Rehabilitation of Militants-III : Return and rehabilitation of the misguided youth to National fold By Daya Sagar

A Look through the mist

Rehabilitation of Militants-III : Return and rehabilitation of the misguided youth  to National fold

By * Daya Sagar

( * Daya Sagar is a Sr coloumnist of Kashmir affairs and a social activist  dayasagr45@yahoo.com) ' 

http://www.alookthroughthemist.blogspot.com/

General Amnesty to those who wage war against a Nation  (country) is not so simple a  “gesture” as it may be seen by many. Waging  a war against a Government  by its own people could  be (category i)  a movement  to change the government in place or the system of governance  without out questioning  the  nationality of those in the government, (category ii)  or could be a movement to change the government  in place or the system of governance  by questioning the Nationality of the Government and those in the Government . Where no questions on the nationality are involved the solution could be simple. The  cases initiated against the agitators could  be withdrawn , local governance systems could be modified , localized preferential  programmes could be drawn  and those who took the law in their hands could be  taken in the mainstream. 


But where the challenges to Nationalities are thrown, the general amnesty does not simply rest in material rehabilitation. Where the terrorists / militants / insurgents  from the main lands had been involved  in activities challenging the Nationality  of the government in place , the job of general amnesty is not that simple. The insurgents  who express desires for returning to mainstream out of their having realized  the truth being otherwise  have to be tested before granting amnesty. A process has to be also simultaneously  initiated for their ideological  reconstruction. The ideological reconstruction requires hard work at the level of the government. 

The  programme drawn out by Omar Abdullah lead J&K Government  with the approval of GOI   (for accepting the Kashmir youth from across LOC who  have expressed  desires to shed arms & separatist ideologies ) falls in the category (ii). The draft of the action plan being prepared by State government for submission to GOI will have to time tested. 

Its success will depend more on 

(i) how Government of Pakistan (POK)  accepts officially the programme for the return from across the LOC / international 

(ii) how the identification of Kashmiri  youth in POK is done 

(iii) by whom and how will the certification of intentions  of repentant  youth be done 

(iv) what  programme is drawn to involve the social organizations / community leaders to undo the propaganda of the anti India elements and 

(v) the cadres of political parties , the academicians and the intelligentsia work on ground to defeat separatist ideologists ideologies  so that the inland misinformed and misguided youth too are  ideologically rehabilitated.

Kashmir like approach need be adopted in other parts of India too. In case such like demands come from other State governments also, it should be welcomed by Government of India.  Rather GOI must come out with a Department or Commission  to be installed in place for such work. The challenges of both category (i) and Category (ii) could be sensed in other  areas also. Athough majority of the suffering Indian States suffer from challenges of category (i) only. But if not taken seriously  the enemies of India  can easily turn the local socio economic resentments to  anti India (separatist) movements . The separatist movements may not appear succeeding immediately but would cost heavily on the peace and development of the people of the rural backward Indian people.

Indian State of Punjab has been the worst victim of the Separatist like movement in 1970s and 1980s. There have been instances  where the separatist drafts promoted during 1947 days  were  attempted for cultivation.  Designs did not succeed. But some  seeds and grafts are still dormant . At occasions  the leadership has attempted to agitate the Sikh sentiments. The operation blue star  and the 1984 riots  after Indira Gandhi was shot at have been used all these years by some to arouse the sentiments of Sikhs.




The memories of the Punjab terrorism have again been made live by the Sikh leaders  after GOI expressed agreement with J&K Chief Minister for granting amnesty to Kashmiri militant youth who may wish to return from POK. Demands have been made that similar approach should be adopted towards Sikh youth too. The Home Minister P. Chidambram should have immediately nodded to the suggestion but he did not. No time should be lost  by GOI for extending similar offer to Sikh youth aswell . Any delay will  provide more opportunities to the politicians for exploiting the innocent.

