The Daily Fix: Where was the political leadership for four days, when violence raged in Kashmir?

The Big Story: Missing in Kashmir

After four days of death and protest in the Kashmir Valley, the political leadership at the Centre and the state addressed the public on Tuesday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi appealed for calm and, as an aside, complained about media coverage that turned slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani into a "hero". Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti blamed "vested interests" for fomenting trouble in the Valley, asked people not to send their children out to protest and said the police would be made answerable for excessive force. It may be four days too late.

After Wani was killed in an encounter with armed forces in South Kashmir on Friday, people poured into the streets in grief and anger. Thousands attended his funeral in Tral and crowds broke into anti-India, pro-azadi slogans. The administration responded with curfews and bullets, killing over 30 civilians and maiming a large number with pellet guns. Meanwhile, Modi made speeches from Africa and the Centre turned on Pakistan for criticising the state response. The Mufti administration remained locked in meetings, largely refusing to speak to the media, let alone the public. For four days, the only state that people in Kashmir knew was one that rained down violence and clamped down on their right to express themselves.

Even now, the political response seems grossly inadequate. Mufti's assurance of action against errant members of the security forces sounds hollow after so many previous instances in the Valley have gone unpunished. The prime minister appealed for peace as though it would magically appear, independent of anything the government did or the people felt. And, in what is becoming a familiar pattern, he reserved his unhappiness for the way the media covered the episode. No sign of contrition for the lives lost.

The government's chosen policy of rushing in security forces to firefight a crisis and then mouthing platitudes about good governance when things are calmer has shown its shortcomings. It did not work after the protests of 2008 or 2010 and it is not likely to work now. Back then, calm was restored through force and a strain of the protest that was driven underground mutated into militancy. In Kashmir, there is already widespread disillusionment about mainstream politics and the possibilities it offers. It is not helped by a political leadership that refuses to communicate with the public and engage with the issues that trouble them.

The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's big story
Rayan Naqash visits Tral the day after Burhan Wani's death.
Ipsita Chakravarty and Rayan Naqash report on the new militancy in South Kashmir and the anger against Mehbooba Mufti's state government.

Political pickings
1. The Bharatiya Janata Party appears jittery about Nitish Kumar's planned visit to poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. It alleged that the Janata Dal (United) leader was going at the behest of the Congress.
2. Former actor Raj Babbar will now be playing the role of Congress chief in UP.
3. A week after the cabinet expansion, Najma Heptullah quits as minority affairs minister to make way for Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Punditry
1. In the Indian Express, Pratap Bhanu Mehta on how the Kashmir protests shatter the illusion that cross-border intervention foments all disaffection in the Valley.
2. In the Hindu, K Kannan explains why this is not the moment to bring in the Uniform Civil Code.
3. Also in the Hindu, Radha Kumar urges Modi and Mufti to demonstrate that they are in sync with the bereaved in Kashmir and understand the anger there.

Don't Miss...
Devjyot Ghoshal on the boat clinics that are the only source of healthcare for people living on the chars or sandbars of the Brahmaputra:

Over three million people, or about 10% of Assam’s total population, live on these saporis, which are ceaselessly manufactured, reshaped and destroyed by the powerful waters of the Brahmaputra. Typically connected to the large towns and cities on the banks by a few regular ferries and ramshackle country boats, their isolation means that most are devoid of electricity, clean drinking water and schools.

The lack of basic healthcare is a recurring nightmare. In a country where the availability of doctors is 0.7 per 1,000 persons, less than even South Africa (0.8) or Brazil (1.9), the crisis of healthcare in Assam’s saporis is extraordinary.

On these riverine islands, there are almost no permanent health centres. The scattered populations spread across remote saporis, the impermanence of their land mass, and the general reluctance of doctors to serve in such difficult conditions render such establishments nearly impossible.