Kashmir’s split image spells its own set of problems

Arun Joshi At this point in time when  Kashmir is being viewed through diametrically opposite lenses – one showing the Valley rattled by the targeted killings by terrorists and minorities pressing for their evacuation from this  “ dangerous place” , the other showcasing one after another success of the security forces in gunbattles , in which terrorists get neutralized. Till this date, police claims 99 militants have been killed this year .  But search for peace in Kashmir is still work in progress.
This split image of Kashmir is because of  security-oriented approach dominating other means needed to embrace the local population and make it a stakeholder in permanent calm.
As the truth lies in between what the two kinds of lenses reflect. The Valley is not as dangerous place as the optics depict because this phase of targeted killings is neither new nor will it last for long. This is experience drawn from the past episodes of targeted and other killings.
It is nowhere close to the situation in 1990s, and the narrative that it is worse than 1990s is misnomer and greatly exaggerated by the fear -mongers . And also is a fact that terrorism is there, and that is explained by the recurring encounters in which terrorists are killed – some of them are hardened lot with years of gun wilding experience , others are as new as week-old, and few others are foreigners, mostly Pakistanis.
Gun for gun, which often is phrased as a “ bullet for bullet” policy has very limited scope  in the very nature of the means of seeking peace. It does instill fear among the aspiring militants, but at the same time it triggers a cycle of its own . last year more than  200 militants were killed, and this year it is already 100  even as 2022 is yet to reach its half-way mark.
This is inherent in a place where there are rival versions of history and present day incidents. The accumulation of facts, when injected with the aspired goals, loses relevance and the real issues cannot be papered  over.