The phenomenon of terror

There is no justification for any terrorist acts from whatever quarter these emanate regardless of the so called higher and sublime motives attributed for undertaking these. The most deplorable is the “State Terrorism” as the “State” is expected to stop the terrorist acts and not to indulge in this itself. The ghastly and bloody Gool massacre in Ramban, the Kishtwar upheaval including the killings prompted by VDCs of a particular community armed by the state and many fake encounters is just a tip of the iceberg of the state sponsored/instigated violence in Kashmir in recent years. No doubt there have been many terrorist acts from various outfits claiming to be fighting for ultimate freedom which usually happens in all such movements due to some rogue elements joining these for vested interests but the terrorist acts committed by state agencies under the garb of counterinsurgency have exceeded all limits. In fact, counterinsurgency has become a big business not only in Kashmir and North East but in entire India.
In regard to the acts of terrorism committed by the governments of some countries themselves in other countries, there are innumerable instances but these have mostly happened in times of war. When two countries are at war, then the governments of these countries authorise sabotage and other terrorist acts as part of their war effort. Normally, in peace time the state governments do not indulge in acts of sabotage or terrorism. However, in the case of India and Pakistan, the mutual mistrust has put these two countries in a state of perpetual war by proxy. They deliberately indulge in acts of terrorism in each other’s territory. While as Pakistanis feel that they have to keep India on the boil as stable India is a threat to their existence, the Indians want unstable Pakistan engaged in internal strife to give them relief on their western front. A stable, settled and strong Pakistan can pose a serious threat to them in Kashmir. Interestingly, the Inter-Services Intelligence sends operatives to this side paying them heavily to indulge in acts of sabotage. Sometimes, the Research and Analysis Wing catches hold of these operatives and returns them to cause similar damage in that country by doubling or trebling the price! There is big unaccountable money involved in these operations from both the sides. One never knows how much has really been spent and how much has been pocketed?
The worst form of “State Terrorism” is the one which a State conducts against its own citizens. Even the most advanced and developed countries have been alleged to be resorting to state terrorism against their own citizens. Some of the former agents of the Central Intelligence Agency have exposed many instances where the state has been using its own citizens to test biological and psychological weapons without their knowledge. There are numerous instances of state terrorism in Burma, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Cambodia and many other countries in the region. In the case of our sub-continent, the two neighbours perennially in a situation of conflict inflict state terrorism on their own citizens. Violence from both the state and non-state actors is taken quite normal and usual in Pakistan. In fact, there is hardly any day when one does not hear about a violent incident in some part of that country. Be it a drone strike or a suicide bombing or targeted killing.
In India the State Terrorism is extensively prevalent in Kashmir, North East and some of the Naxalite infested states. Some of these areas including Jammu & Kashmir have draconian legislations such as AFSPA, Disturbed Areas Act and Public Safety Act in force which give total immunity to the perpetrators of the terrorist acts from the state side. With Security Forces having absolute freedom to commit all sorts of extra-constitutional acts without any fear of accountability or prosecution, these areas have virtually turned into occupied territories. This totalitarian power with total lack of accountability has made the state actors convert their actions into profitable business deals and a channel to earn promotions. Fake encounters have quite often been indulged into to claim some sort of trophies. The living examples of these fake encounters are the ones in Pathribal, Machail, and Ganderbal. Some of these cases are stuck in both the civil and military courts for prosecution because of the immunity provided to perpetrators under AFSPA. 
The worst form of terrorist business deals was starkly evident during the early days of the turmoil of nineties. On one hand some people patronised militants and used their services to settle scores with others and sometimes blackmailed people to get monetary and other benefits. While on the other hand the security forces started the cordon and search operations to catch suspected militants with the help of gypsy borne informers almost as a daily routine. Hundreds of youth were picked up on mere suspicion. Immediately after a cordon and search operation involving picking up of youth at random, a lot of middlemen would get into action. They would contact the parents or guardians of the youth and offer to get them freed for a price which would range from few thousand rupees to sometimes to couple of lakhs or so depending upon the status of the family. It was the most lucrative business for the security forces personnel and it is alleged that there was also a price in the Ministry of Home Affairs for getting a posting in Kashmir! Apart from this, the entire business of security during the counter-insurgency operations would cost millions and the expenditure was debited to the head, “Security Related Expenditure” also known as “SRE”. All types of expenditures were debited to this head. Sometimes the cost of stay and entertainment of the Home Ministry officials and their families would be debited to “SRE”. The repairs, renovation and furnishing of VIP residences were also debited to this “popular” head of expenditure, “SRE”!
The only way to end this big business of terrorism is to restore peace. On one hand the leaders of the popular movement have to realise that violence will lead nowhere. On the other hand the State can lessen violent acts by revoking all draconian legislations, and introducing accountability for all state forces, Police, Paramilitary and Army. However, these beneficiaries of conflict will never allow return of normal peaceful conditions because of their lucrative vested interests. The vicious circle can only be broken by an honest, just and a strong ruler who values basic human rights above every thing else. There is an extreme scarcity of such rulers in the entire sub-continent and most of the politicians use these extra-constitutional means to further their own interests. We may have to live with the big business of terrorism for quite some time unless there is some unforeseen but welcome divine intervention!

