Fatigue Syndrome or Blurred Vision!

Is the present uncertainty in Kashmir’s popular movement due to leaders’ fatigue or because of a blurred vision of the future?

Recently a columnist friend wrote that the popular movement in Kashmir is suffering from a fatigue syndrome. It is the fatigue among some of its prominent leaders. The fatigue syndrome according to the columnist is supposed to have afflicted even the sub-continent’s most famous and popular leaders like Gandhi and Jinnah during the Indian Freedom Movement. According to him, this onset of fatigue among Kashmir’s present leaders is supposed to have been occurring in earlier episodes of the movement also. The first to be fatigued had been Sheikh Abdullah, the lion of Kashmir. In fact, he suffered pangs of fatigue right in 1968 according to the above mentioned columnist. 1975 was the culmination of the fatigue when he fell into the arms of Indira Gandhi throwing to winds his decades of struggle including 22 years of incarceration in Indian prisons!


Of course, fatigue is a human failing and no mortal can escape it. Fatigue is also often accentuated by frustration. However, the moot point is to locate the primary cause of the fatigue and to know the difference between the physical and mental fatigue. Any human who does not have a clear vision and a specific goal always gets frustrated and develops both the mental and the physical fatigue. People with a clear vision of the future hardly get fatigued! Take the example of a mountaineer. No climber ever gives up his expedition because of fatigue. He may be delayed or hampered by the vagaries of weather, difficulty of the route but never by fatigue. The main reason behind this is his will to go on as he has a clear and definite goal of reaching the summit. One is reminded of a famous verse of Dr. Iqbal, the poet of the East in which he says that an eagle that soars in the sky never falls from its flight due to fatigue!


If one scans the history of Kashmir’s freedom movement, it transpires that the goals given to the people at various stages were limited, sometimes vague and abstract. There never has been any attempt to give a clear and distinct vision of the future. The present awakening started with the presentation of a memorandum to the Viceroy regarding the rights of Muslims in Kashmir. The real impetus was given by the 1931 uprising but the goal had been to get basic rights. However, in 1946 for the first time there was open revolt against the autocracy when Maharaja was asked to “Quit Kashmir”. Unfortunately, the leader of that uprising joined the government of the same Maharaja and supported his accession to the Indian Union. The partition of the sub-continent confused the Kashmiris. They had a choice to join either of the dominions through their autocratic ruler. There was a third choice of remaining as an independent sovereign entity. Had the people supported the Maharaja for this third choice, things may have been different.


Since that first confusion, nobody has given a clear cut goal to the people. All speak of the basic right of self-determination but what happens once the choice is given? What is the best alternative for the people that can allow them to lead a life of dignity and honour? “Azadi” is an abstract concept. One has to give a material and practical shape to it. Once a goal is defined in precise and concrete terms, then the route to reach the goal has to be worked out. It is like a mountaineer. After having decided the peak he wants to climb, he surveys the most practical and safe route to reach it. Then he goes by stages through various camps on the mountain. However, he always has the vision of climbing the summit as the ultimate goal. Thus the first thing for a Kashmiri leader is to give a precise goal of a political set up in very concrete and lucid terms where a Kashmiri can lead a peaceful life with dignity and honour. What could be the ultimate set up? Integral part of India or Pakistan? Autonomous status or Self-rule? Independent sovereign state of Kashmir? A practically possible and sustainable set up has to be envisaged in the prevailing circumstances where Kashmiris could live with dignity and honour. A complete blue-print for that set up needs to be drawn and then a road map to reach that goal has to be charted out. A leader may not achieve that goal in his own lifetime but he can show the way and carry on as long as he is there. Once this objective is distinct and clear like a mountain summit, then there will be no fatigue. So, let a debate begin on chalking out the ultimate goal in definite and precise terms where Kashmiris will be able to live with dignity and honour! Abstract goals will give nothing but fatigue!

PM Modi keeps Kashmir guessing?

