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Mohammad Sayeed Malik
(from kashmirtimes)
Trapped between political disconnect between Delhi and Srinagar on the one hand and suffocating homeground-hostility on the other, mainstream political parties in Kashmir Valley are getting squeezed into a tight corner. The ‘nationalist’ portion of their agenda is already a casualty in the face of a radical shift in the local discourse. The setting is such that even mere talk of (assembly) elections sounds grossly incongruent, if not blasphemous. One has yet to find anyone willing to stand up and be counted unambiguously. It has never been so hazardous for them; not even in the run-up to the 1996 polls when militancy was at its peak. Obviously, collective sense of emotional hurt, fuelled by brazenly militaristic response to largely peaceful upsurge of protest, is politically more lethal than the fear of gun. Mainstream politics has been totally immobilised along with its ideological agenda although every Tom, Dick and Harry in that category is protected by hordes of state-provided gun-men. ‘Protected’ species is feeling like the most endangered species. Main reason being that Delhi’s inexplicable non-political attitude, smeared by perceived sectarian double standard in dealing with identical situations, is catalysing an over-powering social cohesion that is incompatible with mainstream politics.
Confused and confusing utterances of some of the mainstream ‘stars’ relating to topical issues, as also their body language, is quite revealing. It depicts the trajectory of conversion from an ‘Indian-Kashmiri’ to ‘Kashmiri-Indian’ and down to ‘Kashmiri’. Though vastly different in size, reach and stature, National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, two main propellers of the mainstream politics in the Valley, more or less equally symbolise the predicament of surviving a hostile homeground. Their style of functioning is so cramped that it is difficult to determine their respective bearings in relation to key issues like elections and the prevailing ground situation. Positions keep changing, depending on time and space. Unfortunately for them both, times are getting worse, not better, and space is shrinking too, thanks to Delhi’s militaristic attitude.
This aspect of Delhi’s attitude is somewhat puzzling. Deliberately provocative conduct of the CRPF in dealing with the situation in the Valley suggests that there is method in the madness. Hospital sources confirmed that about 90 per cent of causalities were found with bullet wounds in and above abdomen, implying ‘shoot-to-kill’ orders. The ‘free hand’ given to paramilitary forces includes licence to vandalise private property, desecrate places of worship and humiliating local population. If the objective was to force ‘anti-national’ protestors into submission, the result is just the opposite. It is the ‘nationalist’ mainstream political camp which is feeling the squeeze.
With each passing day the resemblance between their body language and that of the ‘anti-national’ lobby is growing. Perhaps no one in Delhi is interested today in calculating the political cost of such adventurism which might have found some justification vis-a-vis armed insurgency. The ground situation in the Valley has changed qualitatively but Delhi’s response seems stuck in old grooves. Separatists cannot thank ‘India’ more for such a precious gift. Conversely, a right thinking ‘nationalist’ cannot curse them more for being denuded and left high and dry at a time when they were going great guns for the elections. That, however, is history now.It would be no surprise if, in the present adventurist mode, Delhi feels tempted to taking the suicidal course of holding assembly elections. The last two or three months have virtually laid out a graveyard for electoral politics.
It would be interesting to see how Delhi, which in Kashmir is synonymous with ‘India’, demolishes the fragile political assets it had painstakingly created over the past decade or so. Restoring partial credibility of electoral system with a respectable level of popular participation was one such asset. The difference between perception of what it was like way back in 1996 when assembly polls were held after a long pause and what it is today 2008 is that between the impact of non-state terrorism then and state terrorism now. Harsh analogy! But an unavoidable honest depiction.
‘Time to end armed struggle’
(from greaterkashmir.com)
Islamabad, Jan 20: All Parties Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has called for giving up armed struggle to pave the way for fruitful negotiations for a lasting settlement of the Kashmir dispute.
The Mirwaiz, who along with other senior leaders of the APHC, is on a visit to Pakistan, stated this after a series of meetings in Islamabad, including crucial talks with President General Pervez Musharraf.
Speaking at a dinner meeting with Pakistan-administered Kashmir Prime Minister Sardar Attique on Friday, the APHC leader said peaceful negotiations were the only way out. “We have already seen the results of our fight on the political, diplomatic and military fronts which have not achieved anything other than creating more graveyards.”
The Mirwaiz said some people involved in the struggle could still have some reservations, but as far as the APHC was concerned, “we are not prepared to sacrifice any more of our loved ones.” He said with their new strategy they would convince India to arrive at a more agreeable settlement.
Earlier in the day, the APHC leaders held a detailed meeting with President General Pervez Musharraf, which was part of what is being described as a fresh effort to push forward the three-year-old peace process between Pakistan and India.
The meeting attained a lot of significance because soon after their arrival in Pakistan, the APHC leaders had declared that their separatist organisation and the majority of Kashmiris living on the Indian side of the divide supported President Musharraf’s four-point settlement formula for Kashmir.
The meeting largely focused on President Musharraf’s proposals which include self-governance, demilitarisation and joint control of the disputed territory.
Conscious of the expected opposition to such a settlement from hardline groups, President Musharraf called for discouraging elements hostile to the peace process.
