By Sudha Ramachandran
Stone-pelting, a popular form of protest across South Asia and in the Middle East, is at the center of heated debate in the Kashmir Valley.
A statement by the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) police and a fatwa against stone-throwing issued by Maulana Shaukat Ahmed Shah, the head of an influential religious organization in the valley, have triggered fierce debate over whether stone-throwing has the sanction of Islam or not.
The controversy comes at a time when militancy is on the decline in the valley. Over the past 10 months or so, mass demonstrations marked by stone throwing against the Indian security forces has become the norm, especially in J&K’s summer capital, Srinagar.
These protests usually erupt after Friday prayers, when youths - mainly teenagers - chant anti-India and pro-azadi (independence) slogans and march through the streets hurling stones at the security personnel deployed en route. The main battleground between youths and police is the volatile Nowhatta Chowk, where Srinagar’s main mosque, the Jamia Masjid, is located. This area alone is reported to have witnessed over 65 instances of stone-pelting by mobs in 2008 alone.
It might have been the Palestinians who made stone-pelting famous during their intifada, but it is Kashmiris who claim to have "perfected the skill", having used this form of protest for many decades. It is said that in the 1930s, when Kashmiris were fighting the autocratic rule of Maharaja Hari Singh, they expressed their anger by hurling stones.
Stone-pelting gained popularity again in the 1960s when supporters of the National Conference and those of the Awami Action Committee engaged in violent clashes that involved pelting stones at each other. The parties paid people to throw stones at their rivals.
A senior officer of the J&K police told Asia Times Online that some of those engaged in the stone-throwing today are "professional stone-throwers", ie they are paid to hurl stones at the security forces. While there is some truth in this, most of the stone-throwing seems to be "genuine".
Not surprisingly, the stone-pelting has the security forces in a bind. Used to dealing with Kalashnikov-carrying militants - J&K has been convulsed in violence and terrorism since the start of the uprising in 1989 - police and paramilitary personnel have been grappling with how to respond to teenagers hurling pebbles at them.
"The stones may be small but their impact is deadly. And these are not peaceful protests as they are made out to be," the J&K police officer said, drawing attention to the dilemma his personnel face. Cops have been firing bullets and tear gas shells at the stone-throwing mobs. It has earned them public condemnation.
This year, the police hit on an idea. They would draw on Islam, on Prophet Mohammed’s sayings to stop the stone-pelting.
Stone-pelting is "not only illegal and immoral, it is against the teachings of Islam as well", Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, Ahfad-ul-Mujtaba said. "The Prophet has prohibited the throwing of stones," he added, citing Book 21, Number 4808 of the hadith - the Prophet’s sayings.
Indeed, according to the hadith, the Prophet "disliked and prohibited throwing of pebbles" as "it does not catch the game nor does it inflict defeat on the enemy but breaks a tooth or gouges out an eye".
However, "the Koran says nothing about pelting stones as a form of protest", A Faizur Rahman, a Chennai-based peace activist and student of comparative study of religions, told Asia Times Online. At the same time, it "does not encourage people to take the law in their hands. As such any violent protest is un-Islamic. However, any democratic protest which does not inconvenience the public is allowed."
Not surprisingly, the reference to the Koran to de-legitimize stone-throwing has triggered a flurry of statements supporting or criticizing the interpretation. Interestingly, a section of the Hurriyat Conference, a conglomerate of pro-Pakistan and pro-independence organizations, have come out in support of the police.
Among them is Shah, the head of the Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadees, who issued the fatwa. "Stone-pelting cannot be justified," he said. "It is un-Islamic."
A senior leader of the Hurriyat Conference and president of Anjuman-e-Sharie Shian, Agha Syed Hassan al-Mosavi, has said that stone-pelting "defiles the spirit of Islam". "There are other ways to show anger - through chanting slogans and peaceful protests," he said. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the chief priest of Kashmir and chairman of the Hurriyat’s moderate faction too has called on the public to refrain from stone-pelting.
But there are powerful sections that are in favor of the stone-throwing. Among them is Syed Ali Shah Geelani, a leader of the Hurriyat’s hardline faction who has justified it on the grounds that the Kashmiris are fighting "Indian occupation" and that they "throw stones [on security forces] when they are showered with bullets".
His views have been echoed by the Hizbul Mujahideen, Kashmir’s largest militant group. "Stone-pelting is forbidden in Islam when stones are hurled on a powerless or innocent person," said Ahsan Illahi, the Hizbul spokesman.
"When police and paramilitary personnel resort to [firing bullets and tear gas shells] on peaceful protestors, the latter are justified in pelting stones at the cops."
So, has the tactic of putting stone-pelting to the test of religious legitimacy worked for the Srinagar police? The stone-pelting continues and the streets of downtown Srinagar remain strewn with stones.
However, the police are not giving up. "We are fed up with these stone pelters," the police officer said, stressing that the police force is determined to root out the problem from Srinagar.
According to a report in Rising Kashmir, an English daily from Srinagar, the police are trying a carrot and stick approach. After identifying the stone-throwers by examining video footage of the protests, "professional stone-pelters" are taken into custody while the "new faces" are let off. And efforts are on to draw the "new faces" away from the stone-pelting activity. These include giving them preference for job opportunities in the police force.
The government is also considering providing the police with special training in mob control. It hopes this will reduce the inclination of the police to use bullets and tear gas to stop the stone-pelting.
While Kashmiris debate whether stone-pelting has religious sanction in blogs and at seminars and public meetings, the impact of this strategy is beginning to severely pinch ordinary people. The stone-pelting forces them to shut down their shops, affecting their livelihood.
At the same time, they recognize the political roots of the pelting. As one Srinagar-based lawyer put it, "It has its roots in frustration - frustration with unemployment, violence, the heavy presence of India troops. It has to do with anger with Indian reluctance to deal with the grievances of the Kashmiris." The stone-throwing will stop, he says, when the Kashmiris are free of India and Pakistan.
As Rahman points out, the "only way of stopping the protests is to ensure that justice is done to all".
No comments:
Post a Comment