Protests have been an integral and necessary part of any freedom movement in history. Same holds true for Kashmir’s freedom movement (locally called tehreek) too. Kashmir’s struggle for self-determination and fight against exploitation, oppression and occupation began long before India’s independence in 1931 when they protested against the tyrannical Dorga rule resulting in martyrdom of 21 Kashmiri protestors on 13th July 1931. The struggle continued after the partition of India in 1947 when India and Pakistan occupied the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir by military force, without taking into account the aspirations of its people. Owing to the inherent peaceful nature of Kashmiris, the forms of protests remained completely non-violent until 1989 when Kashmiris got forced to pick up the arms to make their demands heard. This was when all other democratic voices were brutally choked and crushed. The armed struggle remained intense for almost a decade in the valley but eventually witnessed a sharp decline.
After having witnessed this period of bloodshed, most Kashmiris realized and now strongly believe that, the gun, although had a role in highlighting the Kashmir dispute, is not the solution. It is only through a sincere, all inclusive and time bound dialogue that the issue can be resolved. Consequently, from early 90’s till now, there has been a huge shift in the resistance tactics adopted by Kashmiris, especially the youth, from gun to non-violent protests. They now believe that their laptop is more powerful than AK47.
However, the pro-freedom leadership of Kashmir has failed to come up with effective ways of non-violent protests. For these leaders the only form of protest is a hartal (complete shutdown), so much so that the hartals have become synonymous to protests in Kashmir. Moreover, these hartal calls are usually given only when somebody is killed by Indian forces or the state police, or when there arises some major political issue .For example, the agitation in 2008 against Amarnath land row and in 2010 against killings. There is a huge paradox here, “the hartal paradox”. The real purpose of hartal gets lost. Are our hartals meant only to protest the human rights violations or is it the illegal occupation itself that we were supposed to protest against in the first place? Why do we demand Azadi only when somebody gets killed or raped? Why are hartal calls taken seriously only when people are sentimentally charged?
If human rights violation is the only issue, then maybe we should address that exclusively. But if it is Kashmir’s Azadi, then what is needed is not impulsive event triggered self-harming 24×7 protest which is followed by curfew and crackdown on mobile networks/ media/ internet/ TV by the State to break the will of people. As we learn from recent past, such protests suddenly end after a short duration with no benefits. We instead require a sustained protest campaign, may be for only few minutes a day, but spread over the whole year. We need to make protest an integral part of our daily life, while we continue to normally carry on with other activities. It should not be a choice between protesting and living a normal life. It is time that we Kashmiris learn to integrate the two. This would require that we bring innovation and diversity into our methods of protest to make them effective and yet least self-harming.
Target and scope of protests
The purpose of our protests should be mainly the following (a) Highlighting the Kashmir dispute at national and international levels and urging all relevant individuals /organizations (especially UN), to mediate and press for settling the dispute in a time bound manner. (b) Pressurizing India and Pakistan for settling the dispute by meaningful dialogue (c) Inclusion of all the stake holders of J&K in the dialog process (d) to revive and keep alive the sentiment of Azadi (e) to protest against economic exploitation and human rights violation. Practically speaking, given the arrogance and rigid approach of India and Pakistan at present, we should not expect overnight miracles from our protests. However, we should not lose hope but wait for right time, right leadership of India and Pakistan, favourable situations and right opportunity.
Whom to include in the protests?
We should preferably convince and bring into confidence the people of all regions of J&K (including Azad Kashmir) to be part of the protests. Also, active participation of women should be encouraged.
What NOT to do in protests?
Never hurt anyone’s religious sentiments nor insult any religious symbols. Don’t insult any National Flag or other National symbols. Avoid violence and never damage public property.
25 ways to protest
The various methods of protests have been mentioned under different categories. This list is neither complete nor final but just a beginning of thinking innovatively regarding protests.
1) Online protest: This is the age of information warfare. One can influence the opinion of masses with the information circulated on the internet. This power of internet was evident in Arab spring revolution. Internet can be best used to showcase all other types of protests to take them to huge audiences globally. We can document our protests as photos, videos etc and post them online on social media. Authors can write their blogs and rebuttals. Besides, campaigns can be run and events organised online, conveniently.
2) Art protest: This is a very powerful form of protest and can broadly have these forms: (a) Graffiti (b) Political cartoons and caricatures (c) Graphic novel like Malik Sajad’s “Munnu” (d) Painting (e) Photography and collage (f) Posters.
3) Protest singing and music: (a) Rapping: We have good rappers in Kashmir like MC Kash and have seen how viral raps like “I Protest” can get. These can be combined with certain types of dances forms too. (b) Singing and music: Patriotic and pro-freedom songs will help to keep the sentiment alive and arouse strong patriotism. We already have lot of such poetry written by our poets of past like Azad and Mahjoor besides contemporary ones like Zareef Ahmad Zareef Sahab. (d) Ladi-shah: This is our traditional way of spreading awareness in Kashmir and should be revived as a form of protest.
