Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: February 19, 2009
URL: http://www.dailypioneer.com/157362/Baramulla-to-Bastar.html
Democracy defeats terrorism
In an otherwise bleak scenario, two good news
stories published by this newspaper serve to highlight the fact that there
is no reason to lose hope, at least not yet, although every additional day
the UPA remains in power further erodes the people's faith in Government.
The first story relates to young Kashmiris turning up in large numbers at
the Army's recruitment camp in Baramulla, which till recently was a hotbed
of separatism and terrorism. The young men, many of them from Anantnag and
Kupwara, are eager to don the Indian Army's uniform which, ironically, had
come to be seen as a symbol of 'oppression' in the Kashmir Valley, thanks
to the vitriolic anti-India campaign by the All-Party Hurriyat Conference
and other Islamist, pro-Pakistan organisations. The recent Assembly election,
which saw the political patrons of the separatists taking a severe beating
-- the poll boycott call failed to keep people away from voting booths --
was a clear indicator that Kashmiris had begun to tire of violence and the
futility of waging war against the Indian state. The huge turnout at the Army's
recruitment camp confirms that view: People want to get on with their lives
and for them a job in the Army is gainful employment in a job-starved State.
The second story emanates from Chhattisgarh's impoverished Bastar region where
Maoists have been leading a murderous campaign, slaughtering police personnel
and killing those tribals who refuse to subscribe to their ideology of hate.
Here, too, people were asked not to participate in last November's Assembly
election and the Maoists had threatened terrible retribution if their diktat
was defied. Yet, there was high voting on election day. Now, with the political
process firmly established and the State Government clearly in command of
the situation, big industrial houses have begun eliciting interest in setting
up factories in Bastar which would generate thousands of jobs and thus lessen
the burden of poverty for the region's people.
Of course, neither the crowds at the Army's
recruitment camp in Baramulla nor the possible investment in setting up industrial
units in Bastar suggests that violent Islamism and Maoism have been comprehensively
defeated. It is anybody's guess as to how the separatists in the Kashmir Valley
and the Maoists in Bastar will respond to the surge of optimism and the popular
urge to join the national mainstream. But it would be incorrect to view either
cynically, just as it would be premature to celebrate the triumph of the state.
What the two stories mean is something that is often ignored while dealing
with extremism: Democracy has the inherent strength to survive the harshest
of attacks and, at the end of the day, liberty and freedom, coupled with the
desire for a better life lived with dignity, prevail over the fear of the
terrorist's gun. It is this strength that has kept India united even as other
countries which became independent along with ours have fractured and fragmented
-- for evidence, witness the rapidity with which Pakistan is imploding. It
is the responsibility of the state to keep alive the flame of liberty and
protect democracy; to do so, often tough measures have to be adopted: Anti-terrorist
operations in Jammu & Kashmir and salwa judum in Chhattisgarh are two
examples of how not to allow those who militate against the nation to achieve
their evil objective. Simultaneously, the state must also extend a helping
hand to those who are exploited by terrorists of all hues. It's happening
in Baramulla and Bastar.