During his first visit to Kashmir Modi kept everyone guessing

A Delhi based national daily had speculated that PM Modi may give a surprise during his Kashmir visit. He did give a surprise! Complete silence about Kashmir’s basic political problem. However, contrary to many such media speculations, he stuck to the agenda he had been advancing during his election campaign. On his first visit to the state he revealed his mind-set through his three gestures. The first was the affirmation of his creed through a visit to the holy shrine of Shri Mata Vaishnovdevi Ji where he flagged off the first train from Katra to Delhi. According to him, this step has thrown open the Shrine to 123 crore Indians? Thereby, he too has confirmed the obsession of many Indian leaders to look for a Hindu connection of Kashmir to Hindu India! All of them seem to be uncomfortable in accepting the Muslim majority character of the state even though the locals do not practise the extremist variety of Islam, the religion of peace. Some had even speculated that to strike a balance he would visit a Sufi Shrine also. However, one would be naïve to expect this from a person who refused to wear a Muslim skull cap during his election campaign!
The second gesture during his visit was to inaugurate the Uri-II power project. His power minister declared that this project would supply power to north India! NHPC (National Hydro-electric Power Corporation of India) which is managing the power house has been nicknamed in Kashmir as the East India Company as it has been robbing Kashmir of its most precious resource, the hydro-electric power potential. The corporation has grown to a colossal set up with thousands of crores of profit from the power houses set up by it in Kashmir. He affirmed that there would be more “Exploitation” of the resource. The so called mainstream political leaders especially belonging to Abdullah dynasty have been a party in allowing NHPC to rob Kashmiris of their precious resource. It is a tragedy that in spite of the massive potential Kashmiris face a perennial power famine thanks to its corrupt mainstream leaders! Instead of sympathising with Kashmiris for this injustice and promising to correct it, he affirmed his faith in the doings of the East India Company and their future programmes!
Finally, he bestowed his full blessings on the Army whom he addressed in the Badami Bagh Cantonment, a relic of the erstwhile Dogra rule. He not only paid homage to the martyrs but promised the soldiers the newest and the most modern weapons knowing fully well the gulf between the common Kashmiris and the Army because of the happenings of last two decades. There has been a continuous demand from all quarters to lessen the presence of Army and other Security Forces in civilian areas and also to revoke the notorious legislation of AFSPA giving unbridled powers and total immunity to soldiers in their actions against the civilian population. Not a word about it!
The Prime Minister declared that he wants to win the hearts and minds of the people through development. Can someone win broken hearts and disturbed minds through development? Broken hearts and disturbed minds can only be won by putting a soothing balm of love and understanding on these. Roads, buildings, power houses, railway lines do not repair broken hearts nor do these soothe the tense and stressed minds. No doubt corruption free good governance has been missing from Kashmir for a pretty long time yet the immediate need is to soothe Kashmir by dealing with the basic political problem which has given a perennial uncertainty to the whole situation. He declared that it was his responsibility to improve the quality of life of the people and meet their aspirations. Well, the whole world knows what Kashmiris have been aspiring for. A life of honour and dignity! Economic development alone cannot give respect and dignity to the people. He also affirmed to carry forward the mission of Vajpayee. PM Narendra Modi is known to be meticulous, shrewd, and moves forward after going into the minutest detail. He must have noted the protest and the total shutdown in Kashmir during his visit. The diplomatic coup at his swearing in ceremony is an indication of the working of his mind. Let us hope he really gives a surprise in regard to Kashmir at the appropriate time after weighing all pros and cons?

Personality Cult and Dynastic Succession

Both have ruined not only Kashmir’s political set up but almost every other civil institution.

