When a son of Geelani was helpless and had no choice but to allow his daughter to appear in exams after the institution decided to conduct it, the street vendor cannot watch as mute spectator his poor family starving to death. He is socially and religiously bound to meet the demands of his family and feed them before they go to bed.
Asem Mohiuddin
In 2015, the Kashmri’s most influential separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani in an interview to a local newspaper blamed the people for failing its leadership while participating in the election process. The separatist leader had said that people should have trusted their leadership and choose resistance against the temporary dolls offered by the government which it is otherwise bound to offer to its ‘slaves’ for levying taxes on them.
Geelani had reacted in the backdrop of massive participation of people in Assembly elections of 2014 which according to him is sending a wrong message to the world body and derailing the settlement of Kashmir. He was also hinting towards the 2010 agitation when people after more than three months of unrest resumed their normal life gradually after defying the constant protest calendars of separatists.
A year later in July this year Kashmir again erupted in mass protests against the killing of Burhan Muzaffer Wani, a militant commander, popular on facebook. After observing strict lockdown for 132 days and resorting to mass protests which resulted 93 civilian deaths by the forces, the fatigue again seems to have been setting on common faces in valley.
The life is again limping to normalcy and people have started defying separatist sponsored shutdowns. In fact some people within the resistance camp also have suggested for an alternative to the ongoing shutdown agitation to continue the resistance movement without affecting the livelihood of common masses.
In the ongoing political lunacy of Kashmir, it has suffered irreparable economic and social losses. The industrial sector crumbled while the tourism and other related industries substantially relying on tourist footfalls invoked massive job and salary cuts. Over 13 lakh students have lost the complete academic calendar and forced authorities to announce mass promotion till class 9th and fifty per cent syllabus relaxation to the 10th and 12th class students for appearing in board exams. The examinations of other higher classes have been postponed for March next year. There are also stories in every neighbourhood about the cancelation of marriages and those who solemnized observed the complete austerity measures. Above all there have been countless stories in all the vicinities of restive valley that people have been denied of the medical aid and medicines due to strict shutdowns and curfews which amounts to gross human rights violations in a broader definition.
The separatists after starting the shutdown programmes against the killing of Wani on July 8 apparently have overlooked such brewing concerns. No saner voices also resounded in any part of the valley and overwhelmingly this lunacy was accepted by one and all.
In all these months the definition of freedom was narrowed so impulsively that no one dared to speak against what he or she was not willing to take from the camp spearheading movement. Voicing against the hartal politics was amounting to a ‘traitor’ and anti Azadi person funded and orchestrated by India.
Rationally the space for intellectual voices was mischievously slandered until the catastrophic disaster engulfed the whole valley. As the agitation which has recently entered into its fifth month, there has been no pressure apparently mounting over New Delhi. It did not start talks with Pakistan-the major demand separatist put forth. But it strongly opposed the all motives of Islamabad of cashing in over the Kashmir situation including at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with all its diplomatic and political might.
Despite such huge losses incurred by the Kashmiri people and the tireless efforts of Pakistan in last 132 days to build pressure on India for dialogue, nothing such was achieved.
Back home owing to this diplomatic failure by Pakistan to garner the support of world for Kashmir has put the separatist camp under tremendous pressure which on Islamabad’s behest was spearheading movement since July 8.
The separatist leader Geelani, however cheers for the moral victory what he believes that Kashmir achieved against India in this longest agitation.
“130 days of continuous protest with wholehearted support and participation of people and offering of tremendous sacrifices has no parallel in the current world. It gives us a measure of our strength,” he said in a media statement.
Although Geelani said that they reached near to the goal of freedom while observing the longest shutdown of world, he is however, perplexed as how the momentum among people could be retained who otherwise seems riddled with fatigue?
Despite his ill convincing theories with no political achievements, the people who bear this burnt have been asking the questions for the reasons of this longest shutdown.
“How we move forward and carry our struggle towards its goal is a serious question as our sacrifices are immense,” Geelani writes in his media statement and hints to call off the ongoing shutdown agitation.
Ironically, the Huriyat didn’t have understood the magnitude of humanitarian crisis swallowed by the emotions running high inside the hearts of commoners.
“Kashmir has enmass supported the separatists resistance programme for long 132 days. Now time has come to ask them what they delivered out of it,” said Romana Qadri, pursuing doctorate in political science.
“If Kashmir observed the shutdown to secure the top number in observing the longest shutdown of world, it is absurd. It needs purpose since 93 innocents died, economy crushed. It was no sport at all,” she adds.
