Arrest of Davinder Singh

When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi revoked the special status of occupied Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and imposed an open-ended lockdown, he did not trust the local predominantly Muslim police force to do his bidding. At the time, AP news agency had reported that the Kashmiri police officers were sidelined, in some cases disarmed by the authorities in New Delhi, leading to officers feeling spiritless for being caught between the federal security forces to whom they now reported and the friends and neighbours who questioned their loyalties like never before. Those interviewed also mentioned some incidents of fights breaking out between the state police and soldiers, resulting in injuries on both sides. If the Modi government thought it could rely on its 'own' it has now received a big jolt. Jammu and Kashmir police chief Vijay Kumar announced on Sunday the arrest of a senior police officer, Davinder Singh, for escorting two freedom fighters, a local leader of Hizbul Mujahedeen and a Lashkar-e-Taiba activist. According to Kumar, in the follow-up action security forces recovered guns and ammunition from several locations, including from Singh's residence in Srinagar. Soon afterwards, the police killed three alleged freedom fighters in Tral district, where the arrested fighters came from. The arrested officer, he said, would be treated and investigated as a terrorist.

Singh, who belongs to the Sikh faith, has been the recipient of President's Medal for his role in elite counter-insurgency forces in the occupied J&K. It is hard to comprehend what made him to sympathize with the freedom fighters unless it has something to do with what happened to his own people back in 2000. It may be recalled that on the night before the then US president Bill Clinton was to arrive in India, 36 Sikhs were massacred in a village 40 miles south of Srinagar. The atrocity was widely seen as an attempt by the then BJP government to show to the US president that the freedom fighters were terrorists. The then BJP prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had described the carnage as part of a pattern of ethnic cleansing that he said "had been under way for decades" aimed at driving non-Muslims out of Kashmir. Clinton though was cautious in attributing blame. While condemning the carnage as a "horrible development", he said, "we have to fist know who did it." It would not be surprising if, like most others, Davinder Singh also believes it was the handiwork of Indian agencies.

At first, the Indian PM did not trust Muslim police officers; he will now be suspecting the Sikhs. Isolating them would create more problems than solve any. His government is fighting a losing battle. Its recent attempt to prove to the international community that things were under control by organising a guided tour of the region has badly failed. Shortly before embarking on a visit to New Delhi, US Under-Secretary of State, Alice Wells, wrote on Twitter, "Closely following US ambassador to India and other foreign diplomats' recent trip to Jammu & Kashmir. We remain concerned by detentions of political leaders and residents, and internet restrictions." She added: "We look forward to a return to normalcy." The US needs to play a more effective role in resolving the situation by nudging the Delhi government towards a meaningful dialogue with the Kashmiri leadership as well as Pakistan, as suggested by several prominent Indian politicians and opinion leaders.