Time to question who is responsible for Kashmir, Bengal atrocities

New Delhi: While in power, the question of who is responsible for the atrocities and murders of common people has always being raised. The recent killings in West Bengal are now crossing all limits. The issue became national with allegations of the role of supporters of Mamata Banerjee’s party in the burning of eleven people from poor houses in the dark of night. With the investigation of the incident, there was a demand for resignation of Mamata Banerjee and even President’s rule in West Bengal. Meanwhile, The Kashmir Files film has also triggered a controversy over the facts of the then Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and Prime Minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh being responsible for the atrocities, killings and exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in 1988-89. It seems necessary to remind about a few things on the politics of resignations. In fact, leaders never resign easily. Even if they resign over any incident and under pressure, they try to save their image at that time and take advantage of it later.
The matter of the Shastri era was different. Then morality and honesty was the main value of life. My first meeting with him was in 1972, when he emerged as a young educated leader from Allahabad and became the Deputy Minister of Commerce in Indira Gandhi’s government. It was nice to see his interest in poetry and art along with news then. After two or three years, he was called to inaugurate an exhibition of cartoons of a colleague of my cartoonist. Then in 1977, during the Lok Sabha elections, he visited his Phulpur-Om Manda area and saw his programmes. But he lost the election along with Indira Gandhi. However, he also won with Indiraji in 1980. After staying at the Centre for some time, he managed to emerge as an alternative to Dinesh Singh, who was once Indira’s close friend. So soon, in June 1980, he was sent as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. It was difficult to rule by going among the leaders with old tapa and caste equations. Socio-administrative political pressure and party tussle kept distracting. Then, Uttar Pradesh was also affected by the attacks and killings of the bandits. So in 1980 and 1981, after communal riots and attacks by dacoits and a large number of murders, he himself offered to resign in front of the Congress high command. His companions or opponents kept calling such an effort as drama-hypocrisy etc. The central leaders also understood that this is a political weapon to avoid internal turmoil. However, the biggest proof of his administrative failure was found in March 1982, when his own brother Chandrashekhar Prasad Singh and nephew Ajit Pratap were murdered in Banda. Then on 28 June, 21 people were killed by bandits in Mainpuri-Kanpur. Then Vishwanath Pratap Singh resigned from the post of Chief Minister on the same day, accepting the responsibility of the government’s failure. In his resignation, he accepted his failure. But this time also he showed cleverness—resigned without informing the high command or any associate. Meaning, the factionalism of the Congress was allowed to persist. He was adept at turning his weaknesses into a political force. Therefore, after Indira Gandhi, he became the Minister of Finance and Defense during the reign of Rajiv Gandhi, but he raised the issue of corruption in the Bofors scandal and rebelled with other Congress leaders. Anti-Congress parties lifted him on their shoulders. In the mid-term elections of 1989, his supporters raised the slogan ‘Raja nahi fakir hai, Desh ki destiny hai’. In this way, he became the Prime Minister on the strength of Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party. Mufti Mohammad Sayeed became the Home Minister in his government. This is where the series of atrocities in Kashmir began. The command of Jammu and Kashmir was in the hands of Farooq Abdullah. Terrorist groups were increasing their activities, some terrorists were in jail. Then Mufti’s daughter Rubia Sayeed was kidnapped. Farooq used to go to London to have fun even when he was the Chief Minister. He was also in London during the kidnapping. Then, the intelligence agencies of the Central Government, the senior most officials approached the kidnappers and bargained. In those days, the camps of Mufti and Farooq were accused of humiliating each other and fostering terrorists. That’s why it was even said that Mufti himself got the kidnapping pretended. However, on Farooq’s arrival in Delhi, V.P. Singh and his officers put all possible pressure on Farooq Abdullah to fulfill the demands of the kidnappers and release their leaders from jail. According to the then senior intelligence officer A.S. Dulat, Farooq continued to oppose his release and immediately resigned after not listening to him. With his withdrawal, terrorists and their supporters launched horrific attacks on Kashmiri Pandits, their homes in Srinagar and other parts, forcing lakhs of Kashmiri Pandit families to flee to other parts of the country. V.P. Singh did not resign over such violence and genocide. So why shouldn’t they be held more responsible for the atrocities on Pandits in Kashmir?
If the resignation of Farooq Abdullah in Kashmir or V.P. Singh in Uttar Pradesh after the murder case was called moral responsibility, then for the continuing murder case in West Bengal, why should Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accept the demand for resignation, taking moral responsibility? She also claims to be sensitive in the name of attachment to art and poetry like V.P. Singh. It is true that Mamata Banerjee has got electoral successes, but at what cost? They inducted criminals, alleged local leaders with Maoist background into the Trinamool Congress like other parties. The same people used to attack and kill BJP leaders and supporters earlier. Now, it has reached the climax that the criminal elements of Trinamool have divided into different groups like bandits and have started committing heinous crimes of attacking each other’s supporters, their homes and burning them alive. Due to the quarrels of the ruling people, the police remain a mute spectator. Expressing grief over an incident, by giving compensation of Rs one to five lakhs, will the poor people get right justice? There is a need for the state and central governments to take strict action against the criminal elements. The way the police and security forces had acted on a large scale to crush the Naxalites in the seventies, in the same way, strictest action should be taken against the criminals irrespective of party bias.
The writer is editorial director of ITV Network-India News and Aaj Samaj Dainik.