an atmosphere of siege. Topping the rumours is talk of war between India and Pakistan being around the corner. Credible or not, the Kashmiris are frightened, as they will bear the brunt of the fighting and destruction. The next rumour is that the Supreme Court will decide today on a petition by a right-wing group challenging Article 35A of the Constitution, which allows the J&K legislature to decide who is a "permanent resident" in the state — so that they may acquire property and jobs, etc.

The Kashmiri fears any change in their state's special Constitutional status will eventually lead to a demographic change in the Valley, and they will become a minority. Though the matter is not listed for Monday or Tuesday, it may come up later in the week, and though nothing is likely to be decided, the separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference has sent a huge team of 30 lawyers for the hearing. Others include the bizarre rumour that separatist leader Shabir Shah was murdered in Tihar Jail. He is very much alive. (Perhaps this rumour was triggered by the murder of a Pakistani prisoner by fellow inmates in Jaipur central jail last week.) There was a rumour that 150 Jamaat-e-Islami activists had been picked up by the authorities. There were possibly other rumours.

Rumours have had traction in Kashmir even before the era of fake news because Kashmiris had little reason to believe the mass media, given its Delhi-bias and its lack of sympathy for the Kashmiri plight during the past three decades. Since 2014, the media has actively demonised Kashmiris as Islamists or fifth columnists or Pakistan-sympathisers. So after the February 14 attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, Kashmiri students and traders have unreasonably been at the receiving end of violence in places like Dehradun,  Bihar, Maharashtra and even Bengal. In South Delhi, the police acted in time to prevent a mini-riot. (As usual, the South stands as a beacon of civility in this country.)

The education minister has denied that any Kashmiri has been attacked, and so the government's supporters find comfort in the blind belief that reports of attacks are fake. Gripped with fear, batches of students have returned to the Valley — the J&K Governor's lack of tact hasn't helped. (The state chief secretary is equally mediocre.)

Such incidents obviously do nothing to reassure Kashmiri Muslims and only deepen their alienation from India; that one has to state this obvious fact only goes to show how the fever pitch has been raised in so many Indians. The job of the government is, besides calibrating the appropriate political, military and diplomatic response to such a terror attack, to soothe the people and maintain calm.

The government with its lack of response for nine days has clearly demonstrated that it is not interested in calm. Since the parliamentary election is around the corner, one can safely infer that the government wishes to electorally cash in on this heightened state of emotion — even if this had been at the cost of a few riots. It also makes clear that the government is less interested in Kashmiris and more interested in Kashmir.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday finally told the country not to attack Kashmiris, it was closing the proverbial stable door after the horse bolted. Also, it seemed insincere, considering that his advice came after the Supreme Court directed the Centre and the states to ensure the safety and security of Kashmiris. It is his habit to remain silent when violence is being perpetrated by his supporters; it is politics at its most cynical. The biggest irony, of course, is that he was abroad picking up an unknown peace prize while Kashmiris were attacked.

Perhaps India will give it back good to whoever is responsible for the Pulwama attack. Perhaps enough people will be so happy as to re-elect the government. Perhaps there will be a new government. Whatever happens, the past five years have driven Kashmiris further away from India than ever before. To them, the events since 2014 have revealed the hatred that lies in the middle-class Indian heart, stoked by a cynical ruling party looking to govern in perpetuity. No wonder, then, that Kashmiris don't trust the news, don't trust the government, don't trust the Hindi heartland, and perhaps don't even trust one another. It is in such an atmosphere of fear and violence and distrust that news is dismissed as propaganda, and rumour is embraced as gospel.

Aditya Sinha's latest book, India Unmade: How the Modi Government Broke the Economy, with Yashwant Sinha, is out now. He tweets @autumnshade Send your feedback to
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