Kashmir’s State Animal, Sheep or Hangul?

                                      

The world famous Hangul (Kashmir Stag) in the Dachigam National Park, faces a mortal threat because of the tussle between two government departments.

The Dachigam National Park which has been the traditional sanctuary of Hangul is more than a century old. It has an area of 141 square kilometres. This National Park had received worldwide acclaim and recognition for the efforts made by the Wild Life Department to preserve this rare species. In fact, in early eighties the population of Hangul which had been reduced to almost 100 or so was restored to about 800 or so. The sanctuary has natural barriers on three sides in the form of high wooded mountains. Only one side is open by closing which it had become a safe place for Hangul. The Sanctuary had been set up in Maharaja’s time. During those days nobody was allowed inside except the Maharaja himself who had constructed a small rest house in Drapahama to observe the rare animal. However, after 1947, the “New Maharajas” of Kashmir converted the Drapahama rest house into a VVIP jaunt which caused a lot of interference to the Hangul population. The second intrusion was the setting up of a Fisheries Trout Farm at Laribal. However, this farm too was in a way a conservation and propagation effort for the rare trout obtained by the Maharaja from Scotland. Moreover, the trout don’t walk on the ground or graze in the meadows. Even though this farm created a disturbance yet the Hangul continued to thrive in spite of it.

The real dangerous threat came when the State Government permitted the raring of sheep within the sanctuary by giving the Animal Husbandry Department 2000 kannals of land. This must be the only sheep breeding farm within a National Park anywhere in the world! One fails to understand why government knowing all the facts about the traditional habitat of the Kashmir Stag allowed a sheep farm to be located inside the sanctuary? The disturbance to Hangul is because of the fact that these animals descend in winters to lower flat grounds in search of food which is provided by the Wild Life Department. Some salt slicks are also provided at different spots on their route in lower flat grounds. On being informed of the threat posed by this farm to the Hangul population by the Wild Life Trust and many experts, the Government decided to shift the sheep farm to some place outside the sanctuary. However, the decision remained in limbo because of the dithering on the part of the government and lobbying by some vested interests. The plea that the sheep rearing is an important economic activity and should be above conservation does not really gel. There are umpteen places in the valley where sheep can be reared but there is only one place where Hangul have been living for more than a century. It is not a big deal to find an alternate pasture and rearing ground for just 800 or so sheep! Ridiculously, the Animal Husbandry department has been pleading for de-notifying the part of the National Park to accommodate their imported sheep!

Dithering in shifting the farm has been classic. In 2005, the State Cabinet took a decision to shift the farm out of the sanctuary to some other suitable pasture of which there are plenty in the valley. However, the decision remained unimplemented. In fact, a committee was constituted to get the decision implemented. The Union Environment Minister even felicitated the State Government through a letter addressed to the Chief Minister for having taken the decision to safe guard the Hangul habitat. Still there was no action on the ground. Finally, the Chief Minister ordered in 2012 that the shifting of the farm be completed before the Durbar move. But the Sheep Husbandry authorities remained unmoved. On the contrary they demanded that the 2000 kannals of land occupied by them should be de-notified as the part of the National Park. There can be nothing more ridiculous than this. The Hangul has a century old habitat while the sheep can be put anywhere for grazing and raring. In fact, there is already a big farm set up by the department in Daksum area. This farm can easily house the 800 or so sheep which are in the sheep farm in the Dachigam National Park.

