Voices that disturb

Punjab has had a scary and scar-filled brush with militancy. Any event with even a remote possibility of a slide back to those days of horror gets immediate attention of the state. What it has learnt to not highlight are the occasional rants of the few with separatist views. Punjab lets them be. One, because they are in a miniscule minority, reason stands little chance, and there’s space enough for their thought process, however warped it may seem. Second, why lend them prominence and provide legitimacy? When their radical nerve shifts towards violence or subversive activities, the state effectively deals with them. Kashmir is different yes, but in several ways no.
The anti-India views that are expressed openly at times by a few in the Valley rightfully trigger anger. The sight of the Pakistani flag being raised, slogans of “azadi” renting the air do whip up emotions. There’s no quick-fix solution, but. If some scattered sections of the country harbour such thoughts, what is the way forward? Masarat Alam’s actions are unacceptable. Whenever he’s crossed the line, the law and order machinery has dealt with him. Since his release and re-arrest, however, the hardline Hurriyat leader has been metamorphosed into the poster boy of separatism, and none of it thanks to anything new he’s done. He’s learnt to play to the gallery, and that’s just across the border. Why shower so much attention on him?
The Mufti Sayeed government feels separatists cannot be treated as enemies and need to be engaged rather than suppressed. For coalition partner BJP, nationalism is the core of its existence and people like Alam need to be behind bars. Both the parties are not wrong. Their coming together signified a new phase of looking at Jammu and Kashmir, keeping the sensibilities of both the regions in mind. The experiment is under test and media gaze on a daily basis. Separatists will not fall silent, neither will their detractors. There has to be a meeting point, however slow and cumbersome the process, and sensationalism makes it harder.