Author: Editorial
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: October 3, 2002
URL: http://www.samachar.com/features/031002-editorial.html
The unprecedented wave of violence
let loose by Pak-controlled mercenary militants has not changed the Kashmiri
people's stand for the democratic process. In spite of the terrorist attack
on about 25 booths, the murder of half a dozen security men and the spreading
of terror in several constituencies, about 42 percent of voters have voted,
giving a slap on the face of both Hurriyat and Musharraf.
The first two phases had recorded
in categorical terms that given a chance, the people of Kashmir would settle
for the democratic process, civil society and good governance.
The people are convinced that the
alienation is the result of a lackadaisical government which is being hemmed
in by terrorist attacks allthe time. Fear and resultant inactivity have
paralysed the Abdullah government. And the people are suffering as a result
of both. Describing the third phase ``as the most difficult phase'', the
Election Commission has said that 41.1 percent was a respectable figure.
Even the US and the European Union
representatives have acknowledged the phenomenal courage of the Kashmiri
people who are squeezed by Hurriyat blackmail during day and militants'
bullets at night.
If the Hurriyat's vainglorious but
sheepish commendation of the people for boycotting the election is nothing
more than whistling in the dark for courage, the Pak condemnation of the
poll as a ``farce'' appears questionable to the foreign observers.
The Hurriyat, like Musharraf, has
become desperate. In view of New Delhi's assertion that it will talk about
Kashmir only to the newly elected repre-sentatives, Hurriyat has again
repeated their readiness to talk to New Delhi, the proviso being that they
should be allowed to talk to Pakistan in an attempt to find a permanent
solution to the Kashmir problem.
The Hurriyat is trying to construct
a secessionist dream into the right to self- determination. The Hurriyat
thinking is negative. If it had a positive approach, it would have contested
the election and achieved an unassailable majority and discussed with New
Delhi the future of the state.
If Hurriyat leaders think that the
US and the world community would come to their and their patron's aid,
they do not realise the changes that are taking place among the international
community. The representatives of the world community, who have witnessed
Pakistan fanatical, terrorist attacks on the Kashmiri people, doubt whether
Musharraf's exertions in the cause of fighting terrorism are genuine. His
two-faced strategy has been exposed in the present Kashmir election.
In a recent interview to a newspaper,
Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat has indicated an irrational shift in
Hurriyat policy. He has said that armed struggle is ``part and parcel''
of democracy. He has characterised the mercenaries sent by Pakistan as
people believing ``in justice coming to help us''. Which means that Hurriyat
is all for violence. The Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers have dropped their demand
for secession. When will the purblind Hurriyat see the writing on the wall?