In most of the South Asian countries there is a virtual disease of worshipping personalities and promoting dynastic succession in all spheres of life including the ruling set ups. Be it Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan or India, the story is same. Political leaders are anointed virtually as kings and queens and allowed to rule in a dynastic succession. In many of these countries claiming to be democracies, the reality is quite the opposite. These countries more or less function as erstwhile Kingdoms with the worst kind of nepotism. Quite often stalwart leaders rise from the masses and lead people to emancipation but subsequently they indulge in nepotism by perpetuating their dynasties as the future rulers. Some have even been treated as lifelong rulers throwing all principles of democracy to the winds! Invariably, most of these nepotistic rulers have had violent or disgraceful ends!
Ferdinand Marcos and Imelda Marcos; Dr. Sukarno and Megawati Sukarnoputri; Solomon Bandaranayke and Sirimavo Bandaranayake; Mujiburahman and Sheikh Hasina; Zulfiqar Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto and then the whole Nehru family from Jawahar Lal to Rahul Gandhi. A continuous chain of nepotistic and dynastic rulers! The worst has been the India’s Nehru family. For almost half a century they have ruled the country making it a dynastic succession similar to the old times of kings and queens. Indira Gandhi was even presented to the simple village folk as a Goddess! The Nehru family has finally met its nemesis during the recent election. Similar is the Abdullah dynasty of Kashmir. It is an unfortunate and tragic tale of nepotism and dynastic rule. This dynasty too has met its nemesis. Had Sheikh Abdullah not been raised to a virtual colossus and worshipped by Kashmiris, the story of Kashmir may have been different. The most ironic facet of this tragic story is the highly guarded tomb of this colossus! He is probably the only dead not being worshipped by the allegedly dead worshipping Kashmiris!
One would not blame Kashmiris too much about the personality cult. It is in the psyche of a Kashmiri. For almost 5000 years Kashmiris have been ruled by kings and queens. So in 1947 it was but natural that Kashmiris were looking for a king to rule over them. Unfortunately, the king betrayed the very people who had anointed him as a virtual emperor! There is a strange dichotomy in this whole affair. Kashmir is a Muslim majority area. Islam is totally opposed to personality cult and the dynastic succession. Some say that Kashmiris did not convert to Islam but adapted Islam to their traditional way of life which they always refuse to give up! Unfortunately, this personality cult and dynastic succession has seeped into all the institutions including the religious ones. Many civil institutions have also developed same personality cult involving lobbying and political manoeuvring.
The tradition of royalty and dynastic succession has been introduced by the West in the Islamic countries particularly in the Middle East for their own personal interests especially those related to energy sources. They started with the Saudis who have a fully entrenched and well-guarded royalty surviving because of the American support. There are supposed to be 5000 Saudi Princes. Many other Muslim countries have suffered or at present suffering from this dynastic succession.
Kashmir has had a revolutionary change in the recent times. The new generation does not seem to be fond of personalities. They are more inclined towards ideology and convictions. This is the first step towards total emancipation. We have to be emancipated from these personalities and dynasties to allow us to move forward. It needs a change in the mind-set. People must say good-bye to “Brinjal and Gourd” slogans. There should be no more “Alle Kare Wangan Kare, Bab Kare!” The youth have to first study the history of the nation, understand the present situation and the path to the ultimate emancipation. They must then take practical steps to realise the goal of their convictions through capable, honest and sincere leaders. If a leader commits a deliberate mistake or misleads, he is to be discarded and a new capable leader chosen. The days of the blind following are over. The new age is of inquisitiveness, enlightenment, self-respect and the dignity of the individual as well as the nation. If the new generation follows this principle meticulously, we are sure to reach the goal of total emancipation.

Pushravith Chay Wavsi Nao!

A Kashmiri proverb aptly describing the leaderless Kashmiri nation!

For past sometime, the people have been receiving various directives from the leaders for shutdowns and marches. Shutdowns have in the long run harmed common people more than given any nightmares to the authorities in Srinagar and Delhi. The marches as usual have been scuttled by confining people to their homes by imposing “Restrictions” or by the now notorious illegal measure, the “Undeclared Curfew”! This situation is best described by the Kashmiri proverb saying that the boat has been left at the mercy of the winds!
Any boat moving in water be it a river or a lake, needs apart from the oarsmen, someone to hold the rudder and steer it towards a particular destination. The strength and ability of a rudder man is under severe test during a storm. Such a storm has risen by the unprecedented victory of the “Saffron Brigade” in India. If the rudder man of the boat has the grit and cool he can steer it in spite of the lashing winds and take it along with its occupants to the ultimate destination. If the rudder man abandons his boat in a storm, it is then along with the passengers at the mercy of the winds. In such an event, the boat has no chance of either reaching the destination or even being saved from capsizing along with the occupants! This is precisely what is happening to the people of Kashmir at the present juncture. The boat has been left at the mercy of the lashing winds! No one knows where it will go or even whether it will float or capsize?
Before one contemplates the fate of the drifting boat of Kashmir it would be useful to first outline as to what this boat comprises of and who all are in it. Presently Kashmir all over the world is taken to be the erstwhile princely State of Jammu and Kashmir. The word Kashmir embraces all the parts of the state and the people living therein. Various parts of the state are under the administration of three countries. China holds Aksai Chin part of Ladakh through which it has taken a road to connect Tibet with Sinkiang. Pakistan administers the part of Kashmir known as Azad Kashmir and a separate area earlier called Northern Areas and now known as Gilgit-Baltistan. This area is virtually merged into Pakistan as it is directly controlled from Islamabad. India has Jammu, Ladakh and the valley of Kashmir under its administrative control. Thus Kashmir is not a single boat but a full-fledged flotilla.
Most of the individual boats in the flotilla except Kashmir are nearer their goals or have almost reached these. It is practically the valley of Kashmir with its periphery of Kashmiri speaking people, historically called the “Greater Kashmir” which is still adrift. Even though there are plenty of oarsmen ready to row the boat to a particular destination yet the boat is adrift and left on the mercy of winds because there is no one to chart a course and steer it by holding the rudder! A ship without a captain can never reach the destination. The immediate task for a real captain of the Kashmiri ship or the boat is to separate his vessel from a flotilla going in different directions. He has to then confirm the destination where his passengers want to go. After this he must chart a course to reach it and steer the boat accordingly.
Unfortunately, none of the leaders from every side is clear about the ultimate goal and the ways and the means to reach it. Confused leaders are giving confused goals.  Everything is vague. The mainstream leaders give goals for good governance on one hand and at the same time claim to lead the people to the final solution of the political problem. Because of the corrupt system nurtured and headed by them, so far they have miserably failed in achieving both their professed aims. On the other hand, the leaders heading the popular movement seem to be confused about the goal as well as the road to reach it. The first task for them is to define in concrete and lucid terms the goal they want people to reach. Moreover, the goal has to be the one realistically achievable and not a utopian dream! Merely saying that this would be done once the people are given the right to decide their future dispensation is leaving the goal as something vague and shrouded in mystery! After presenting a concrete and achievable goal, one has to show the practical means to reach there and then be a guide to tread the path. A practically achievable goal given by honest and sincere leaders automatically creates an urge among the people to reach it. As the famous poet of the East, Dr. Iqbal has said in the famous couplet, in servitude the swords and strategies do not work. If one has the strength of conviction and the urge, the chains fall off on their own! 

