Kashmir:
The campaign in its current form has been on for about 27 years. With so much sorrow and loss with so much heartbreak and anguish, what have we, the fighters for Kashmiriyat, given our people except endless pain? It is time to sit back and think whether we were right in our quest or were we wrong and misguided by our friends and leaders. After years of the sorrow of Pathrabal, Barakpora massacres and the Machhil episode and many others, and the ugly incidents of 2010 what have we achieved? So what can we achieve, except more losses and sorrow? What do we tell the widows, the sisters the mothers and fathers about what has happened to their sons, husbands and brothers.
What are our goals now? Are we clear about them? Are they attainable? Is the present strategy working? Will we get anything from the government in New Delhi that is different from what other states get? Is it wise to depend on help from a country whose reputation is mud internationally as a sponsor of terrorism and who misleads allies and friends? And who in any case is not interested in providing a solution to the problem but only in prolonging it for its own interests. Just look at the way it treats others like the Baloch, Gilgitis and Balitstanis and Shias? That is not the way Kashmiris have traditionally treated others. And the manner in which we treated Kashmiri Pandits is a matter of great shame and regret. This aspect alone has hurt our cause more than anything else.
Lashkar-e -Toiba is not fighting for the liberation of Kashmir, it is fighting for the establishment of a Caliphate not only in Kashmir but in other parts of India. The result is that not only will the Government of India not allow this to happen, nor will the the people, including those who might have sympathised with our demands, and this includes all Muslims in the rest of India. This kind of extremism accompanied by ruthless violence has hurt the Kashmiri and their cause more than anything else.
New Delhi always interfered in Srinagar politics and Indira Gandhi's overthrow of the Farooq Abdullah government in 1984 was the last straw. Our troubles erupted in 1987 when in disgust at the unabashed rigging in the elections, candidate Yusuf Shah became insurgent Salahuddin and his party became HIzbul Mujahedeen in revolt against both Srinagar and New Delhi. They crossed over to take shelter and assistance from a Pakistan eager to fish in troubled waters.
The 1989 Rubbaya Syed kidnapping incident and the manner in which New Delhi succumbed gave an impetus to the struggle. The mild mannered Kashmiris murdered Mirwaiz Farooq in 1990 and both the assassin and the victim lie in the same grave yard - martyrs to their own causes. Mast Gul burnt down the Charar-e-Sharif shrine that damaged Kashmiriyat further.
Selfish and frightened Congress or National Conference politicians seeking to protect their support bases failed to stand up to the young insurgents and took us for a ride and played politics with our children. The Hurriyat was supposed to be our leaders in 1993 who would take us to the fulfillment of our dreams. They too lost their way sponsored as they were by the Pakistanis and the American led by that woman Robin Raphel who had her own scores to settle with New Delhi.
Eventually and sadly for the Kashmiris many of the Hurriyat leaders were soon on the payroll of the Pakistanis and following orders from Pakistan. They changed the character of the movement and Kashmiri fighters were replaced by Punjabi fighters considered more loyal and better fighters. They came under different labels as it suited Pakistanis, they killed more Kashmiris than the Indian police and army did.
It is better to fight within the system, using the instruments provided and not by opposing the system. The state is far too strong and has repeatedly shown the ability to stand up to any unconventional pressures that we seek to use. There are far greater chances that what we consider abominable laws like AFSPA will fade away once we have a government elected by the majority of people.
Taking Pakistan's help has made our issue a hostage to India Pakistan relations. Recent pronouncements by former President General Musharraf that Pakistan should incite Kashmiris in India to revolt and the Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz's assertion that Pakistan would not act against all terrorists will damage the Kashmiri cause even further.
A Sunni Wahabbi Caliphate is not what Kashmiris were fighting for. And once the Pakistanis sidelined Kashmiri freedom fighters like the JKLf and later the HM and replaced them with HuM, HuA, LeT and JeM, it was clear that the Pakistani agenda was totally different from the Kashmiri agenda. Pakistan had referred to its rivalry with India not only in terms of nationalism but in Muslim-Hindu terms. This sadly got reflected in our struggle and we lost sympathy not only of Hindus but never had much sympathy from the Muslims of the country. While we may talk of our demands we need to remember that the 1.2 billion Indians in the rest of the country will not allow another partition.
If Canada and Great Britain will not accept that Quebec and Scotland should become autonomous, how can India accept a small portion of their country get similar arrangements?
Besides we must look around to see how others have dealt with separatist movements. The Sri Lankan government smashed the LTTE when it decided "enough was enough" and no-one intervened. Even the Maoists in Nepal have come over ground and is now participating in the constitution making process. The liberation movement in Bangladesh succeeded because the Indian army intervened. Pakistan has tried to intervene militarily in 1947, 1965, and 1999, and even in 2008, which was war by other means but the Indian state has not budged. So, let us get real and make plans for finding solutions and salvation by other means and to the extent possible. Let us save lives and spare next generations of endless trauma. Let us not spill any more innocent blood.
The views expressed in the above article are that of Mr Gulam Rasool.
