Featured Post
Kashmir wants from India, just what India wanted from British, Mehdi Siddique comments
The present crisis in Kashmir is something very much fragile and deep rooted in nature. And it is high time that the leaders of India understand the ground situation and make their nation aware of the same.
It should be noted that the demands of the people of Kashmir are not ‘new’ neither something which the Indian leaders have never talked about. When Jawahar Lal Nehru visited Kashmir on November 2nd,1947, he addresses a mammoth public meeting in the Red Square saying, “We have declared that the fate of Kashmir is ultimately to be decided by the people. That pledge we have given and Maharaja has supported it; it is not only a pledge to the people of Kashmir but to the world. We will not, and cannot back out of it”[Kashmir: Desolation or peace, by Majid Siraj] . More over it was the then Indian leadership who approached United Nations on January, 17th, 1948 to seek a political solution to the Kashmir issue. The Indian delegation to the UN was represented by Gopalaswami Ayyanger, M.C.Setarlrad and Sheikh Abdullah. At that time a statement was made regarding the future of Kashmir, “Whether Kashmir would withdraw from India or accede to Pakistan or remain independent and claim membership of United Nations is a matter for the unfettered decision by the people of the state after normal life is restored to them.”
At the top of it while endorsing his promise, Mr Nehru writes to Mountbatten on February 13th,1948 contemplating a resignation from his position as prime minister of India, “I might consider my position in the government. I have given pledge to the people of Kashmir and I do not propose to go against them.” [Jawahar Lal Nehru, A Biography by Gopal Servepalli]
Now it may be that Jawahar Lal Nehru forgot his promise or failed to fulfil it, the promise which he made, and the resolutions which were passed by the UN are engraved in the hearts and minds of Kashmiris even after 63 years. The present crisis and chaos is not about the roads, malls and buildings neither is it about the employment, nor about the state government or their governance, it is about the people of Kashmir who have witnessed a thorny time all along.
The Kashmiri sentiments have their roots deep in history. It will be a misnomer to say that the present movement in Kashmir started from 1947 or even from the time of Maharaja Hari Singh. The emotions which the Kashmiris hearts possess is very much deep entrenched. The people of Kashmir have witness barbarity right from the early sixth century when Huns gained control of the valley. Since then we have eye-witnessed the cruelty of Mahira Kula, Unmattavati, King Harisha, Zulfi Khan, Azad Khan and the likes of Ranjit Singh. All of these rulers were different in their origin and style of living but what made them look similar for a common Kashmiri was that each of them was interested in loot, arm splitting and arson. The eyes of a poor Kashmiri saw his mothers and sisters raped and a mass massacre of his kith and kin in these times.
Now today when we see a CRPF trooper firing dead a small school boy, the bloody moments of the time of Unmattavati and Zulfi Khan flash back in our minds. We have already witnessed the death of 100 thousand Kashmiris at the hands of Indian appointed officials and forces and the disappearance of thousands. A poor Kashmiri asks when it is all going to end?
After a total torture throughout the entire history, Kashmiris had looked at India as a ray of hope back in 1947, because Indians themselves had undergone more or less the same political, social, economic, mental and physical oppression under the British rule. But Kashmiris witnessed a new India, which it never was supposed to be. The then leaders and masses of India never fought against the British-Raj to see a day when their own made ‘democratic’ government would have no respect for the sentiments, and feelings of the innocent people, leave alone oppressing them and indulging in their mass killings.
The Leaders of India very well know the ground realities in Kashmir but they are not educating their people about the same. The present scenario is such that if the central government takes even an insignificant step towards the resolution of Kashmir issue, the opposition will be ever ready to blow it out of proportions and portray the K-issue in a negative perspective.
A common Kashmiri challenges the very sincerity of India in resolving the Kashmir issue. The Central government be it Congress or BJP resorts to the same tactics of indulging in talks, followed by talks and then further followed by talks (without doing something tangible on ground) when it comes to Kashmir. Moreover, miscalculating and misrepresenting the situation has become a common agenda! Poll results are compared with People’s trust in India, stone pelters are associated with LeT and ISI, and general protests with Pakistan. All these things give a feeling that India wants to brutally crush Kashmiri aspirations and sentiments altogether. Moreover, central government is using the wrong tactics to TACKLE the Kashmir issue. This is what it has become, more of a ‘tackling nature’ than ‘resolving’ one. Where Kashmiris are demanding revocation of the draconic laws like AFSPA and troop reduction and demilitarisation in public areas, state government supported by the centre is keen in pumping in even army, more units of CRPF and now Rapid Action Force (RAF) is finding its stake in the valley too.
It should be noted that there can’t be a total peace in South Asia, until the Kashmir issue is addressed and solved in accordance to the wishes and aspirations of the people of Kashmir. The leaders of India are putting their image, the image of their people and of the whole DEMOCRATIC India at stake by turning their faces away from the K-issue and suppressing the Kashmiri voice.
Indian Leaders live in a fools paradise and force themselves to believe that Kashmiris are happy to be a part of India. If that is the case then why don’t they carry out a plebiscite under UN supervision giving Kashmiris the options of continuing with India, acceding to Pakistan or staying Independent. Infact this is actually what a common Kashmiri wants. Let India check its status in Kashmir and fulfil the promise of its first Prime Minister and apply the UN resolutions. By doing that each and every issue pertaining Kashmir will be resolved forever. On contrary to this, Indian leaders proclaim Kashmir to be an integral part of India when history itself is testimony that it never was. They just want to bombard it on Kashmiris and anyone seen opposing it openly is either put behind bars by hammering PSA on him or brutally killed. If Indian leaders think that they can make Kashmiris forget the mass massacre of Kashmirs, brutality and injustice done to commoners and the plunder of the honour and dignity of Kahmiri women, by giving Kashmiris especially the youth various economic and employment packages, then let them know that Kashmiris even after more than 1000 years have not forgot nor forgiven the oppressors like Mahira Kula and Unmattavati who had done more or less same to Kashmiris which the current day India is doing.
Why Indian leaders are afraid to address K-issue? Do they they think that by giving the Kashmiris their birth right India will be prone to further partitions? These concerns and their likes arise only when politics is known and played for power only. They need to come forward on the steps of Mahatma Gandhi, educate their people about the history of Kashmir, and do not fear about their ‘being in office’. Why don’t they make it all simple saying, ‘Kashmiris want from India, just what India wanted from British’. If they are true in their pledge of making India peaceful and more prosperous then K-issue has to be addressed.
History bears witness to the fact that no power has ruled any region forever. Indian administered Kashmir will see the dawn of freedom and peace one day, it is only waiting for a brave and sincere leader, who won’t fell to the propaganda of the opposition, who will educate the whole of India about the ground realities and will play an active part in granting Kashmiris that which is their birth right: The right to self Determination.
The author is a Kashmiri thinker and writer.
He blogs at: www.mehdisiddique.blogspot.com
No comments:
Post a Comment