In almost last two months nearly about 100 citizens have lost their lives at the hands of the security forces, agitating the encounter of the slain Hizb militant Burhan Muzaffar Wani. Here in Jammu, just another part of the same state the popular reaction is diagonally opposite, to the people here and almost throughout rest of India he was a terrorist but to the people of Kashmir he was a militant and a freedom fighter but a terrorist, here a mark of confusion is more literal in sense than that of narrative, maybe these two words “Terrorist” and “Militant” have quite same resemblance but actually have totally different meanings, A Militant is a person who has taken up arms for some purpose, can be good as well as bad but at the other hand Terrorist means a person who terrorises others for eg; to a school going kid a bully is a terrorist or to an innocent farmer a land grabber is a terrorist, So the point here is about the difference in characters of the same actors in respect to different audiences.
To the military and government officials he was terrorist as he actually terrorised and threatened them, at the same time to the Kashmiris he was a fighter, who fought for the cause they have been struggling to achieve from almost a century now and this is the reason, which draws thousands out to streets of Kashmir, knowing of the dangers awaiting them. But here the fact to worry about is that the popular growing notion of India playing a bully, amongst the Kashmiri people
Firstly to put it correctly it’s worth mentioning that this actually isn’t just a matter of a month after the death of Burhan Muzaffar Wani but in fact, a century-long pending public movement aimed at Free Kashmir. Starting from the Kashmiris against the Dogra rule to the promises made by Jawaharlal Nehru, Kashmiris seem to be waiting hard for the dawn of freedom, not the one other’s appropriate for them but the one they choose. Keeping in view the background of the matter the things actually started worsening up after the rigged elections of 1987, as the Kashmiris claim they were. As the locals put it, Back then it became apparent that the pro-freedom were winning the elections with a considerable majority and that was leaving the pro-India narrative and individuals actually out of the picture in Kashmir and that alarmed the then central government about the losing scenario in the valley and to turn that up they chose to intervene secretly and influenced majorly the election results, and this resulted in candidates losing who otherwise were elected popularly. After This Fraud at the Hands of the Central Indian Administration, the locals fell in despair and lost their trust upon the Indian democratic setup and few chose to arm up as the last resort. The popular Afghan Jihad was very popular and talked of in those days and in fact inspired the arms insurgency in the valley, the popular notion was that if mighty soviet union can be confronted successfully India will be no exception and many Mujahideen crossed into Kashmir, but to mention it would have been prevented if the borders were well scrutinized but due to the geographical landscape of the ceasefire line(LOC) it provided them with an ideal condition to get in. With things worsening up Militancy started getting roots in Kashmir but it becomes important here to mention that it was still limited to a minority fringe and they started to target almost everything that represented their believed occupiers, But the worse came out to be the expulsion of Kashmiri Pandits, Kashmiris themselves and still were perceived Indian stooges by the radicalised section. This resulted in their Exodus from the valley to miserable camps in Jammu and Delhi and many other parts of the country.
To the military and government officials he was terrorist as he actually terrorised and threatened them, at the same time to the Kashmiris he was a fighter, who fought for the cause they have been struggling to achieve from almost a century now and this is the reason, which draws thousands out to streets of Kashmir, knowing of the dangers awaiting them. But here the fact to worry about is that the popular growing notion of India playing a bully, amongst the Kashmiri people
Firstly to put it correctly it’s worth mentioning that this actually isn’t just a matter of a month after the death of Burhan Muzaffar Wani but in fact, a century-long pending public movement aimed at Free Kashmir. Starting from the Kashmiris against the Dogra rule to the promises made by Jawaharlal Nehru, Kashmiris seem to be waiting hard for the dawn of freedom, not the one other’s appropriate for them but the one they choose. Keeping in view the background of the matter the things actually started worsening up after the rigged elections of 1987, as the Kashmiris claim they were. As the locals put it, Back then it became apparent that the pro-freedom were winning the elections with a considerable majority and that was leaving the pro-India narrative and individuals actually out of the picture in Kashmir and that alarmed the then central government about the losing scenario in the valley and to turn that up they chose to intervene secretly and influenced majorly the election results, and this resulted in candidates losing who otherwise were elected popularly. After This Fraud at the Hands of the Central Indian Administration, the locals fell in despair and lost their trust upon the Indian democratic setup and few chose to arm up as the last resort. The popular Afghan Jihad was very popular and talked of in those days and in fact inspired the arms insurgency in the valley, the popular notion was that if mighty soviet union can be confronted successfully India will be no exception and many Mujahideen crossed into Kashmir, but to mention it would have been prevented if the borders were well scrutinized but due to the geographical landscape of the ceasefire line(LOC) it provided them with an ideal condition to get in. With things worsening up Militancy started getting roots in Kashmir but it becomes important here to mention that it was still limited to a minority fringe and they started to target almost everything that represented their believed occupiers, But the worse came out to be the expulsion of Kashmiri Pandits, Kashmiris themselves and still were perceived Indian stooges by the radicalised section. This resulted in their Exodus from the valley to miserable camps in Jammu and Delhi and many other parts of the country.
