Shujaat Bukhari's demise blow to middle path approach
in Kashmir; rejection of violence will be an ideal tribute, By Lt General, Syed Ata Hasnain
The news of Shujaat Bukhari’s untimely demise was
received with moist eyes, much regret and worry about the future of Kashmir. In
my family, everyone knew that he was my friend and that I cared much for his
opinion and advice. They also knew that we had huge differences in outlook on
the handling of the complexities of Kashmir, but these actually helped in
understanding the situation better.
Although we knew
each other for over 20 years, it was my tenure as commander of the
Srinagar-based Chinar Corps that brought us closer together with more frequent
interaction. In 2010, I had returned to the iconic Indian Army formation, the
prize command and the most challenging one. Kashmir was burning and I had the
experience of handling turbulence in Kashmir’s violence-prone landscape many
times. Knowing well that anything routine never works there, I immediately
turned to taking advice, lots of it. Among the plethora of wonderful
intellectuals that Kashmir possesses and many others with earthy knowledge,
with whom I interacted over a month, I found Shujaat the most affable and the
most acceptable. He told me on my face that anything I would try would fail
unless it touched the core of the heart of the Kashmiris. He said upfront that
Kashmiris do not trust Indians, so the first thing is all about establishing
that trust. I was not looking at any solutions, just the cooling and calming of
the environment. Once that was achieved, people would be able to speak with
clearer minds. Shujaat strictly guarded the Kashmiri turf and always spoke of
Kashmiri interests, but within an Indian system. He advised me to undertake
those measures by which trust could be established.
File
image of Shujaat Bukhari, who was shot dead on Thursday.
Twitter/@bukharishujaat
Through 2011, the
Hearts Doctrine, partially drawn up on some of the advisories from Shujaat and
many other well-meaning Kashmiris, played itself out. The Kashmir Premier
League, change in convoy timings to allow free flow of civil vehicular traffic
and the much appreciated ‘awami sunwaii’ programmes, along
with skill development, career counseling and youth interaction all formed part
of the doctrine to restore in Kashmiris the required confidence about India.
What was
important about people like Shujaat was the frankness and complete belief in
their line of thinking which was never radical. Although a much accomplished
journalist, he represented and in fact epitomised the plight of the journalist
community in Kashmir. Many in the rest of India are unaware of the very large
number of newspapers which hit Srinagar’s streets every morning. Besides the
inevitable stringers, there are many outstanding columnists. And then, you have
the television correspondents of mainstream channels who are at trouble spots
all the time, placing their lives at risk. Who knows which opinion will meet
with a negative response? I marvel at their courage just as I appreciated
Shujaat’s ability to hold an independent line at all times, not swayed by
sentiments except the most genuine ones.
When I was
leaving Kashmir in 2012, we organised a huge seminar. I was sceptical about
opening it to the media, and to overcome that guilt, invited Shujaat as the
only representative of the media. He made a stirring speech at the end, and
also wrote an entire piece as a farewell to me; something I shared on social
media now.
Obviously,
Shujaat’s willingness to engage with us was not to the liking of many, not
realising that what he was doing was for the interest of every Kashmiri.
Lately, there were allegations that he took a huge sum of money to run my
public relations programme which earned him the pleasure of dining with me at
an iftaar, the photograph of which is doing the rounds on
social media. In 2013, in one of my pieces that I wrote, I appreciated the work
of many Kashmiri friends and thanked them for their advice. Shujaat was
obviously one of them. He was quick to call me and chide me for putting him and
others in danger by mentioning positives about our interactions. I never wrote
about him again. We traveled together to Dubai in 2015 for a Track 2 conference
on Pakistan and later attended many seminars in Delhi and one in Mumbai. He had
now taken to being critical of my opinion that without commensurate military
domination, no outreach to the population could be achieved; this was
immediately after Burhan Wani’s killing. It took some convincing to get him to
understand that parallel soft power campaigns to restore the dignity of the
people are rarely possible unless the army was first fully in control. We
agreed that simultaneity was perhaps the answer.
Shujaat’s death
was an assassination and behind it were people who did not appreciate his
middle path approach which favoured talks with all. Perhaps they found him the
ideal target to convey the message that measures such as suspension of operations may not work in
the context of Jammu and Kashmir. However, Kashmir’s appreciation for a man who
was a true representative of the people’s interests will be best exhibited if a
thumbs down is shown to those who believe in the path of violence.
Rest in peace
Shujaat; you did your bit wonderfully and are going to be hugely missed by your
large following of friends and admirers.
The
author is a retired lieutenant general and former general officer commanding 15
and 21 Corps
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