Current Events

Lessons From Kashmir

HARSARAN SINGH

On July 8, 2016, Indian controlled Kashmir was catapulted into yet another prolonged civil disobedience and violent protests against the Indian state.

The current state of unrest and unending battles between Indian forces stone-pelting mobs have claimed more than 70 lives and blinded hundreds by the controversial use of pump action ‘pellet’ rifles by the Indian forces.

The valley has been under curfew for 38 straight days and the violence shows no signs of abating. This current situation of anarchy is not new to Muslim-majority Kashmir which became part of India when the British pulled out in 1947, and a substantial portion of the population has been demanding independence ever since.

The lush green valleys of the region are claimed by India and Pakistan - both nuclear powers. They have fought two wars over Kashmir, and it remains one of the most militarized regions in the world. Armed groups mostly aided and abetted by Pakistan took to arms against the Indian state in 1990 and the last 26 years have seen almost 70,000 people perish.

The reason for this latest round of violence was Burhan Muzzafar Wani, a 22-year-old insurgent who was shot dead by Indian soldiers in a small village in the southern part of Kashmir valley. Burhan had become an internet sensation over the past year, after putting together a small group of Kashmiri militants.

Barely out of their teens, they had taken to the social media including facebook, whatsapp and twitter to challenge the Indian government. They posted pictures in military fatigues and with stubbly chins, posing with guns against backdrops of apple orchards and picturesque mountains extolling youngsters to join in their fight against the Indian state.

A senior police officer even admits that Burhan may not have fired a single bullet in his brief lifespan as a militant, yet after his death Burhan has become the latest rallying point and symbol of Kashmiri struggle for ‘azaadi’ or independence from Indian rule. Since 1990 Kashmir has seen four elections where power has been alternately shared by the Abdullah and Mufti families.

Comparing Kashmir’s armed struggle with that of Punjab, one can see glaring dissimilarities. In Punjab the struggle against Indian human rights violations during the 1980’s and 90’s was almost indigenous; in Kashmir the secessionists were actively supported by the Pakistani establishment.

While in Punjab the police and para-military agencies were provided with free hand and blind impunity to “catch and kill” anyone whom they felt was even remotely and potentially a threat, in Kashmir after the initial decade of grave human rights abuses, the politicians started a process of reconciliation with support from the central governments.

It was the former Indian Prime Minister A.B Vajpayee who floated the slogans of ‘Boli not Goli’ (talks, not bullets) and ‘healing touch’ towards the armed youth and separatists.

While in Punjab the list of those killed in fake encounters by the Indian government or those gone permanently ‘missing’ runs into tens of thousands, in Kashmir the government has acted against several police and military officials involved in fake encounter deaths and ‘disappearances.’

The J and K legislative assembly passed a bill for providing jobs and monetary assistance to the next of kin of those missing or killed while fighting the Indian state. It is well known that the son of dreaded Jihad Council head Syed Salahuddin who is based in Pak administered Kashmir is a senior employee in the J and K government.

Therefore to compare Punjab with Kashmir will always be fundamentally erroneous.

Much of this relatively soft approach in Kashmir has been because the state and its citizens happen to be Muslims and it was not expedient for India to antagonize the patron saints of the Kashmiri people (the Gulf countries) nor did India want to be seen as anti-Muslim to its own large, nation-wide Muslim electorate.

The Kashmiri Muslims on their part have sustained their efforts in the last three decades to globalize the issue and make their voice heard on international forums. While there is no doubt that the Kashmiri Muslims are economically far well off than their counterparts in the rest of India, primarily due to the central government largesse provided to them, it is the apple growing industry and tourism which has been their traditional source of revenue.

One of the biggest investments Kashmiri people have made in the last 30 years is the education of their youth. While the generation of 1990’s suffered the brunt of the insurgency, the relative calm since 2000 enabled them to provide the best possible education for their younger generation. Traditionally Kashmir has always had an educational culture and Kashmir is considered an educational hub since the great Chinese traveler and scholar Xuanzang or Huen Tsang visited the valley in 631 AD.

But during the last 26 years inspite of worse law and order conditions the education of Kashmiri youth has grown manifold. Today thousands of Kashmiri young men and women are receiving higher education in colleges and universities across India as well as overseas. They have also managed to get jobs in niche industries worldwide.

This generation, while developing a cosmopolitan and international outlook, has proven to be the adrenaline for the Kashmiri freedom movement. The last 15 years has produced some well known young Kashmiri authors and novelists like Basharat Peer, winner of the Crossword Prize for Non-Fiction for his book ‘Curfew Nights’, and Mirza Wahid known for his award winning works ‘The Collaborato’ and ‘The Book of Golden Leaves‘.

Many more notable youngsters like Junaid Rather and Huma Khan, to name but two, have come up as articulate political commentators, columnists and bloggers on the international spectrum. Young innovators and entrepreneurs like Idres Ul Haq have made a global impact while keeping their roots intact. These youngsters have given impetus to Kashmir’s quest for the right to self determination.

While these may seem to be individual choices but the fact is that Kashmiri society at large and even the successionist political leadership has played a vital role in grooming this new generation. Even the successionists have always ensured that despite strong anti-Indian sentiments their children get admissions into the best colleges and universities across India.

Comparing this with Punjab, we do not see such a thing happening there, or any such plans for the near future.

Agreed that Punjab is not very far from the national educational index in India, but as a society we are not producing thinkers, scholars and intellectuals. The culture of promoting our younger generation as new age thinkers is greatly missing. As a nation we have yet to prioritize education over religious or social matters.

If we desire to have our voice heard at the right place and see our newer generations at the position where they can help to build global opinion in our favor, we need to invest extensively in the field of education. Kashmir has important lessons for us.

A nation built on a strong educational foundation is very hard to defeat but sadly our politicial and religious leaderships think otherwise.



August 18, 2016
 

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