Why Hurriyat is struggling for space

By azhar qadri

From being the most influential separatist block in Kashmir region, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) is now reduced to a shadow of its former self as infighting, indecisiveness, divisions and a failure to devise a long-term strategy have left it scrambling for space in regional politics.

In the past 22 years, since it was formed in 1993, the APHC has splintered into multiple factions, each calling itself the real representative of the people while all of them have increasingly lost influence in Kashmir. This became evident from the record turnout in elections a few months ago despite separatists calling for a boycott. Shabir Shah, whose association with separatism goes back to pre-militancy days, says the waning influence of Hurriyat is rooted in the curbs imposed on its leadership.

“We are not allowed to meet with people, we are not allowed to hold public meetings, but ups and downs come and go, and this phase will not remain for long,” Shah, who is now part of the most recent faction of Hurriyat, is confident.

This month, as the new government took oath in the state, the two main APHC factions belonging to hardliners and moderates talked in a strikingly similar tone and through a series of statements and meetings pleaded Pakistan to include the “people of Kashmir” in any dialogue process with India.

Azam Inqilabi, the first commander of United Jehad Council, an umbrella organisation of several militant groups, said that APHC is the “last hope” for India and Pakistan, “irrespective of how many factions it has”. “If there is a breakthrough in talks between India and Pakistan, it will be mandatory for both the countries to take the Hurriyat Conference into confidence,” feels Inqilabi, who has spent time with all Hurriyat factions.

Inqilabi adds that the Hurriyat leaders through their individual initiatives have strengthened the “slogan of peaceful settlement”, for which several of them had to pay a “brutal price”.

Moderates, hardliners

The two formidable factions of APHC are led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Geelani’s faction, which is often described as hardline for its stiffness to change, and Mirwaiz’s faction, which is defined as moderate for its willingness to cooperate in dialogue processes, have had their own bitter moments of accusations and verbal mud-slinging.

Mirwaiz’s moderate separatist amalgam defied militant threats in the last decade when it held several rounds of talks with the Union government and then held a round of “quiet dialogue”, which ended when its intermediary and a renowned separatist, Fazl Haq Qureshi, narrowly survived an assassination attempt.

The Hurriyat was formed at a time when militants had a powerful presence in the region and many of its leaders had influence over the armed groups. The Hurriyat leadership always claimed itself to be the sole representative of the people of Kashmir, an idea which was strengthened by an emotive and popular response to their appeals for protests, shutdowns and rallies. In the absence of an influential mainstream, since the National Conference was battered by the killing of its leaders and cadres, the Hurriyat took centrestage in Kashmir.

The APHC of 1993 had seven executive council members and 34 political, social and religious parties in its general council. Of the first seven executive council members, Abbas Ansari of Ittihadul Muslimeen, Abdul Gani Bhat and Mirwaiz are now part of its moderate faction; Geelani, then associated with Jamaat-e-Islami, heads his own hardline faction; and Shah, then of People’s League, now heads the third Hurriyat faction.

Yasin Malik of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front has distanced his group from all the three factions while the seventh executive member, Abdul Gani Lone, a strong advocate of dialogue who had publicly opposed the presence of foreign militants, was assassinated by militants in 2001. His son Sajjad Lone is now a minister in the PDP-BJP government.

Losing relevance

The separatists have gradually lost space with the emergence of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s Peoples Democratic Party, which came out with its own model for solution of the K-issue, touching the peripheries of separatism as well as mainstream.

The separatist camp’s hardline faction also has an impending crisis as it lacks the next line of leadership which can take charge of its affairs once Geelani, who is now 84 and suffers from multiple ailments, retires. Masarat Alam, whose release earlier this month created a political storm, has for many years been tipped to be Geelani’s successor. Alam, 44, however is considered to be a hardliner among hardliners and lacks sway over other constituent groups of the amalgam.

The separatists did have their own ‘moment of glory’ in the summer of 2008 when thousands of people from all over the Kashmir valley assembled on their call at the Eid-Gah ground of Srinagar’s old city. On a makeshift stage, the league of separatists watched with awe as the vastness of the ground was lost in a sea of people. Five years since 2003 when APHC splintered into the hardline and moderate camps, it was for the first time, and also the last since then, they were all together — Geelani, Mirwaiz, Yasin Malik and dozens of others.

