(December 1989 to November 1990)

The National Front did not have a majority of its own in the Lok Sabha after the 1989 elections. But it staked the claim to form the government and did so with the BJP and the Left parties offering to support it from the outside.

Vishwanath Pratap Singh was sworn in as India’s prime minister on December 2, 1989.

Rajiv Gandhi, as head of the Congress party, was leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Soon, after state legislative elections in March 1990, the governing coalition at the Centre achieved control of both houses of Parliament.

One of the first decisions taken by V.P. Singh was to recall the IPKF from Sri Lanka.

V.P. Singh was prime minister for less than a year but he faced major problems in that short period.

Kashmir Situation Worsens

In Kashmir, in December 1989, militants of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) kidnapped the daughter of

Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the Union home minister. The Centre capitulated to the demands of the JKLF and released jailed militants. Another prominent militant group, which was soon to side line the JKLF, was the Hizb-ul Mujahideen led by Syed Salauddin with more hard core ideas of turning the state into an Islamic regime. Salauddin, incidentally, had left mainstream politics after the rigged elections of 1987.

With armed attacks on banks and grenade attacks on police stations, the militants were becoming more defiant and daring. The Centre decided to take strong action and sent in forces to control the situation. The governor was changed and Jagmohan was appointed to the post.

A series of incidents turned many Kashmiris into supporting the militants. ‘Jihad’ became a prominent cry as religion became an important factor in the militants’ game. The Hindu minority suffered as a consequence: the Kashmiri Pandits, who formed an integral part of the Valley and shared a common culture with the Muslims in that state in almost every aspect except religion, became the target of brutal violence with many of them being killed by the militants. There was an exodus of Pandits from the Kashmir valley to Jammu and farther afield; they became refugees in their own land. Many of them still live in refugee camps and makeshift buildings, afraid to go back.