Earlier, in a meeting breakfast with the APHC leaders, PML chief Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said: “Time has come for a bold decision, even if it is an unpopular one.” He said that at this crucial moment in history there was no time to remain bogged down in a debate on the UN resolutions.
“Resolution or no resolution, now all sides need to consider what was in the best interest of the Kashmiri people, and then push for a settlement of the dispute,” the PML leader added.
APHC leader Abdul Ghani Bhatt on the occasion said that there was little room to include the Kashmiris in the negotiations between India and Pakistan. “These talks are taking place between two the sovereign states, and ours is just a disputed territory,” Bhat said.
“So, instead of creating problems, we think our purpose is solved by separately holding negotiations with both India and Pakistan,” he said. However, Bhatt was quick to clarify that these were his personal views, and not those of the APHC.
The Mirwaiz said there were many groups and parties in Kashmir, but it was the APHC which truly represented the aspirations of the people of Kashmir.
He said since President Musharraf publicly presented his proposals for a lasting settlement, the majority of the people in Jammu and Kashmir had accepted them as the best possible solution, adding that now it was time for India to match its efforts to move the peace process forward.
The APHC leaders also had a series of meetings with the Indian side, but their scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was postponed.
Copyright and courtesy of Greater Kashmir. com [link]
Copyright concern? email: media.kashmir [at] gmail.com
Tags: Azad Kashmir, Freedom Struggle, Hurriyat, India, Kashmir, Militants, Mirwaiz, News, Pakistan
‘When GoI Could Push The Most Popular And Towering Kashmiri Politician Like Sheikh Abdullah To The Wall, Then What Is The Worth Of Hurriyat (M)’
Tariq Naqash
(from greaterkashmir.com)
Muzaffarabad, Jan 20: An alliance of Kashmiri militant groups has rejected the call of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to give up armed struggle to pave the way for fruitful negotiations for a lasting settlement of Kashmir issue.
The militant leaders have been shocked by the baseless and uncalled for statement of Mirwaiz and his colleagues who are ignorant of the background and realities of Kashmir issue,” said a spokesman for the United Jihad Council (UJC) in a statement here on Saturday.
“The statement of Mirwaiz may please some Western circles and Indian leaders, but it cannot change the ground realities,” he added.
The militant leaders, he said, had made it clear time and again that only a “strongly coordinated state-wide” armed struggle, enjoying the patronage of sincere, robust and representative (political) leadership, could take the freedom movement to its logical end.
“A freedom movement can weaken due to any temporary defeat, it can also grow longer than the anticipated time but it can never die down unless the freedom seekers surrender themselves before the tyrants out of spinelessness,” the spokesman said.
He also rejected the reported statement of Mirwaiz that UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir had become redundant and said people saying such things appeared to have forgotten the fact that these resolutions made Pakistan a party to the Kashmir dispute.
“The people who make mock of the issue’s recognised status as well as the sacrifices of Kashmiris have no right to take any decision or give suggestions on Kashmir…”
The spokesman recalled that the people of Kashmir had taken up arms against their will after failure of their peaceful political and diplomatic struggle spanning over 42 years.
During the ongoing armed struggle and prior to that, he said, “nearly 475,000 people laid down their lives for the noble cause of freedom while material losses worth billions of rupees and other inhuman atrocities unleashed by the occupying forces are in addition to that.”
“These unmatched sacrifices were not offered for self rule, internal autonomy or for that matter for an irrelevant ceasefire line (Line of Control) but for the Kashmiris’ internationally acknowledged and inalienable right to self determination,” he said, adding, “those who have turned a blind eye towards these sacrifices and are showing signs of retreat have no right to lead the nation.”
“If Mirwaiz and other leaders of his like have become tired, disenchanted or hopeless about the future of freedom struggle due to adverse circumstances, we suggest them to sit back in their homes to lead a life of comfort. But they should not teach the lesson of cowardice and hopelessness to the caravan of freedom seekers,” he said.
The spokesman said the people of Kashmir had proved by observing a state-wide strike on Jan 17 that they could not back out from their sacred mission and that they were instead prepared to shed the last drop of their blood to achieve this goal.
He said Mirwaiz knew well that he could not secure release of even two detainees from New Delhi during the several rounds of talks with Indian leaders while showing unilateral flexibility and deviation from the traditional stand of Kashmiris.
“When the Indian government mercilessly could push the most popular and towering Kashmiri politician like Sheikh Abdullah to the wall, then what is the worth of this group of people who have conflicting views and interest,” he said of the moderate leaders.
The militant leaders, according to the spokesman, had expressed serious desire that all ‘sincere political leaders’ should unite to achieve the Kashmiris’ right to self determination because friction and differences among them had caused irreparable losses to the freedom movement.
“Still there is time for political leaders to rise above their personal and organisational egos and interests and launch joint struggle for right to self determination and freedom. Otherwise there will be no space for them in the chapters of history.”
Copyright and courtesy of Greater Kashmir. com [link]
Copyright concern? email: media.kashmir [at] gmail.com
Tags: Azad Kashmir, Freedom Struggle, Hurriyat, India, Kashmir, Militants, Mirwaiz, News, Pakistan
