by A.G. NOORANI
The mood of the people of Kashmir has been neglected since 1947. Three questions must be answered honestly and courageously.
THE two-decade old cry for azadi (independence) by the separatists in Kashmir has found a new companion in the refrain by the unionists, which questions the State’s accession to India in 1947. They are not secessionists, only leaders who are responding to the popular mood. The refrain has gone unnoticed just as the people’s mood has been neglected since 1947. Three questions must be answered honestly and courageously. First, what are the roots for the appeal of independence? Secondly, what were the occasions on which it was raised and why? Lastly, given the realities that rule out independence or any form of Kashmir’s secession from India, are there any lessons from these two questions that can help in a solution to the problem today?
The unionists’ refrain is astonishing in its fervour, repetition and the chorus in which it has been sung by leaders of the National Conference (N.C.) as well as the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). It does not cast aspersions on their honesty to point out that since the days of the crudely rigged elections are over none can win a mandate without responding to the people’s mood. Have you noted any election candidate attacking the militants?
Now, for the refrain. Farooq Abdullah, the N.C.’s president, said on April 9, 2006: “India has deceived the people of Jammu and Kashmir every now and then during the past 58 years. First it was in 1953, then in 1983 [sic he probably meant 1984] and it is still pursuing the same agenda” (Greater Kashmir, April 10, 2006). Only a few days earlier, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, the PDP’s patron, said: “The people of Jammu & Kashmir have never seen their own government since 1947, and they should be given right of self-governance” (Greater Kashmir, April 6, 2006).
On November 19, 2007, reacting to the killing allegedly by the Army of a baker in the Kulgam area, Farooq Abdullah said: “Such incidents make us think again on the righteousness of the decision by our ancestors to accede to India. These incidents definitely give a setback to nationalist parties and recently the killings of two innocent people in Kupwara and Srinagar force us to think whether the signing of the Instrument of Accession by Maharaja Hari Singh and endorsed by my late father, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, was fair or not.” He remarked: “If court martial proceedings can be initiated against a Major General for passing comments at a lady Army officer, then why are you silent when it comes to rape and molestation of Kashmiri mothers and sisters?” (Greater Kashmir, November 20, and Asian Age, November 24, 2007).
On December 5, 2007, Farooq Abdullah told the press in Srinagar: “Time and again we have been reminding New Delhi about the Prime Minister’s zero-tolerance pledge on human rights. If innocents continue to be killed, and women are raped, the sadhbhavana [goodwill] campaign [of the Army] will be of zero effect and people might be forced to rethink about the accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India in 1947” (Asian Age, December 6, 2007).
Frontline for more