Keep the idea of India alive in Kashmir

Arun Joshi 

Is politics the real narrative of the people of Jammu and Kashmir? The Kashmir-is-a-political-problem narrative is an excellent strategy used by various players to serve their ends. This thesis is laced with multi-purpose objectives — first, it invites focus on the Valley's violent parts and denies deserved attention to other regions, which are calm and have aspirations in step with the idea of India. This kind of politics has been dividend-paying. It has kept the Kashmir issue alive and marginalised other regions. 

Resistance movement

A long-playing theme that tens of thousands of people have made "sacrifices" has gelled into the idea of getting rid of "Indian occupation." Syed Ali Shah Geelani is the tallest leader of the "resistance movement", but the likes of him have not been able to offer a concrete alternative. Geelani relies on the "right to self-determination" doctrine, which offers peoples on both sides of the Line of Control to join India or Pakistan as their future country. If that is the goal, why is the complete independence goal entertained? There are no answers. 

He means that the right to self-determination choice is limited to Pakistan. Then why the façade of self-determination? Again, there is no answer. In a way, he is cleverly leading the campaign against UN resolutions in the name of seeking their implementation. This is the most striking irony of separatist politics in Kashmir. India doesn't figure in his scheme of things. He is not at fault. Geelani's vision is guided by the prism of Pakistan and the pro-Pakistan atmosphere in some pockets of Kashmir favouring the two-nation theory. 

This love for Pakistan is a product of courtship with the idea of Pakistan where they feel that Muslim population enjoys heavenly bliss - they are never convinced by the reality that the Pakistani media or people dare to talk about the nightmare of sectarian clashes and terrorism in their country. It is dismissed as western propaganda or a result of the Indian conspiracies against Pakistan. Some are terrorised to speak against Pakistan for Rawalpindi holds the levers of the gun that kills people in the Valley. 

There also is a segment, rather a majority, which wants to bring Delhi to its knees by flagging its passion for Pakistan. Delhi invariably obliges them. But this has decimated the Indian narrative even before its birth. It is foeticide of the idea of India executed by the Indian establishment itself.

Former Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah accuses Delhi of "failing to engage with the political sentiment in a sustained, detailed and planned manner so that the issue could be resolved once and for all." But what is baffling is his silence about the Sheikh-Indira accord of 1975. It would be wrong to assume that he is blaming his father Sheikh Abdullah for his post-1975 politics. If the accord was given up midway because nothing wrong was found in the Central laws extended to J-K since 1953, Delhi cannot be blamed. But Delhi no longer owns the 1975 accord too. 

Now again, Farooq is seeking a reversal of the Central laws only to show that he is ahead of the others in claiming the ownership of the Kashmir problem. In a way, he is proving his father wrong.

Delhi’s appeasement

Whether it is Geelani or Farooq or the others, those who peddle the narrative of the problem have extracted a windfall from Delhi. Delhi is forced to look from Sopore to Shopian, but it is made deaf to voices from non-Kashmiri ethnic and linguistic groups. Delhi is primarily responsible for according premium to the secessionist narrative. It offers bonuses to those who flag the Kashmir problem by appeasing them.

Jammu, Ladakh ignored

There should be no grudge that special arrangements are made to coach Kashmiri students for competitive examinations, to make them to travel to various institutions and enable them to participate in the mega events. They have seen tremendous darkness caused by bloodshed in their land. They are unable to see any certainty beyond the ever-growing number of graves. They deserve hand-holding, but as Kashmiri children and not through the prism of the problem. The hand-holding should be applied to other victimised sections in the state as well. 

The Jammu and Ladakh regions are also beset with problems. Jammu's border residents are dying because of Pakistani bullets almost daily, their children are deprived of schooling and they live like migrants with little hope. They too deserve a special treatment.

By ignoring them, Delhi is creating another problem area. Students in Ladakh suffer from lack of connectivity and remoteness. They have to travel hundreds of miles for higher studies without any facilities from the government. They are treated as poor cousins. They are suffering because the narrative of the Kashmir problem is magnified and heeded to. Delhi needs to intervene before the idea of India dies completely. 

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