Asking Lotuses from the Lotus Eaters

In response to Arun Jaitley's recent statement about Kashmir

Arun Jaitley, the new Indian Finance and Defence Minister during his recent visit to Kashmir valley while addressing the BJP workers asked them to give him five Lotus Flowers from Kashmir. “Give me at least five Lotus flowers from Kashmir in Assembly polls. This is a land of Saffron and Lotus. I need five flowers from this land”. He probably did not know that Kashmir is also known as the “Land of the Lotus Eaters”! Kashmiris are very fond of the seeds and the roots of the Lotus flower and have been eating these for centuries. Lotus is also the symbol of BJP and Saffron is their colour. Interestingly, Kashmir has been extensively referred in Greek chronicles, the Chinese Annals of the Tang dynasty, and Arabic literature.  From the ancient times, Kashmiris have been connected extensively with the lands in the West and the North. Compared to this there is lamentable lack of exact geographical mention of Kashmir in Sanskrit literature. Judging from the extreme scantiness of the data, it is clear that Kashmir to them was a country foreign and remote in every way. The name Kasmira is mentioned as the designation of the country and its people but in a very vague fashion. The Mahabharata refers in many passages to Kasmiras and their rulers but in a general manner without giving distinct location of the country. The most specific piece of information regarding Kashmir that Sanskrit literature outside the Valley furnishes is in the term Kasmira or Kasmiraja that designates Saffron and Kustha for which it was famous since ancient times. In that regard, Arun Jaitley is very correct. Kashmir for Indians generally denoted the land of Saffron. Lotus does not find any mention as there was no BJP then!
As India is now totally Saffron coloured so they are very keen to own and keep the ancient Land of Saffron. Unfortunately for them, the land is now totally coloured in Green. The transformation took place in the most peaceful way though the most revered saint of Kashmir, Mir Sayed Ali Hamadani popularly known as Shah-i-Hamadan. However, Kashmiris have been so much impressed by the mysticism of these saints that there has been no violence against other religions. It is the most tolerant Islamic Society in the world. Violence whenever it has occurred has been imported and not of Kashmiri origin. The most famous symbol of Kashmir known throughout the world these days is the green Chinar. One fails to understand why everyone from India wants to revive the long past ancient Hindu history of Kashmir rather than accept its present very tolerant Islamic character? Kashmir can only fit in the Indian mosaic if it is allowed to retain its present colour.
Arun Jaitley did not even have the courtesy to ask for the Lotus flowers in humility! He threatened the people with the rod of AFSPA and the Indian Constitution. One cannot expect a person of such stature to be oblivious of the ground situation in Kashmir. It would have been more humble and appropriate if he had paid his homage to the Sufi Saints of Kashmir. He should have as a gentleman declared that his government would definitely honour the wishes and the aspirations of the local people in a non-violent manner. He could have offered a corruption free governance and freedom of expression. Arun Jaitly should have remembered Pandit Kalhana’s saying, “The country of Kashmir may be conquered by the force of spiritual merit, but not by the force of soldiers”!
However, much water has flown down Jhelum during the last couple of decades. The new generation of Kashmiris is totally alienated and refuses to be cowed done by the rod of AFSPA or the Indian Constitution. They have been pelting stones against the bullets. It would be advisable for the Indian Lotus to respect the Kashmir’s natural green colour and not try for the saffronisation of the valley. The valley’s new generation is capable of not only eating the Indian Lotus but its roots also! Who knows the valley may prove the ultimate nemesis for the Indian Lotus?

