As the shutdown in Kashmir valley entered into fifth month and people from various sections questioning its continuity in view of deteriorating social and economic conditions of people, the separatist leadership must understand the general concerns. Few days ago the senior separatist leader heading the ongoing lockdown issued a statement to media and said that with this longest shutdown Kashmir achieved the moral victory against India. He was off course responding to the queries from the general public that were not invited or allowed to attend the general meeting in which the future course of action regarding the resistance movement was decided with self claimed stakeholders of the resistance movement. These people who question this ongoing agitation which invoked self curse to the common people bore the brunt and have no more passions to stand by it. They want their social life back on track and children in schools. So far the ongoing movement which is on behalf 70 lakh Kashmiris represented by a marginal size of society who are either unaffected or very sound economically to bear the self inflicted losses truly didn’t represent the voice of common people. It was evident from an article written by the BAR Association president Mian Abdul Qayoom recently in a local daily. One person attending the general meeting with separatists and other so called stakeholders of Kashmir issue dared to stand and had suggested to wind up the shutdown calendars. According to Qayoom, he was forced to sit and not allowed to speak anymore. When a meeting was called for general view point, the question arises why he was not allowed to speak. If only those have right who advocate shutdowns to speak then why separatists called this meeting. From this meeting many corpses are tumbling out as Qayoom further said that he was not in a jam packed room comfortable to suggest any thing truly from his heart. He had attended the meeting customary since he personally was forced by his executive body. He mentions another sizeable crowd standing outside the residence of Syed Ali Geelani when the meeting was going on shouting slogans against any possibility of calling off shutdown. The crowd led by a shopkeeper was identified by a local journalist who owns a shop at Lal Chowk near to his office. The journalist later mentioned in his facebook post that this shopkeeper never closed his shop in all these months and had a brisk business. So if shutdown continuous, he will have more business at the sufferings of other people. But the gravity of his slogans prompted Geelani to depute a three member team led by JKLF Chief Yasin Malik to convince this crowd that shutdown will continue, much to their satisfaction. Malik in fact went on to say that 70 per cent people favour continues shutdown, the figures nobody knew where he got. Had they allowed a man in the meeting to speak out the way they convinced this protesting crowd who was seeking alternative to protest calendars, many more such voices were genuinely possible in the meeting. But refusing to hear any opposing voice simply clarifies that there is a need to encourage the dissent in the separatist camp which presently it absolutely lacks.
The editorial is from the print edition of 23 to 29 Nov 2016