The stalls and the carts set alongside the roads in city centre by the street vendors were amply clearing the confusion as what Kashmir is facing inside and not seen or accepted by the resistance group. When a son of Geelani was helpless and had no choice but to allow his daughter to appear in exams after the institution decided to conduct it, the street vendor cannot watch as mute spectator his poor family starving to death. He is socially and religiously bound to meet the demands of his family and feed them before they go to bed. As per the sayings of prophet he is on a true jihad for legally fulfilling the needs and desires of his family and if he dies during this mission he is counted among the martyrs.
Similarly, the separatists can’t hold back the five lakh government employees from joining their duties since they have not to feed their families only but also had to take care of the needy and poor people badly affected by the ongoing agitation.
The joint resistance group on July 26 had appealed the resourceful people and employees to donate some money from their salaries to the needy and poor people in their vicinity.
But again on November 20, the ailing separatist lost the cool and accused these employees of selling their conscience to the chair for joining duties. He said the shutdown program which was running so far according to the wishes and directions of joint resistance group is now losing the relevance after mass joining of duties by the employees.
The camp was, however divided over the way it started off. Senior separatist leader Professor Abdul Gani Bhat maintained distance from the shutdown politics.
“Sentiment can be too deep and powerful but it can’t overcome the logic beyond a certain point, said Bhat. He said the defiance against any power requires strategy, faith and honesty which “we lack in the present form.”
Bhat insists his colleagues to enter into dialogue which may pave way for the permanent settlement of the issue. He considers resolutions of United Nations on Kashmir irrelevant in the changing political situation of south Asia.
“What we need all is talking since the borders have been drawn either right or wrong,” he said while hinting that issues can be resolved without changing the borders.
As Bhat seems quite relived for his non involvement in the ongoing stir, the three top separatist leaders seem to be caught in a tight spot.
What Intellectuals say
Here the Kashmir’s intelligentsia also justifies the longest shutdown and backs separatists for it. They don’t only endorse the ongoing shutdown but they also celebrate the so called ‘moral victory’ over India in their regular columns published in local newspapers.
“There is nothing to lose. We are scaling phase by phase up to final kiss. The movement is far more strengthened than before. In this context, there is no reason for leaders to get disheartened. But it is important for them to revisit the protest schedule. Not that it didn’t deliver, it did. But now the same movement calls for providing some breather to the freedom-loving people so that they emerge more resolute and resilient. They are ‘mandated’ to explore all other options in line with demands of the resistance movement,” Writes regular columnist of Greater Kashmir Hassan Zainagere in an article “Only Kashmir can do it”.
For writer the Indian society and the ruling class drew the sadistic pleasure out of the peoples suffering in Kashmir. While the writer had all the applauses for the shutdown resistance and marks it as the achievement, he however is favouring interestingly for an alternative to the shutdown programmes.
When he said that Kashmir lost nothing and scaled to new heights of its destination, he forgets to share the pain and trauma what the 93 families might be going through for losing their beloved ones in the political chaos. He keeps mum over the economic sufferings of labour class and overlooks the educational loss of 13 lakh children.
As he describes that the agitation shook the New Delhi’s foundation in Kashmir, he fails to find the political achievements if any made out of the resistance.
It also lacks the clarity on his part as why to find an alternative to Hartals if truly Kashmir achieved the marked success by it.
In fact he pricks people for more such self imposed lockdowns as he believe that the distance towards the goal of “freedom” is almost conquered.
Political science professor in Kashmir University Professor Gul lauds some write ups in the same newspaper which suggests alternative to Hartals. The article he writes is appearing late in the media since the collective damage was already done.
“The clear suggestions emanating from these write-ups is the critical role the political leadership needs to play at critical times and if that role is not played societies can implode and people will ultimately decide for themselves as rational actors in any situation and in any part of the world,” writes Gul Wani in response to some articles published in local daily.
Calendar politics
The first time separatists issued the protest calendars in 2010 after valley protested over the killing of three civilians in a staged encounter by army on Line of Control in Kupwara district.
The consistent shutdown calendars failed to bring any change in the political tumult of valley. While the Huriyat had argued that it is the only tool left for their resistance against New Delhi, it later sought the suggestions from the civil society and other likeminded political groups as an alternative to shutdowns after long shutdowns in 2010 evoked criticism from the affected people. The hunt for the alternative campaign died down after normalcy featured over the streets of Kashmir again. The camp repeated the same calendar this time for failing to find any other better substitute and it is now feeling the heat in the public domain.
The stir trigged by the Wani’s death was headed by the joint resistance group including Syed Ali Geelani, chairman of his Huriyat faction, All Party Huriyat Conference chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq and the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman, Mohammad Yasin Malik.
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