 In one of the meetings of the State Wild Life Board, Mr. M.K.Ranjit Singh, the President of the Wild Life Trust of India sarcastically observed that the Jammu & Kashmir Government needs to take a decision about its State Animal. The observation was prompted by the refusal of the Animal Husbandry Department in shifting the Sheep Farm from the World famous Dachigam National Park to some other suitable pasture in spite of the cabinet decision and specific orders of the Chief Minister. Mr. Ranjit Singh stated that the Government should decide whether the Sheep or the Hangul is Kashmir’s State Animal as the decision to shift the farm has been pending for almost 8 years now. The world famous Kashmir Stag also known as Hangul is facing a threat of extinction not so much from poachers and exploiters but from the Sheep being reared by the State Government’s Animal Husbandry Department in its traditional sanctuary.

The World Wild Life Fund (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) may soon take note of this deliberate attempt to harm one of the rarest species of the wild animals in the world and both the State and the Central government may face unnecessary embarrassment on this account. The Chief Minister needs to take the matter directly in his hands to safeguard the rare species for which Kashmir is known all over the world. It may be mentioned that Kashmir is home to two rarest species, the Snow Leopard in Ladakh and the Hangul (Kashmir Stag) in Kashmir. These are not only our precious possessions but a great tourist attraction especially for the nature lovers from all over the world. One hopes that as suggested by M.K. Ranjit Singh, there should be no need for the state government to decide whether Sheep or Hangul is our State Animal. The Hangul has been and should continue to be the State Animal of Kashmir if good sense prevails among the rival departments!

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Zubin Breaks “Peace” in Kashmir!

                                                                                         

Instead of taking the feelings of Kashmir to the world to bring “Peace”, Zubin’s musical concert has rather broken the “Peace” here!

In my last column, “The Beautiful Prison Concert” I had mentioned about a popular saying, “Man proposes, God disposes”. Quite often the events take such turns that the result is diametrically opposite to what the planners had intended to achieve from it! This is exactly what has happened during the much hyped Zubin Mehta concert. He had declared that he has come to take the feelings of Kashmir (Ehsaas-e-Kashmir) to the world and it would be a concert for Peace. Whatever may have been his genuine and true intentions, he has succeeded in taking the reality of Kashmir (Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir) to the entire world through the freely flowing blood of Kashmiris. Interestingly, Michael Steiner, the German Ambassador, already known for creating many controversies in the past, has landed himself in yet another controversy! In fact, as reported by New York Times, Nikolaus Bachler, the General Manager of the Bavarian State Opera, whose Orchestra performed in Shalimar, in a written statement said, “We were expecting to play for the people of Kashmir in the spirit of brotherhood and humanity, but the Organisers turned this concert into an exclusive, elitist event for a selected, invited crowd and this understandably became a political issue, which is a pity and against the aim of art.”

The concert itself instead of being lively and warm had a tinge of melancholy over it. Zubin appeared quite tense and not in his real jovial and warm self. Perhaps the tension all round was weighing on his mind? Most of the guests seemed distraught and solemn faced as if instead of a concert, they were sitting in a funeral! The other reason probably was total lack of knowledge and experience about the western classical music among the major portion of the invitees. The grimmest looking were the ministers and bureaucrats sitting in the VIP area. Some of them were restless and some were dozing. A few were rocking in their chairs. A few with Karakul caps and beards were looking quite funny sitting in a western classical music concert. The music appeared total Greek to them even though they may have enjoyed the strains from time to time. They may have never heard the names of Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Hayden! Even the Chief Minister and the Governor appeared quite subdued as they may have been getting reports of the shutdown and the brewing trouble in different parts of the valley.

