Shreen Hamdani
Dating back in the history of politics, when Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah turned his quote from Muslim conference and carved out National Conference, defecting himself from party, shot him to prominence and one who didn’t favor them were labeled as separatist. The politics of separatism is not a new marvel at all. In the political spectrum, Kashmir has remained hotbed of conflict ideologies all the time and it has been decades now where people are still fighting for the freedom.
Since the awakening movement of 1930 till the eruption of militancy in 1990, youth were not well qualified. Some of them joined militancy on emotional background while some were forced into it through oppression and injustice. Many of them didn’t know the motto of movement and later some became renegades and some received the ex-gratia of one lakh rupees on behalf of the militant tag.
However, today’s scenario is completely different. Since the 2008 unrest when Amarnath Land Row agitation was in limelight ; piled up with 2009(double rape and murder case)agitation and followed by 2010 (killing of Tufail Matoo, followed 150 innocent killings)agitation; social networking played a vibrant role in expressing their anger and hatred against Indian government in Kashmir. Eventually young generation realized how Indian government has betrayed them every now and then. Youth decided to choose the path to fight and struggle till freedom and for their Right to self-determination. The present Scenario is completely different to that of the 90’s. Today it is the highly qualified generation of Kashmir who has come in encounter with the Indian Forces. The fight is no more with the illiterates, but with engineers and scholars of present Kashmir. The change is not because of the movement of anti- Indian leaders or parties like Hurriyat (G) or Hurriyat (M) which let them to motivate and cherry-pick to become militants but it is nurturing the ideology at the very same time. Although it is because contemporarily youth are literate and aspiring professionals as well; they have come to know that India is cheating them. Economically they are excoriating their resources and politically they are bankrupting them. It is merely the desire of being free, free from Indian Administered system, free from AFSPA and their draconian laws, free from tortures, atrocities and innocent killings.
Many people even believe that there is the policy of Indian Government which is willfully promoting corruption and fabricating the morality of locals to deviate them from their mission.
“It has been witnessed that Delhi always use dilly-dally tactics about the vexed issue of Kashmir and comes up with impractical cosmetic changes to halt the ongoing movements for a time being. The think tank of India is consciously changing the attitudinal and behavioral changes among common man of Kashmir via social engineering mechanism. In 1990 Indian Government announced that any person killed in cross firing will get an ex-gratia. This favour was completely refused by the people of Kashmir, but after three years in 1993, the scenario shifted when many approached the authorities to get that fixed amount. This proved how the policies of India succeeded in penetrating the moral fabric in our society”, a prominent scholar (name withheld) said.
“They promoted corruption, drugs and all types of evils so that we will drift away from our moral values and religion, once you are drifted away from religion you become easy prey to temptations and once you become easy prey to temptations, you are open to accept all compromises”, he/she added.
Despite of misleading the new generation of Kashmir, separatism politics has immense inclination towards youth. The dangerous trend of joining militancy by the literate and highly qualified youth is emerging even bamboozling the ruling Government.
On ground zero level, Kashmiri people are unpredictable about compromising the aggravated issue because they are transmitting pro-Kashmir feeling genetically, anti- Indian feeling is sometimes hibernated or dormant but they still exist there in some corner of their hearts and minds.
Time is now where the younger generation of Kashmir count themselves as children of conflict. This is because of the trauma in which they lived throughout their childhood.
“If there is silence over sometime, it should not be considered as peace because subjugation over centuries has made us patient and it can burst up into worst volcano anytime. We have developed the tendency of cocooning our emotional feelings. We are yet dormant against India but one should not forget that ‘weather and political situation’ of Kashmir is always unpredictable”, a political science student said.
“India treats us like piglets and it is not a complicated job for them to kill a Kashmiri and brand him as a terrorist. We are being discriminated at every corner”, he added.
However, it is seen that the so-called pro-Kashmiri leaders are indulged in fragmenting their own parties. As the new elections are imminent in 2014, all politicians are vigilant in showing up their duty towards society. The new breakthrough of Khursheed Alam’s joining PDP from an assumed Pro-freedom and National Conference bastion was limelight for the past week. And new party ‘Awami Intihada’ of Er. Rashid Langate is now seeking support from public to become hero of upcoming unrest.
A renowned political analyst and writer, Mushtaq-ul-haq Sikander stated, “Separatist or Pro freedom camp in J&K is suffering from multi-dimensional problems, which range from institutional to ideological. There is ideological confusion and lack of vision. There is a lack of Proactive engagement, policy or plan about resistance. Every act of their resistance is reactive in nature, and no resistance can survive on reactions for long. A lack of internal democracy and external accountability adds to insult to the already frail resistance. They talk of democracy but rarely are head of a separatist political party removed through elections. Their party cadre is based more on Hero worship and dictatorship, than on democracy and transparency. They are not ready to listen to new voices and accommodate the youth”.
“Every separatist party is more than happy to survive in its cozy cocoon. Their fat egos, lack of tolerance, different goals and varied course of actions is reinforcing their division. Since more than a decade, the different separatist parties have failed to unite even on bare common minimum objectives. Now washing their dirty linen in public is helping strengthen their enemies. Plus the royal life style of most of them, with ever growing bank balances, huge properties, plush cars and large living mansions are driving a wedge between them and masses, whose representation and leadership they boast about. These all reasons compound to make the separatist camp a divided house, hence redundant to offer any substantial and constructive resistance in the near future”, he further added.