BJP bruised as Mufti shows healing touch

The release of Masarat Alam, jailed for his role in the 2010 protests, is part of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s desire to signal that despite allying with BJP , he is upholder of the “healing touch” policy in the Valley . The 2010 protests bear recalling for insights into PDP’s motive. That protest, which former CM Omar Abdullah once said “haunts me, a moment I deeply regret” resulted in over 100 deaths, including that of 17-year-old Tufail Mattoo.

For Mufti, there’s no better way to demonstrate his healing touch than reach out to the protestors of 2010, a movement the Valley believes was “just”, not militant activity .

The protest resulted from the Machil fake encounter, as Omar floundered in the face of public outpouring. When a teargas shell sent Tufail – on way to tuition – to his death, protests spiralled. Tufail became a symbol of the slaughter of Kashmir’s innocents.

For Mufti, creating an ideological contrast between himself and Omar is important, good governance for him means not just flood relief but demonstrating a reconciliation process with “political prisoners”, those “unfairly imprisoned” by Omar’s use of the draconian PSA. Masarat was a key factor in the 2010 stir but charges against him remain unsubstantiated. PDP cites an SC order that says government can’t keep anyone in jail for more than two years unless it has built a convincing chargesheet.

Says a senior PDP official: “SC directed if there are no charges against him, he should be freed. There’s no criminal evidence against Alam. This is a court inspired move. If Omar and Congress are so convinced of Alam’s guilt why didn’t they bring charges against him? He’s no militant. He is a political protestor. Television must realize not every Kashmiri Muslim with a beard is a Mahmud of Ghazni. This is the mindset change we need about Kashmir.”

Mufti’s ally is an ideological adversary , making their union unnatural. Under attack for allying “with the devil” he must make good in 10 days what he lost in two months of alliance-building. He knows that given that BJP brass, from PM Modi to l Amit Shah to LK Advani and MM Joshi attended the swearing-in, the PM has staked his prestige and his government’s reputation on the alliance and can’t back down in a hurry. Strategically, Mufti feels it’s in the early days of government that he must establish his Valley credentials and emerge a risk taker. But he could’ve bitten off more than he can chew. Kashmiri CMs who’ve played the “insider yet outsider” game with Delhi, such as Sheikh and Farooq Abdullah, have suffered. Experts point out that troops to date stand guard over the Sheikh’s grave.

Mufti believes his agenda is changing mindsets not only in Kashmir, but in Jammu and elsewhere. For this, he’s established terms of alliance and pushed the envelope with BJP.

“Why doesn’t media highlight that Togadia was allowed to come to J&K yesterday? When we came to office for the first time Vajpayee applauded our healing touch. Advani was home minister when in 2002 we released Geelani, Yasin Malik and Shabir Shah. BJP veterans knew we were advancing the cause of peace,” says the PDP official. The party insists Alam isn’t a force and making him a cause celebre shows how many want to wreck the alliance.

Kashmir experts call Mufti’s decision to free Alam a bargaining chip with separatists who want Ashiq Hasan Fakhtoo, jailed for 22 years, freed. He’s charged with murdering rights activist H ridaynath Wanchoo. Experts say Mufti knows Masarat’s release may yet be absorbed by BJP .But freeing Fahktoo may push it to quit the alliance. Mufti is trying a balancing act between separatist demands and his ability to manoeuvre within the alliance.

Alam’s release days after swearing-in and with Budget session on, seems to be aimed at catching BJP off-guard and securing elbow room for PDP .Mufti’s party says if BJP expects it to carry the ghar wapsi burden, BJP too must shoulder PDP’s compulsions.