The start and finish of the concert with the combination of a Kashmiri and a Bavarian Orchestra did not gel. Probably they did not have enough practice in combining the two different strains? It would have been better if the Kashmiris had been allowed to play independently short pieces at the start and the finish to welcome and say good-bye to the Bavarian guests. The music in the romantic garden of Kashmir is an ultimate thing in what the Chief Minister quoting a famous poet, called the Paradise on Earth. The most important ingredient for the show had been the Peace which in the real sense has been missing from the valley notwithstanding the superficial calm. Unfortunately, the show was being held in an imprisoned valley. Apart from the shutdown called by various parties, the government itself had blocked most of the routes not only as a precautionary security measure but to thwart the attendance of youth and civil society members to the parallel show, the reality of Kashmir (Haqeeqat-e-Kashmir) being held at the same time in the municipal park. According to eye witnesses the parallel show was well attended in spite of barricades and hurdles put up by the state authorities and was quite a success. Many were in tears while watching various performances by the youth about the reality of oppression and cruelty being inflicted on Kashmiris for past few decades.

Interestingly, Zubin closed his concert with what he termed as “Thunder and Lightning”. Probably he had some intuition about the guns booming in Badshah Chowk and Shupian? Immediately, after the conclusion, the live telecast continued and one could hear the Azan (the call to prayer) from a local mosque! The Kashmiris need to be thankful to Zubin and Steiner for giving a boost to their movement. Incidentally, the movement in Kashmir has earlier too received a boost by people who never intended to do so. Jagmohan in nineties by ordering massacres including firing on a funeral procession; Sinha by converting the holy pilgrimage into a “Battle for Amarnath” and now Zubin, instead of bringing peace by breaking it!

                                                  

The “Beautiful Prison” Concert!

The proposed concert by the Maestro Zubin Mehta is supposed to convey the “Ehsas-i-Kashmir” or the “Feelings of Kashmir” and also get worldwide recognition for Kashmir’s rich History and Culture. Kashmir’s rich History and Culture is already known world over. What need recognition are the real and true feelings of the majority of Kashmiris at the present moment. The ground reality of Kashmir was described by the European Union delegation some years back. They called it a “Beautiful Prison”! Kashmir has been given many other names and attributes in the recent times. A nuclear flashpoint. Most dangerous place on earth. A troubled paradise. South Asia’s hot spot. The most militarised place on earth. In fact, most of the western countries have been advising their nationals to avoid travel to Kashmir. They all believe that the ground situation in Kashmir is highly combustible notwithstanding the government claims of a tourism boom ushering in normalcy. Even the propagators of tourism normalcy refer to the volatility of the situation. One may not claim it to be a powder keg which would blow up by the lighting of a single match yet no one can dispute the discontent and alienation simmering under the calm surface.
 During the last elections, Chris Morris, the BBC correspondent had reported from Srinagar that he had never seen so many soldiers in civilian areas in any part of the world. The number of soldiers deployed in Kashmir was more than those deployed for elections in the entire length and breadth of Bangladesh at the same time! No one can dispute the fact that Kashmir is the highest militarised area in the world when one compares the number of uniformed people to the local population. There is army, paramilitary troops, and the local police. Even the number of local policemen exceeds a hundred thousand. Apart from massive cantonments housing headquarters of various corps and divisions, the entire area is dotted with army and security camps.
In the past whenever any VIP visits Kashmir, the entire route to the International Convention Centre and the State Guest House at Chashma Shahi where the VIPs usually stay, is closed for days. The whole area is “sanitised” to ensure that no disgruntled Kashmiris are around. The Security bosses take these extra-ordinary measures in view of what they called the “Threat Perception”! It has been reported that for the forthcoming Zubin Mehta Concert a three tier security set up has been envisaged. The whole area may be cordoned off well in advance and may remain so till all the VIPs leave. One wonders what feelings the live telecast of the event would convey to the world? A huge orchestra being conducted by one of the top conductors in the love garden of Shalimar watched by over 1500 invitees, reminiscent of the days of Mughal emperors Shah-i-Jahan and Jahangir conveys “Peace” and “Bonhomie” prevalent in Kashmir. So where is the problem? Shalimar resembles the famous French gardens of Versailles and the concert would be reminding us of Marie Antoinette who on being told that the crowds surrounding her palace did not have bread and water, asked “Why don’t they eat Cakes and drink Champagne?”!
There is one catch in the show. What happens if the dozens of TV teams and other journalists supposed to be covering the show decide to move around in the old city of Srinagar to know the “real” feelings of the people? Will they be allowed to do so or the arranged charter flights would not allow them time to wander around? Additionally, as usual SAS Geelani may save the embarrassment to the government by giving a shutdown call and Yasin Malik too may go for “Shalimar Chaloo” thereby ensuring a declared or undeclared curfew all over the city. Even though such a scenario may save the government from an uneasy media coverage but it may truly convert the event to the “Beautiful Prison” Concert! There is a popular saying, “Man proposes, God disposes”! Quite often the events take such turns that result is diametrically opposite to what the planners had intended to achieve from it! It would be very interesting to watch the concert and its aftermath.