With this Exodus taken place, the Indian state started to a crackdown by taking almost every Kashmiri under suspicion and eventually blaming everyone for what happened. This started an almost decade-long period of fake encounters, framed cases, arrests that never made their way back home and tortures hard to talk of. The draconian laws ripped the locals of their fundamental rights and left them vulnerable and helpless, State backed atrocities went higher than ever, with the armed forces given the special power by AFSPA(Armed Forces Special Power Act) anyone could be arrested without any proof on just the mere base of suspicion and the worst part was that only a thin percentage of the arrested made their way back home and what came out was a situation in which a person was picked up for interrogation some night and never came back home, with no F.I.R registered there was no information available whatsoever over, where was he taken? what was done to him? and where he went?. And even in many cases corrupt officers used the cover of the situation in some of worst ways possible to set their personal records right, In some cases it’s alleged that officers used to murder the people over personal rivalries and enmities and framed everything as an encounter and a hunt down of a terrorist and went away with everything without anything heinous on record and what would have been worse then them getting awarded promotions for murdering innocents?.
No doubt Scenic beauty and pleasant weather are the biggest treasures of Kashmir, but these alone are not the key to peace, happiness and prosperity, in fact, these are of no importance if they are turned into a big jail for its inhabitants, which in the case is true. There are things far more important than Nature’s benevolence for a nation to move on when the memories of its citizens are filled with tortures, cold-blooded murders and what not, It barely feels free to be in such a condition.
Now, Today almost after two and half decades of the conflict there is barely any trust left in Kashmiris of them getting justice as the state has been in the continuous mode of denial in relation to the conditions on the grounds. But, the only hope could be the political will to move for a resolution despite the presence of some players who benefit from the status quo. A free Kashmir or A Semi-autonomous region within India or A merger with Pakistan or whatever the solution may come out as, but it should be for the benefit of the Kashmiris and to their will, after all, that’s what they have been pushing for since long. Despite a long period of deprivation, people are still hopeful somewhere in hearts that India will stand to the promise her First Prime Minister made with Kashmiris and Dusk of despair will fall for a dawn of hope.
Here is something we all can do, keeping an open mind and rational thinking we must give a shot at considerKashmiri narrative and if not consider, just a try. Honestly, it's not betraying your country to have a humane and rational conclusion after all for how long can we keep someone in denial under the blanket of a dogmatic Nationalism. We have also fought to free our land from the British, so it shouldn’t be that difficult for us to be in their's( people of Kashmir) shoes.
Though, there are many questions left unanswered on the part of Kashmiri narrative too;
What “Azaadi” would mean?
What are the future hopes of Kashmir?
What would be the geographical boundaries of Kashmir if freedom comes?
What about the Minorities in Kashmir?
What about Kashmiri Pandits and their plight?, Will those who were responsible for creating conditions which lead to their Exodus be brought to justice in Free Kashmir? or any action which could compensate their losses and dignity, Afterall they are Kashmiris too.
If every Kashmiri wants Azadi, Why not once give a try to a complete democratic process ? to bring forth the genuineness of the cause, because it would be very hard or nearly impossible for anyone to subdue aspirations of a homogeneous majority and the apprehensions of it being tampered by the state is very low in this age to information and communication.
And much more unanswered questions........these questions don't delegitimize the Kashmiri aspiration of self-determination at all, but answering these would only help the cause.
But at last as humans and Indians, we must say, all this not in our name.
-Rakshit
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