It was on 18th February that the  Punjab Chief Minster Parkash Singh Badal had said that  Government of India  must have one national policy on one issue . Badal  welcomed the Kashmir initiative as positive and demanded  that the same be widened to include other similar cases like that of  the Sikh youth. Union Home Minister  P. Chidambaram had earlier  had ruled out the possibility of allowing the affected Sikh youth to return to the country in the same manner as the Kashmiri youth would be. 

The Punjab Chief Minister  also disclosed that state  government had prepared a list of wanted Sikh Youth settled  abroad   and had  many a times asked the Union Government to review the lists  for amnesty.  As per Mr. Badal  the Sikh youth who  had to leave the country under some kind of duress, repression or implication in false cases should also be considered for a similar opportunity ( amnesty ). The observation made  by Parkash  Singh Badal has laid serious accusation on the government of State and Union for having falsely implicated the youth in anti India activities. The way Badal has accused the Government for false implication of some youth would rather add to more doubts in the mind of Sikh youth about the Intentions of Union of India.  


Mr. Badal should immediately make public  list of such falsely implicated youth and those Sikh youth who want to return to Indian main stream shedding the demands like that of Khalistan. Similarly SAD President / Dy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal claimed that is a large number of Sikh youth who had nothing to do with militancy but who had to flee the state because of police repression prevalent in the state at that time and many Sikh youths had taken  political asylum in foreign countries including Pakistan in 1970s and 1080s. Any how one may ask that why did Sukhbir Singh Badal or Prakash Singh Badal raise this issue only after Omar Abdullah made some suggestions on February 7? .

Mr. Badal  did refer the demand of his party during his meeting with the Union Home Minister P Chidambaram while he was at Amritsar on February 20. Earlier on Februaray13 Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh too emphasized that the list of black listed Sikhs should be reviewed ( as per Mr. Singh there are nearly 200 innocent Sikhs who have been branded as black-listed merely for expressing the truth before visiting Indian leaders in foreign countries and now they want to return to main stream ). The Jathedar  has advised such  individuals for sending their representations  mentioning  the issues, resentments and problems to the Akal Takht . SGPC must prioritize this issue and provide the documents to Punjab Government. Since the suggestion has come from the  highest temporal seat of Sikhs both center and state should address to the issue with commitment. Amrinder Singh Ex Punjab CM has accused  that GOI is extending rehabilitation offer to those who are still  engaged in militancy  in J&K where it has shown reluctance for extending such offer to those  ex Sikh insurgents who have since  shunned arms long back (a list of 50 odd  youth from Canada duly cleared by the  High Commission was  carried  back home  when he was CM and he had taken up with Ministry of external affairs ). 

SGPC Chief Avtar Singh Makkar  too has said that 100 such Sikhs had approached Akal Takht who had been  denied the chance to visit their home although  they have no criminal cases against them. As per Makkar the  entire community  ( Sikh) was angry about Operation Bluestar and many of them  had held public protests ( Why should such reactions  be held a charge against them , he has asked ).Punjab remained militancy  affected for over 15 years . Many Sikhs were put on an ‘adverse list’ (‘black list’) . No doubt some Indian Kashmiri and some Indian Sikh youth  had taken to militant ideology for waging war against India had taken asylum abroad . 

And now when some of them have realized their folly (as claimed by Omar Abdullah and Badals) and want to return to their home , there lies no logic in being selective for extending amnesty to only Kashmiri youth, and not to the Sikh youth. BJP  Amritsar MP  Navjot Sidhu has named it a   discrimination with the people on the basis of their  state  and religion. So no opportunity should be given to any one to allege that Government of India is adopting discriminatory attitude against Sikhs.  No doubt there has to be a serious, workable and reformist action plan for careful identification of the beneficiaries of the general amnesty. Union government  must not waste more  time in taking decision in this regard. No doubt law has to take its own course . Those who were involved in heinous acts of crime, could also  be tried in the court of law and the rest should be given soft  home coming. ( * Daya Sagar is a Sr coloumnist of Kashmir affairs and a social activist  dayasagr45@yahoo.com)