4) Economic boycott: The can be a very influential form of protest. This will include (a) Promoting manufacture of goods locally and preferring their consumption over those imported from other States of India e.g. poultry; livestock, rice, vegetables, processed foods etc. (b) Withdrawal of money from National public and private banks and depositing in State owned banks. (c) Avoidance of using unnecessary items e.g. cigarettes which causes huge loss to our economy and most of it goes as tax to Indian Government. (d) Exploring alternative international markets for trade. (e)Tax resistance
5) Drama and theater: There is an urgent need to revive and encourage theatre in Kashmir so that our own local artists can play and highlight the woes of people. We can have (a) Guerrilla or agitprop theatre: This basically includes plays and motion pictures with an explicitly political message. These can be used ideally for public awareness and as protest. (B) Writing drama/play scripts for reading or listening (c) Band-e-paether is traditional theatre art of Kashmir and has since long time been used for displaying protest.
6) Performance art: It is an art form that combines visual art with dramatic performance. In performance art, the artist’s medium is the body, and the live actions he or she performs are the work of art. This can be used as form of protest as is done by Kashmiri performance artist Inder Salim.
7) Flash mob: It is a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, and then quickly disperse. I would love to see this being introduced as form of protest in Kashmir. For a group example suddenly pop-up near Ghanta-Ghar and gives a brief well thought protest performance and disperse. They must keep their plans secret to avoid being prevented by authorities.
8) Social Boycott: Completely boycott voting, celebrating national festivals, army goodwill tours and schools and pro-India politicians. Also return state awards and honours in protest.
9) Writing: (a) Poetry like Agha Shahid Ali’s “The Country Without a Post Office” (b) Articles on Kashmir in general and Kashmir dispute in particular (c) Writing memorials and history (d) Fiction Novels
10) Campaigning: (a) Online and offline signature campaigns (b) Community education and consciousness raising (c) Awareness seminars (d) Soapboxing (e) Banners and slogans.
11) Observing Black day: Observe 27th October as Black day. Wear black cloth as arm bands, black flags on houses, vehicles, towers, buildings etc. I suggest that we shave our head in protest against military occupation on this day. Release black colour gas balloons in large numbers. All lights should be turned off for some time in the evening in protest.
12) Kashmir’s Flag: I strongly believe that we need to unite our freedom movement under one flag, which is indigenous to Kashmir. We must invite designs from people and finalize one flag for Kashmir, which should exclusively be used in all protests. Also we should hoist this flag everywhere especially on 26th January and 14/15 August. This will bring strong unity, sense of patriotism and make our protests more indigenous.
13) Protest Letters: Let us write letters en-masse to India, Pakistan and UN on a single day urging for resolution of Kashmir dispute. We can preferably write letters dated 14th and 15th August and then post them on a single day as our protest. We can similarly write protest letters to other organizations or individuals.
14) Hartals: Shutdown to commemorate historical events of freedom movement and on Indian National holidays. Some hartals can be only for part the day. Full day hartals should be observed rarely and public must be made aware in advance to prepare for it. Hunger strikes or bhook-hartals can also be used as protests.
15) Rallies and marches: Motorcycle rallies, mashaal processions and banner protests.
16) Vigils: Candle and mashaal/torch vigils, preferable at prominent locations.
17) Picketing: Protesting abroad before Indian and Pakistani embassies to press for resolving Kashmir dispute.
18) Leafleting: Mass distribution of leaflets and flyers to educate about the issues related to Kashmir dispute. Preferably, these should be given to university students –within Kashmir, India and abroad.
19) Legal action against loot of our water resources: In response to an RTI application, , NHPC revealed that it has earned Rs 19442 crore from the sale of power generated by its projects in the State during past 14 years. J&K gets a peanut share out of this profit. Similarly, a report by International Water Management Institute (IWMI) of Colombo has revealed that the Indus Water Treaty signed by India and Pakistan in 1960 puts Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) behind by an estimated Rs 6,500 crore annually. The losses are not there in the agriculture sector alone but on a much higher scale in the generation of hydropower which has an otherwise estimated potential of 20,000 MW. We need to strongly protest against this exploitation and fight a legal battle to get compensation for this huge loss to our economy.
20) Protest disrobing: Marching bare foot or taking off shirts in protest.
21) Sit-ins: Holding sit-ins for certain duration at public places in protest. Public traffic should not be blocked though.
22) Jail Bharo agitation: Seeking imprisonment in protest especially against illegal detentions.
23) Prayer and worship: We can hold congregational prayers in some public park/ground as a protest and unity.
24) Social service: (a) Disaster management and relief (b) Helping orphans, widows and poor (c) Volunteering in public/religious events (d) Blood donation (e) Healthcare and patient relief (f) Planting trees
25) Sports Events: Organizing tournaments and championships after the names of Martyrs.
I hope the above methods of protest prove to be more meaningful and effective. Different people can adopt different ways of protest as per their ability and convenience. If you have some other innovative methods of protests in mind, kindly put them in the comments below. I would also appreciate your feedback on this article.
The views presented in this article are the Author’s own, and does not in anyway depict the views of the Kashmir Digest. This is an Op Ed.