Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: May 15, 2006
The manufactured protest against the alleged
sex racket that was recently exposed in Srinagar is assuming an alarming dimension.
This is not the first time that a sex racket has come to light in India, nor
is it surprising that politicians and police officials were allegedly involved
in Srinagar's sex-for-money scandal. Which is not to suggest that the crime
of forcing teenaged girls into prostitution should be glossed over.
On the contrary, no effort should be spared
to get to the bottom of the racket, identify those guilty of either providing
protection to the racketeers or benefiting from their crime, and mete out
exemplary punishment to them so that others are deterred from following in
their footsteps. If there are any doubts about the impartiality of an inquiry
by the Jammu & Kashmir Police, then those can be set aside by ordering
a thorough investigation by the CBI. But social concern over such crimes,
no matter how repulsive they may be, cannot be allowed to take the form of
violent protests as have been witnessed in recent days.
The breast-beating by burkha-clad activists
of the jihadi sisterhood, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, who have been fighting pitched
battles with security personnel on the streets of Srinagar, has little to
do with condemning the crime of forcing young girls into prostitution. It
is an attempt to impose their perception of morality on Kashmiri society.
That perception must be resisted because it is no different from what the
Taliban did in the guise of enforcing an Islamic moral code on the people
of Afghanistan.
The Government of Jammu & Kashmir must
also resist the terror tactics of assorted jihadi groups who have suddenly
discovered merit in preaching morality after indulging in horrendous butchery
in the name of religion. Those whose hands are stained with the blood of innocent
men, women and children have no moral authority to lay down a code of ethics.
In fact, the bogus rage of Dukhtaran-e-Millat
and the terrorist groups has little to do with the sex racket. What we are
seeing is the unfolding of a diabolical conspiracy to forcibly convert Jammu
& Kashmir into a clone of Saudi Arabia's Wahhabi society. It is an extension
of their bloody campaign to cleanse the State of religious, cultural and social
pluralism. It is Islamisation by another name in another disguise; morality
has nothing to do with this poisonous campaign.
There is another reason why authority should
immediately crack down on these wannabe muttawa: If the Islamists are allowed
to have their way, they will impose their warped code of ethics on not only
the residents of Jammu & Kashmir but also those visiting the State. Already,
as a nonplussed administration watches helplessly, cable operators have been
coerced into pulling the plug on all channels barring those aired by Pakistan
TV.
Thugs masquerading as upholders of morality
have asked parents to take away mobile phones from their daughters. And Syed
Ali Shah Gilani, who dreams of hoisting the Pakistani flag on Indian soil,
has described the racket, run by Kashmiris, as an "Indian conspiracy".
Unless restrained, if necessary with force, the Islamists will now demand
that tourists and visitors must also comply with their diktats, or else pay
with their lives. That is both intolerable and unacceptable.