Ode to dying Dal!

The Mughals had made Kashmir their jaunt to escape the scorching heat of the plains. Kashmir Valley for them was a pleasure garden. Love of pleasure has been undoing of Kashmir itself. The last ruler of the sovereign independent state of Kashmir, Yusuf Shah Chak, too was a lover of pleasure and poetry. It is Kashmir’s misfortune that most of the time people think of pleasure and luxury whenever they talk about it. Very few people talk about Kashmiris and their suffering which is centuries old. During the last 65 years and particularly in last couple of decades the local people have seen the worst of times.

They have been oppressed beyond limits. They have seen bloody massacres, tortures, innocent killings, disappearances, mass rapes, and continued detentions within and outside state. Apart from the massive sufferings of the people, the beautiful land of Kashmir and its environment too have been drastically vandalised. Most of the water bodies are either dying or drying up. The River Jhelum once supposed to be Kashmir’s lifeline has turned into sewer. The pride of Kashmir, the green and tall cedar forests have been mowed down like stalks of wheat leaving only rows upon rows of stumps by the timber smugglers in collusion with security forces.

Kashmir in the present state is not looking for a Shah-i-Jahan to soothe peoples’ suffering through music but needs a Budshah to take hold of the situation to redress their grievances and rebuilt Kashmir emotionally, spiritually and physically, as he had done few centuries back!

The German Ambassador Michael Steiner has put together an event to take Kashmir to the world. He feels that the world needs to give recognition to Kashmir, its culture and history. His focus is supposed to be on the people. In an interview to Greater Kashmir Michael Steiner said that he feels an affinity and emotional bond with Kashmir. He had visited Srinagar seven times in a year to set up the event. He claims that it is not a “Peace Concert”. “This is not a solution to anything. This is a purely cultural event”. The concert is being televised live worldwide. There would be 1500 guests from all over the world. If the concert is expected to give recognition to Kashmir, the recognition has to be full and absolute. Truth cannot be compartmentalised. Feelings have to be conveyed in full and not only superficially. Smiling faces and cheering crowds would not convey the bitterness and pain deep within the soul of Kashmir. Yes, it would give true recognition to Kashmir, its culture and history if it motivates the world to look deeper into the psyche of a suffering Kashmiri. It should convey not only the smiles and cheers but the tears and the groans also.

The event being on the banks of a Lake in throes of death makes it pertinent that people take cognizance of the dying groans of this speechless water body neglected and polluted by its owners and guardians. The growth of obnoxious and poisonous weeds including Azola all over the water body shows the pathetic condition in which the Lake is at present. German Government instead of spending millions on a musical concert could initiate a proposal to start a time bound turnkey project by some global companies having expertise in Lake Restoration and Conservation to breathe fresh life in the dying Dal. Incidentally, some years back the Austrian Government had offered to start such a project but the Indian Government turned it down and instead started a consultancy through Roorkee University which has virtually proved fatal for the Lake. There is still time to retrieve the ebbing life of the Lake and it would be a real tribute of the Maestro if his music can awaken the world to the pathetic condition of the dying Dal Lake.

Here, one is reminded about a passage from Salman Rushdie’s novel. “Shalimar, the Clown”. In the novel a similar celebration is held in the Shalimar Garden. The best part of the celebration is a magical show. “A drum boomed immensely in the night, louder and louder, commanding attention. So potent was the drumming that it froze people in their tracks, it silenced the rumours and got everyone’s attention. The little man, Sarkar the magician, was marching down the central avenue of the garden, hammering away at his mighty dhol. Finally, when all eyes were on him, he raised a megaphone to his lips and bellowed, “….. I came here to do something and I’m going to do it. The genius of my magic will triumph over the ugliness of the times. On the seventh beat of my drum, the Shalimar garden will disappear.” He banged the drum, one, two, three, four, five, six times. On the seventh boom, just as he had foretold, the whole Shalimar Bagh vanished from sight. Pitch blackness descended. People began to scream”.

