The Kashmir Scenario Exclusive
Kashmir Valley in 2013 has witnessed once again hot political events. This year saw the execution of Afzal Guru. In a top secret operation on February 9, 2013, Saturday morning, the 2001 Parliament attack case convict Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged and buried inside the Tihar Jail. His killing followed an emotional outburst in entire Kashmir Valley which leads to several protests across length and breadth of valley and subsequent action by State forces led to killing of several protesters and injuring scores.
This period has also seen Kashmir once again being rattled with deadly militant attacks and encounters. The fire in Kashmir Valley was further ignited when Army killed two youth in Markundal village in north Kashmir’s Sumbal Township in the wee hours of Sunday, 30 June 2013, leading to widespread protests not only in the village but at different places of valley especially Bandipora district.
The slain youth were identified as Irfan Ahmad Ganaie (18), son of Ghulam Nabi Ganie of Markundal village and Irshad Ahmad Dar (27), son of Ghulam Mohidin Dar of Kunbal Sumbal.
Amid all these painful crises, Kashmir has witnessed according to many voices not so bold response from the entire pro-freedom leadership who according to them has not come upto mark to give any concrete and unified programmes to masses so as to forcefully champion their cause.
Also, soon after Sumbal killings the chalo call given to bereaved villages which was left applicable only for two districts viz. Bandipora and Ganderbal and this move too has drawn flak from the some quarters of masses both on ground and on social networking world. Many also believe that in addition to Hartals, the pro-freedom leadership also needs to come up with other forms of diverse ways of protests.
Mushtaq ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, a political analyst stated –“The whole separatist or resistance leadership of Jammu & Kashmir is suffering from crisis, both internal and external. This crisis is reflected in their resistance plans and road maps.
Except for useless strikes they can find no other alternative of depicting anger and resentment of masses towards the policies of the State. Now these strike calls have also been confined to certain districts where the killings or atrocities are perpetuated on common innocent masses. This confinement of resistance is fracturing the social solidarity and unity of masses that forms backbone of any resistance. If resentment or anger to killings and atrocities are depicted only in the district or place where the victims belong to it will evidently lead to alienation of the victimized areas. They will feel isolated in their victimhood, with the result that collective protests and mourning will become a thing of the past.
By confining the strikes and protests to certain districts is to further divide masses that resistance leadership seems to be too naive to conceive about its ramifications. The need of the hour for the resistance camp is to create unity among their ranks that will lead to a joint strategy of a creative resistance plan, otherwise they are surely bound to lose their relevance if these types of ill-conceived strategies of resistance are chalked out by them that fragment rather than unite the masses towards a collective goal.”
Advocate Babar Qadri, an eminent lawyer and human rights activist while reflecting on the situation stated -“This is highly painful and shameful on part of our pro-freedom leadership to offer timid response to the killing of our innocent youth by Indian army. We are shocked when we witness the protest programmes issued in this regard and it is disappointing to note that District wise programmes are issued as if mourning or resistance should be limited only to that district which has lost someone. All these realities look messy and highlight inefficiency of our pro-freedom leadership. They are dangerously dividing us on regional basis. Knowingly or unknowingly the Hurriyat Conference is not able to give a proper shape to resistance programmes of our pious freedom struggle.”
But some have a different take over this issue. Zamrooda Habib, Chairperson of the Muslim Khwateen Markaz states -“It is a part of the strategy to ask people from particular District to march to the pain hit villages as one has witnessed continuously that authorities impose curfew if the chalo call was given for entire Kashmir. So with this unprecedented oppression and curbs the strategy from time to time has to be revisited and drafted in accordance with the given situation.”
Nayeem Ahmad khan also echoes the same sentiment and states -“Social networking opinion does not necessarily reflect the ground opinion and one has to bear in mind that Pro-freedom leadership on most of instances faces different curbs and restrictions and this adversely impacts their programmes.”
But even some voices within pro-freedom camp are aghast over the road map followed by Pro- Azaadi leadership. Engineer Hilal Ahmad war, Pro-freedom leader and Chairman Jammu and Kashmir People’s Political Party and an eminent pro-freedom leader stated – “I don’t know what road map is being followed and what strategy is being drafted by prominent pro-freedom leader Syed Ali shah Geelani which looks visionless to say the least. It is quiet wisdomless to think that if a youth has been martyred from Ganderbal or Bandipora only the people of that need to mourn. Whether it is a guy getting martyred in Srinagar or Ganderbal, he is a martyr of whole Kashmir Nation not just of that place. The pro-freedom leaders especially Geelani sahib also needs to issue hartals calls even when our freedom fighters are martyred in Tral, Sopore or any other area. Their current strategy looks visionless. We also need to be at different designated places on regular basis offer absentia funeral prayers for our martyrs.”
Gulzar Ahmad, a layman stated -” It is highly appreciable to witness that we are still sustaining our fight for freedom, but with this we are also in great need of a single platform and single draft. It is shameful to see that the so called pro freedom leadership doesn’t have a single unification goal. Instead of fighting with India, they are fighting with each other.
Leaders like Syed Ali shah Geelani released a Book targeting JKLF, and then recently JKLF started targeting Mirwaiz Umer. All these differences within the leadership are lowering the morale of the movement. I just want to state calling for Hartals and chalo is a part of the movement but it should be given through a unified platform or else it will never remain a nationalist Movement.
Over the past few years both voices and experts have been stating that Separatist or Pro-Freedom camp in J&K is suffering from acute multi-dimensional and varied problems, that range from institutional to ideological.
On the one side of spectrum there is ideological confusion and on the other side there seems to be clear cut lack of vision. There is a lack of what we call as proactive engagement, policy or plan about the pro – resistance programmes.