KHEER BHAWANI MELA

GREETINGS TO ALL MY KASHMIRI PANDIT FRIENDS ON KHEER BHAWANI MELA. THE COLOUR OF THE SPRING IS BLUISH WHITE WHICH IS SUPPOSED TO BE A GOOD OMEN FOR KASHMIR.

Part-time freedom fighters!

Kashmir’s leaders now appear to be fighting for freedom on part-time basis

If one takes 1931 as the real starting year of the freedom movement in Kashmir then the struggle has been going on now for almost 83 years ! This movement has seen many ups and downs, twists and turns. A few generations have passed since the start of the movement. However, the ultimate goal still appears distant. There have been many upheavals, some very bloody during the course of this movement. The decade of nineties was probably the bloodiest in the entire struggle when over a hundred thousand people were killed. Thousands disappeared without a trace and are still unaccounted for. Dozens of mass graves of unknown people are scattered all over the valley. In spite of all the turns and twists, the sentiment of “Azadi” continues to be very strong among one and all. “Azadi” may not seem to be round the corner but it continues to be the cherished dream of every freedom loving Kashmiri. There is a deceptive perception that Kashmiris have reconciled to the status quo. The reality is totally different from the appearance. As a British author has said, a Kashmiri never opens his heart to an outsider and no one can truly know what is really in his heart! One has also to concede that a Kashmiri is a very intelligent person. Centuries of oppressive rule have taught him many ways of survival in the most difficult conditions. His newest strategy is to keep the sentiment alive and at the same time continue to survive against all odds.
Kashmiris have often been given the label of the “Lotus Eaters” in a derogatory sense for their apathy and very stoical behaviour. However, history of the freedom movement makes them the “Lotus Eaters” of a different kind. They behave like a sleeping giant who wakes up from time to time to claim his basic rights and then goes back to deep sleep! Even if Kashmiris behave as periodic lotus eaters yet no one can deny the fact that they are great survivors. Any other nation in their place would have vanished after centuries of extreme oppression. However, their main misfortune has been their leadership. They have been sold and resold by their own so called leaders. It has always been the deprived class which has been exploited by these so called leaders. The upper classes from all sides have been the beneficiaries. The situation has been compounded at present by the leaders, who are themselves confused about the goals they ask their followers to pursue! Some of them professing to follow the so called mainstream promise the people improvement in governance and living conditions but end by leaving them on the road side in the worst conditions than they were earlier. Some others promise total emancipation where they will live with dignity and self-respect but fail to define exactly in what type of a political status that would be possible and how to attain that. Confused leaders with confused goals!
The Kashmiri elite have one point programme of making money and getting material possessions. They do cherish the sentiment of “Azadi” but at the same time want good living. In last two decades more than a couple of lakh new houses have been built all over the valley. The city of Srinagar has expanded more than 30 kilometres across. Paddy lands have been wantonly converted into orchards or utilised for constructing houses and shops. Some of the new houses must have cost crores of rupees to build especially with all imported fittings, furnishing and so on. All this has been dead investment especially with over half a million unemployed youth. Every year Kashmir imports over rupees 500 crores worth cars of all makes! This money could have been utilised in productive investment in agriculture, horticulture, floriculture and animal husbandry providing many employment opportunities. All this freely available money has turned us into morons shunning manual labour for which we have imported almost a million outsiders. We have workers both skilled and unskilled from Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal, Assam, and Punjab. There are also some from Orissa and some other states. These people apart from working as domestic help work in paddy fields, on construction sites and so on. They work as carpenters, plumbers, mechanics and even as bakers and sweet/pudding sellers at different shrines. In winter some of these outsiders especially Biharis work in harissa shops! Even Kashmir’s traditional cooks Wazas are employing Biharis as additional hands. The way the leaders are now fighting for freedom on part time basis, a day is not far off when we may outsource this movement also! In fact, there has been loud talk sometime back about Taliban coming to Kashmir after American exit from Afghanistan. Kashmiris have always been secretly harbouring a wish that someone else preferably from outside may get them emancipated! They had been banking upon for a long time on Pakistan to do the needful but now they have given up this hope because that state itself is in doldrums. There is so much bleeding going on within their own country that they have forgotten the jugular vein! Some have even been wishing USA to bail out Kashmir.
So, if Kashmiris want “Azadi”, they have to first make up their mind and convert their wish into an urge! One does not need to be a violent militant to be a freedom fighter. If one develops the urge, the chains fall off on their own!