“For the rest of his life the Seventh Sarkar would curse history for cheating him of the credit for the unprecedented feat of “hiding from view” an entire Mughal garden, but most people in the garden that night thought he’d pulled it off, because on the seventh beat of his drum the power station at Mohra was blown to bits by the Pakistani irregular forces and the whole city and region of Srinagar was plunged into complete darkness. In the night-cloaked Shalimar Bagh the earthly version of the tooba tree of heaven remained secret, unrevealed. Abdullah Noman experienced the bizarre sensation of living through a metaphor made real. The world he knew was disappearing; this blind, inky night was the incontestable sign of the times”.

One sincerely hopes, that the Maestro Zubin Mehta may also be able to perform a similar feat and make all the sufferings of Kashmiris disappear in a jiffy even though temporarily!

The State of Jammu (Tawi)!

One distinctly remembers the story which we learnt in our primary schools about the establishment of Jammu. “Raja Jambolochan nay Sher aur Bakri ko ek hi ghat par pani pitay dekha aur iss say kush hokar yehan par Jammu shehar bassaya!” King Jambolochan saw a lion and a goat drinking water at the same spot and was so impressed that he decided to establish the city of Jammu here. Thus the City of Jammu presently known all over as the City of Temples came into being on the banks of River Tawi. Thus, Jammu was initially a City and not a State. Over the years it turned into what is known as the “Dugger Desh”, the country of the Dogras. However, there were other principalities of Rajputs in different parts. Ultimately, during the Dogra period, the Jammu became the Kingdom of Dogras and it expanded into the erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir, clobbered together through conquest of Ladakh by General Zorawar Singh and the purchase of entire valley of Kashmir along with its people from the British by virtue of the infamous treaty of Amritsar.

As mentioned by Kalhan in Rajtarangani, two erstwhile principalities in the Chenab Valley, Kashtavata (the erstwhile district Doda) and Parontsa (Poonch and Rajouri) were always aligned to Kashmir valley because of their Kashmiri speaking population. These two areas were populated by Kashmiris who had migrated from the valley from time to time due to various reasons. In fact, the rulers of these areas had many social connections in the valley. There were inter-marriages between the valley rulers and the rulers of these regions. Even at present the majority of the population in the entire Chenab Valley is Kashmiri speaking. They had been clamouring for getting connected to the valley for a long time. It is very recently that the two roads connecting these regions via Synthan Pass and Pir ki Gali have somewhat been connected directly to the valley. These roads are yet to be made fully macadamized and year round as that requires construction of tunnels at Vailoo and under Pir ki Gali. It is alleged that the authorities have been sleeping over these projects deliberately and have put these on a slow track as they would not like these Kashmiri speaking areas to get fully connected to the valley on a year round basis. That would be paving way for establishment of the erstwhile Greater Kashmir as it had existed for centuries.

The demand for a separate state of Jammu is not a new one. It has been there for quite some time but by a section of people only. In fact, right from the time Maharaja Hari Singh lost his throne, the people of Jammu, especially the Dogras started feeling the loss of their hold on the poor wretched suffering Kashmiris whom they were treating as serfs! The first manifestation of this loss was in the form of the Parija Parishad agitation, “Ek Nishan, Ek Vidhan, Ek Pradhan” aimed at total merger of the state with the Indian Union. This agitation was highlighted by the entire media in India and supported by the rightist parties. Sheikh Abdullah tried to crush the agitation but was severely castigated by the Indian press and many politicians which made him realise his blunder in aligning with India. Since that time a certain section of Jammu people have been blackmailing the valley politicians from time to time by raising these demands going against the aspirations of the Kashmiris.

Before one even thinks about the creation of the new state one has to ascertain whether the majority of the people want it. As already mentioned, the majority of the population in the entire Chenab Valley would prefer to be with Kashmir than with the proposed state of Jammu. The people demanding the creation have also to keep in view the fact that with two and a half districts of Jammu, Kathua, and Udhampur, they would be almost the size of a district of Himachal Pradesh just like Chamba! Moreover, the importance of Jammu is because of it being a take off point for Kashmir and Ladakh. Without these it will lose the economic and other importance. It is true that the state of Jammu & Kashmir is not the creation of a natural voluntary process but it has been clobbered together by the Dogra Maharajas. However, during last 65 years there has been economic, social and cultural integration and the three regions have become dependent on each other. In addition, throughout India and abroad people hardlyknow aboutJammu. They call the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir as Kashmir.

