Open Forum
New Delhi, 19 November 2013
J&K Conundrum
CENTRE SENDS WRONG
SIGNAL
By Proloy Bagchi
When will
the Centre stop molly-coddling the ‘separatist groups’ in Jammu & Kashmir?
Over the years, the Hurriyat Conference, many would admit has lost steam in the
yearning of the common man to lead a normal life. However, the Centre seems to
send the wrong signal. That the Pakistani Prime Minister’s adviser Sartaj Aziz came to Delhi recently to
participate in Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and his High Commission promptly
invited leaders of several of these groups to come to meet him seemed way out
of the ordinary in today’s times. Worse, was the Government’s latitude in
allowing them to travel to Delhi
to keep their appointments with Aziz, as at least one of the separatist
leaders, was till recently under house arrest. The action has raised many an
eyebrow as to why the Centre has gone out of its way to lift the restrictions
to enable him to travel to Delhi.
The leaders, of course included the who’s who of the separatist
groups. They were Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chief
Yaseen Malik, hard-line Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Asiya
Andrabi of Dukhtar-e-Millat, the women’s separatist organization of the State.
Meeting Aziz separately, the groups reportedly asked him for a lasting solution
to the Kashmir “dispute” as if by articulating
this wish the Pakistan Government and its Army would rush into the quagmire to
find a “lasting” solution. Worse, they continue to be having the misconception
that they represent the people of Jammu
and Kashmir although they steer clear from the
elections in the State.
While the National Conference-Congress Government is trying
hard to come out of the past and restore normalcy, these separatists should
realize that they have only been obstructing peace and progress by calling for
frequent shut-downs and strikes under the threat of terror and indulging in
violence. They are, in fact, the fifth columnists who take orders from their
masters across the borders. Recall, Yaseen Malik, had even been caught on
camera sharing a platform with Hafiz Saeed, chief of Laskar-e-Toiba, and
radical outfit of Pakistan
that organizes terror attacks in India in collaboration with the
ISI.
Indeed, it is the softness of the Union Government that
allows such meetings, both in India
and Pakistan
so much so that the Pakistani establishment reckons these as “routine
consultations”. There can be nothing “routine” about these meetings and, for
all one knows, these are held to foment more trouble within J&K. Opinion is
that there is no earthly reason for these minority groups to meet a foreign
power for “consultations”.
Recall also that only the other day, on a call given by
Geelani, October 27 last was observed as a “Black Day” as on that day the
Indian troops, allegedly, commenced their “occupation” of Kashmir.
This was stated by SA Shamsi of Jamait-e-Islami, which organized a dharna (sit-in) in Islamabad,
attended by leaders of Pak Occupied Kashmir. Sadly, the Kashmiri separatists,
whether in India or in Pakistan, have by their statements made the
history of post-Accession Kashmir stand on its
head!
Everybody knows what these ‘separatists with blinkers’ have
been broadcasting are absolute falsehoods. The Indian Army had no reason to
enter Kashmir had the then Maharaja Hari Singh, the then ruler of the State of
Jammu & Kashmir, not acceded to India in 1947 at the same time asking the
latter for assistance to throw out the Pakistani regulars who along with tribal
raiders had invaded his State. The Indian government did not send its troops
until the Maharaja had also obtained the consent of the prominent democratic
leader of Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah.
The Maharaja had to do it as otherwise the Government of India wouldn’t
extended its help.
Inviting the Indian Army was thus a joint decision of the
Maharaja and the most popular leader of the Kashmiris. The Army had gone into
Kashmir only when it became a part of India. By no stretch of
imagination, therefore the Army in Kashmir is
an "Occupation Army". It is there to protect its own territory that
includes Jammu & Kashmir and its people. In fact, it is Pakistan which has illegally occupied a big
chunk of Indian Territory in Kashmir by sheer
violent aggression. If there is any "army of occupation" in Kashmir it is the Pakistan Army which is in forcible
occupation of what is known as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
Even the objective commentators in Pakistan have expressed grave doubts about
Pakistani position on Kashmir. In a recent
article, Ayaz Mir, noted dispassionate journalist, has admitted that
three wars waged by Pakistan,
including the one of 1947, have met with only failure in meeting their
objectives, that is, of wresting the entire state of J&K from India.
What is more surprising, however, is that Imran Khan, the
Teheriq-e-Insaf chief, supported the dharna
and the Black Day saluting the Kashmiri people for their sacrifices in
rejecting the "Indian occupation". Having been educated in Oxford and been honoured and feted in India several times during his frequent visits
apart from his numerous cricketing trips he should have known the history of Kashmir better. Perhaps compulsions of politics make
politicians reach for their oft-used blinkers and Imran now is a diehard
politician.
Prof. Waqar Ashraf, one of the participants at the dharna in Islamabad reportedly stated: "Freedom
is a right wherever one lives and Kashmiris’ right should be given to
them. They cannot be forced to live in a country they did not wish to belong to
and even the UN Charter is against it.” One can certainly have no quarrel with
this argument. Kashmiris, like other citizens of India, have the right to choose the
place and the country where they wish to live. Those who live in Jammu &
Kashmir too have that right and they have the absolute freedom to leave and go
and live in any country where they find conditions more congenial. None and,
surely, neither government of J&K nor the Government of India, would ever
stop them from exercising this basic right.
Similar reactions were heard when a row was kicked up on the
non-inclusion of Parvez Rasool, a Kashmiri cricketer, in the playing eleven of
the Indian cricket team while on tour in Zimbabwe earlier this year. Very
strong comments on this veritable non-issue were reported from Kashmir emanating from the knowledgeable down to some
anti-Indian Kashmiris. Some of the latter said they were not happy when Rasool
was included in a team that represented India. Some others said that they
were certainly not happy when the lad was picked to play for India and that
they would not be happy even if he did well for India, especially so while
playing against Pakistan.
It is quite clear where such people’s sympathies lay
broadcasting as they did their acute antipathy for the country they live in.
They, too, have the liberty to migrate to the country with which they quite
clearly identify themselves. None would begrudge their decision to do so.
----INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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