Stone pelting on a school bus in Shopian has rightly aroused indignation in Kashmir. A child has been injured and the major parties along with separatists have been equally strident in protest. Questions arise about the justification of stone pelting as a mode of protest, especially on a school bus as it is a common occurrence in the valley. This is hardly the way to take on the Indian Armed forces who can answer stones with bullets. It is an unequal battle which even the protestors should know. Some tourists have also been injured in the last few days. The day after the school bus atrocity, stone pelters threw stones at vehicles to define the shutdown against the previous day’s killings of a civilian and militants in the same district. It may be recalled that even a journalist was found involved in stone pelting.
As a result of the attack on the school bus, there has been opposition to the amnesty announced in January by the Jammu & Kashmir Government to those who had been prosecuted for stone pelting. Some 4,000 individuals accused of stone pelting were covered by the amnesty over a period of 2008 to 2014. One hopes that the State Government will not abandon the scheme under pressure. That has been a positive step and should initiate a dialogue on stone pelting in Kashmir. It is only sensible to argue that violence in the State can be snuffed out only through dialogue. Kashmiri youth are getting increasingly involved in violence. Stone pelting is the least lethal expression of it. Both the Army and the protestors share the responsibility for killing and injuring civilians. The Centre alone can prevent the situation from flaring out of control.