The most alarming thing about the present episode of the separate Jammu State demand has been triggered by the Chief Minister’s suggestive remarks regarding creation of the new state of Telengana. People have been attributing sinister motives to this new episode of the Jammu State agitation. This becomes more sinister by being bracketed with the Union Territory demand of Ladakhis. Some people allege that the whole thing is the creation of certain destructive think tanks who would like to isolate the trouble making Kashmiris to deal with them in a better way as was done in early nineties by Jagmohan. In the end, it may be pointed out that as said by a fellow columnist, the State of Jammu & Kashmir cannot be divided for any purposes without the United Nations coming in. It is still on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council and we have the United Nations Military Observer Group very much present in Srinagar and Islamabad!

“K-resolution”, the new election slogan!

It is now become a routine that just prior to the election time political parties come out with some catchy slogans to get attention of the people. Right from 1947 people have been fooled with newer slogans by various political leaders. The saying that the “Democracy is a balloon filled with hot air. Fools watch it, when it rises and the clever pick their pockets”, appropriately fits Kashmir elections. This game of fooling each other has been now going on for quite some time. Both the leaders and the people know that they are fooling each but they still carry on the drama just for their own vested interests. Everyone knows that the mainstream leaders have neither the intention nor the power to do anything about the basic political problem in Kashmir. These leaders are simply fighting each other to gain the power and the benefits associated with it. They know that ultimately they have to toe the line drawn by their masters in Delhi. It is amusing to hear some leaders say that they will get the basic issue of Kashmir resolved if they come to power. In the same breath they claim that Kashmir cannot go out of India as it is an integral part. How can they reconcile the two contradictory statements? Then what is the resolution that will fulfill the basic aspirations of the Kashmiris without going out of India in view of 65 years bad experience?
Another aspect is the call for boycott given by the parties claiming to be struggling for the basic rights of Kashmiris. This very much suits the ruling parties as in the absence people coming out to vote in large numbers, they can easily rig the elections and get their own people elected. Again there is a catch. When the people genuinely and honestly want to come out and vote to elect their own representatives, the elections are again rigged. This is what happened in 1987. The elected representatives were shown to have lost and were jailed. No body honestly believes in the veracity and impartiality of these elections. This is in reality an exercise to continue the mainstream set up by hook or by crook regardless of peoples’ following.
The most humorous and amusing is the discovery made by the present head of the government regarding the basic aspirations of Kashmiris. He has discovered these truths only towards the end of his tenure. After having toed the Delhi’s line meekly for almost 5 years, he is now challenging it regarding various basic issues. All these years he looked like a joker trying to please everyone. On one hand he appeared a champion of peoples’ basic rights by demanding revocation of the draconian legislation AFSPA while on the other hand he ate a humble pie when Delhi refused to budge. He did not have the courage to revoke his own law, the Disturbed Areas Act which would have let AFSPA die its own death. Of course, he would have lost the chair and the power and goodies associated with it.
Earlier these mainstream leaders were claiming that the state elections are not for the resolution of the basic problem but simply to ensure good governance to take care of day to day affairs of the common people. Now, they have suddenly discovered that these elections can enable them to solve the basic political problem and get the people some relief from the oppressive situation. The changeover is simply because of their total failure to deliver on the governance front. Having miserably failed to provide Bijli, Panni and Saddak, they do not have the courage to face the electorate with the same slogan! People of course know that these leaders have failed to provide them the basic necessities especially the power which has seen the worst situation in last few decades. How can they now solve the basic issue that too with the toeing of the Delhi line of Kashmir being an integral part of India? People may still go and vote and create another façade of a democratic peoples’ government with only the change of faces of the puppets on Delhi’s strings. The theatre of the absurd would continue as per the past practice. There does not seem any immediate escape from this drama and we may be destined to carry it on for some time. One does not see any light at the end of the tunnel due to the continuing mistrust between the two neighbouring countries totally embroiled in their own problems of senseless violence and the worst form of corruption!