By: Sameer Lone
Kashmir is once again hitting the global headlines and the reason is nothing different than what it was in the 1990’s or for that matter soon after the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947.
Since both India and Pakistan have achieved freedom and gracefully celebrate their respective Independence Days, I wish them peace and prosperity, but there is one roadblock that will never allow these two countries to prosper and compete with the developed world and that is Kashmir.
Yes, Kashmir is haunting them and will continue to haunt till Kashmiris aren’t given the choice to decide their fate. By fate here I mean holding the referendum promised by the very first prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Kashmir is neither India’s integral part nor Pakistan’s jugular vein. It is neither India’s internal matter nor Pakistan’s property. Kashmiris have their own identity. Kashmir was a nation with its unique identity when Pakistan even didn’t exist on the world map and India was not even India– it was Hindustan divided into Kingdoms mostly ruled by Mughals.
From the days of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Abdullah’s Plebiscite Front, which he later converted into National Conference (NC), to the present day Hurriyat Conference which is spearheaded by Syed Ali Geelani and enjoys full support from other top leaders especially Mirwaiz Umar Farooq of another Hurriyat faction and Yasin Malik of JKLF, who demands plebiscite or right-to-self-determination in Kashmir, one thing has changed in Kashmir, the time. Yes, the needles of the clock can’t be turned back as was rightly once said by former Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi, after signing an accord with Sheikh Abdullah, popularly known as Indira-Sheikh accord. Abdullah once a towering figure has now security forces guarding his grave. He is widely seen as a traitor who deceived Kashmiris for power.
Over the decades of ups and downs, Syed Ali Geelani a hardcore Pakistani supporter without any iota of doubt has emerged as the main face of the present day Kashmir Plebiscite or in other words a freedom movement?
He doesn’t want to become another Sheikh Abdullah of Kashmir. He is now in his late 80’s and surely not be pursuing for any political careers. One of his close aides, who have been with Geelani from over four decades now, says… “Geelani sahab always says that he doesn’t want to become another Sheikh Abdullah. I don’t want people take me out from my grave and then throw me into Dal-Lake,” his close aide quoted him saying once during a discussion.
Coming to the main topic when Kashmir is again on the boil with as many as 70 people killed and over 8000 injured, many among them have completely lost their eyesight with pellets fired ruthlessly by the government forces while controlling the pro-freedom protests, the government of India has sent an All Party Delegation (APD) led by Home Minister Rajnath Singh to Kashmir.
The APD has invited one and all for the talks, but the condition has been set-the talks will be under the Indian constitution. The message from BJP led government is clear “Ask for the moon but under Indian constitution”.
Since there have already been over 130 fruitless round of talks between India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri leadership. This fresh round of talks where the main stakeholder Pakistan-which controls a major portion of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, is missing won’t yield any results.
Also Hurriyat has already made it clear that there won’t be any talks under the Indian constitution, so the bone of contention continues as both the party’s GoI and Hurriyat have disagreed to agree on the basic problem.
By doing so, Hurriyat has not done wrong, because Kashmir is the unfinished agenda of the Indo-Pak partition. The Indian leadership should take a cue from history and act as statesmen rather than acting as mere party leaders that had Kashmir been India’s internal matter, then the erstwhile state of J&K wouldn’t have been divided into three parts controlled by three countries India-Pakistan and China.
Though, off late Pakistan has agreed to hold plebiscite in Kashmir, it is India’s rigid approach that has kept the pot boiling in Kashmir. Hurriyat’s rejection to meet the APD comes only after there have been no serious approaches from the government of India which continues to beat the bush about Kashmir.
A flashback post the 2008 Amarnath Land row, which was followed by massive uprising in 2010, the APD was deputed to Kashmir that even met the Hurriyat leadership then, but nothing concrete came out. Later the interlocutors report tasked by the then UPA government was trashed into the dustbin by the same government that selected them for the job. It was as fruitless as will turn out to the latest one.
Instead of holding plebiscite or engaging with the main stakeholders of Kashmir who are actually calling the shots on ground, Indian leadership is meeting and engaging with those religious clergies and Mohalla leaders’ who don’t even enjoy the support of their families.
Is it ignorance, arrogance or something else? The hard reality is neither Kashmiriyat, jamhooriyat, nor Insaniyat (which doesn’t exist anywhere) can solve the Kashmir issue. The solution lies in the United Nations resolutions.
(Author is a journalist based in Srinagar)