Since that summer day of 2008 which momentarily unified the warring factions, the separatists again slipped into pitfalls one after another, engaged in bouts of infighting, and kept on losing the ground.

In 2010, when massive protests erupted in the region, separatists were taken off guard by the enormity of the situation which paralysed the state’s writ. The hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference led by Geelani held the reins of the protesters for much of the summer until the autumn, when the protesters were overcome by fatigue of the cycles of demonstrations.

In the years since its inception in 1993 as the largest and most influential amalgam of separatism, APHC has suffered from a long-term policy failure and has got restricted in a web of divisions — the last one occurring in 2013 when Shabir Shah and Nayeem Khan announced a split from the moderate faction.

Prof Noor Ahmad Baba, who teaches political science at the University of Kashmir, says the factions of Hurriyat are “comparatively weaker” today than they were in 1993. “It is divided and on its own, I don’t think, they have enough strength… they have failed to effectively deliver,” he adds.

Baba, however, feels the separatist amalgams continue to remain relevant “because of the legitimacy that Pakistan gives them and the sentiment they represent”.

In the state’s Jammu region, which has largely remained outside the ambit of separatist influence and where BJP swept the last two polls, political observers see little role of Hurriyat in the present political dynamics. 

“Their role is limited to a certain section of people in Kashmir valley, which is also vanishing. Even PDP, which at times adopts their agenda, should not go astray and work for the larger national interest,” says Anuraj Gangal, Director of Gandhian Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Jammu.

The Bharatiya Janta Party, which is part of the coalition government in the state, does not want to give any importance to Hurriyat. “These people have gone astray and we would like to see them come back to the mainstream and work for the overall development of the state,” says Jugal Kishore, the BJP state president.

KEY APHC LEADERS

Syed Ali SHAH Geelani

The 84-year-old separatist leader heads the hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference. A former legislator of Jamaat-e-Islami party, Geelani is known as an opponent of any dialogue process and has been a long-time advocate of a referendum as a solution to the Kashmir issue.

Mirwaiz Umar Farooq

The face and leader of the moderate faction of separatists, Mirwaiz is the chief Muslim preacher of Kashmir valley. He heads the Awami Action Committee and joined the separatist camp as a teenager after his father’s assassination propelled him to the political scene of the region.

Masarat Alam

A key deputy of Syed Ali Geelani, he is considered a hardliner among hardliners and was once rumoured as Geelani’s potential successor. He has spent nearly 17 years in prison. He led the 2010 agitation while in hiding and holds sway over a pro-Pakistan constituency in the region.

Ashiq Hussain Faktoo

A militant commander who is serving a life term, he is the spiritual leader of several separatist activists. Known by his alias Mohammad Qasim, Faktoo completed a doctorate during detention and also authored several books. He has completed 22 years in jail.

Shabir Ahmad Shah

The separatist leader was part of the People’s League before he formed his own party. He has been an advocate of unity in the separatist camp but went on to form his own Hurriyat Conference, which became the third faction under the name. His popularity has diminished over the years.

Timeline

1989: Militancy erupts in Jammu and Kashmir

1993: All Parties Hurriyat Conference — a union of political, social and religious organisations — is formed 

1999: Kargil war

2000: Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, the largest militant outfit, announces ceasefire. APHC extends careful backing

2002: Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf announces a policy shift in the aftermath of 9/11, bans Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad militant outfits

2003: Hurriyat splits into hardline and moderate factions

2004: Moderate Hurriyat faction holds two rounds of talks with Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani. India and Pakistan announce ceasefire along Line of Control

2006: Musharraf announces four-point formula to solve Kashmir issue. Moderate Hurriyat offers support, hardline Hurriyat opposes

2008: Agitation erupts over transfer of land to Amarnath shrine

2009: ‘Quiet dialogue, quiet diplomacy’ between New Delhi and moderate Hurriyat initiated, ends after main interlocutor Fazl Haq Qureshi is shot at

2010: Agitation erupts after killing of a teenaged student

2013: Moderate Hurriyat splits after fresh infighting