HVK Archives: Violence limits new Kashmiriat agenda
Violence limits new Kashmiriat agenda - The Times of India
Balraj Puri
()
8 April 1997
Title : Violence limits new Kashmiriat agenda
Author : Balraj Puri
Publication : The Times of India
Date : April 8, 1997
Prima facie, the recent spate of killings of several Kashmiri
pandits since March 21 seem to be no different compared to the
previous record of political murders in Kashmir. They seem to be
yet another addition to the officially estimated 28,000 killings in
the last seven year's. Yet the recent killings have created a
different kind of a shock wave both inside and outside the Valley.
It has, for instance, shaken the conscience of the Muslim majority.
Even separatist leaders of the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC)
have expressed shock over the tragedy.
Global Sympathy
That it has happened on the eve of the much hyped Indo- Pakistan
talks is more than a mere coincidence. It is a big blow to the
Hurriyat's latest declaration that without Kashmiri pandits
Kashmiriat remains incomplete. It will surely affect the regional
branch of the APHC in Jammu which has of late included some Hindus.
In fact, the Hurriyat's latest attempt to put on a secular front
has been sharply criticised by the pro-Pakistani groups such as
Dukhtran-i-Milat and Muslim Mujahideen. They have called it the
betrayal of Islam comparable to Sheikh Abdullah's decision to
convert Muslim Conference into National Conference in 1939.
The killings continue to erode international sympathy for the Azadi
movement even as it undermines the theory that pandits migrated in
1990 not due to sense of insecurity but solely due to a conspiracy
hatched by the then state governor Mr Jagmohan. In reality several
Hindu families then had defied the decision of the rest of the
community and put their trust in their Muslim neighbours and the
separatist leaders. In fact, the examples of these families were
often displayed to the visiting media persons and human rights
activists as an illustration of the spirit of tolerance of Kashmiri
Muslims. Although the killers are unknown it is obvious that the
militant movement has reached a stage when it is no longer under
the control and discipline of local command. And that its
composition has changed with a much larger number of foreign
mercenaries joining it. To that extent it is not fully in tune
with the initial objectives of the Azadi movement. The leaders of
the Azadi movement, however, have to depend on and tolerate such
foreign elements because any scope of local replenishment of the
militant cadre is fast declining. After all, a popularly elected
government has occupied the vacant space in J&K between the Central
government and the militants.
The initial rise of militancy in Kashmir may have largely been due
to the faulty policies of the Indian government but violence has
now surely become a liability for the movement. Although the
Hurriyat leaders are not responsible for the killings of seven
Kashmiri pandits in Badgam, 14 in Barghala village in Doda district
and, 15 Hindu passengers of a bus near Kishtwar, these incidents,
along with kidnapping of four foreigners, have done a grave damage
to the reputation of those whom the Hurriyat used to call "freedom
fighters" and by implication the entire secessionist movement,
within Kashmir. The Hurriyat, for instance, has lost much of its
moral right to condemn the alleged violations of human rights by
the Indian security forces. For instance, the 1996 US official
report on human rights violations in Kashmir is far more critical
of the militants than it ever used to be in the past. So is the
latest assessment of the international human rights organisations.
Humiliated Kashmir
In the interest of Kashmir and Kashmiriat, the leaders of the Azadi
movement have to realise the self-defeating course they have
drifted into. The best option for them is to give up violence
unilaterally and prepare grounds for multilateral-level dialogues,
with various groups and communities in the Valley, Jammu and
Ladakh.
Similarly it does not lie in the enlightened national interest of
India to push any dissidence in Kashmir towards extremism. For a
humiliated Kashmir is no asset for the nation. Other than economic
incentives and constitutional guarantees new ways for restoring
sense of Kashmiri pride and honour should be found out. Violence
and repression is as much self-defeating for the government as for
the Azadi leaders. Both must realise the limits of violence.
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