Who’s ‘Letting Down’ the Kashmir Movement?

Hurriyat (G) chairman SAS Geelani is well known for directing vitriolic barbs at his pet targets- New Delhi, mainstream political parties of J&K, the UN, America and Israel. However, in an interview given to a local daily Geelani sahib has made some very disparaging comments about the people of Kashmir that is bound to come as a shock many. The exact reasons for his sudden diatribe against Kashmiris are not clear, but since the public has been doing whatever Geelani sahib has been asking them to do, his anger does seem misplaced!  

The main problem with the Hurriyat (G) chairman is that he expects ordinary Kashmiris to possess extraordinary abilities. Why else would he suppose that people should always give preference to free themselves from occupation rather than other “necessities”? Geelani sahib, if a “necessity” could be brushed aside then it would not be called a necessity in the first place. Necessity is what forces poverty stricken parents to reluctantly pack off their children to bed on a hungry stomach. Necessity is when one is compelled to helplessly watch life ebbing out of a near and dear one just because there is no money to buy the medicines that could easily save the patient’s life. Therefore, to expect emotionally distraught people to forget about “other necessities” and give preference to freeing themselves from “occupation” is something really outrageous as it brazenly mocks their compulsions!  

The Hurriyat (G) chairman also has the complaint that Kashmiris give preference to roads, daily wage jobs, universities, flyovers, shopping malls and other such things even those these things is never going to set Kashmiris “free.” Does he expect daily wagers to stop working and let their families starve? Does he want hard working and conscientious students who are the hopes of their parents and the future of Kashmir to give up their studies? Roads, daily wage jobs, universities, flyovers, shopping malls and other such things may not  set Kashmiris “free.” However, may I humbly inform Geelani sahib that boycotting elections, giving hartal calls, undertaking protest marches and attending functions at the Pakistan High Commission won’t get us ‘azadi’ either!

It is not uncommon to find people who after achieving what they had set out to do taking the high moral ground and sermonising. Geelani sahib too seems to be no exception. How can the venerable patriarch ever forgot that once upon a time (just like any other common man with limited means but big dreams), he too had the natural desire to better his lot? Wasn’t there a time when rather than giving preference to free himself from Indian “occupation,” Geelani sahib was instead wholly engrossed in mainstream politics and contesting elections? Is it not a fact that during this period Geelani sahib swore allegiance to the constitution of India – not once but thrice?  

Anyway, it is not intended to humiliate Geelani sahib but only to politely remind him that besides necessities to contend with, the common man also has to fight an endless battle for survival on a daily basis. So before he can have the luxury of dreaming about the abstract, the common man must first grapple with the reality and win the ‘roti, kapra aur ‘makan’ (food, shelter and clothing) battle. Despite this, Geelani sahib still has no reason to complain as the people of Kashmir have wholeheartedly done whatever he has demanded from them. When he gives a hartal call, the public always obliges and the Valley comes to a standstill. The daily wagers and their families go to sleep without food and the education of students suffers but no one complains. When it came to protest marches, the public again doesn’t disappoint and comes out in large numbers. Despite being tear-gassed, lathi-charged, arrested and even shot at, no one grumbles. Therefore, isn’t it tragic that even after enduring all these privations the Hurriyat (G) chairman still feels that the people of Kashmir have failed the leadership?

By saying that loss of confidence in their leaders is also the weakness of people Geelani sahib has unwittingly accepted that the separatist conglomerate is fast losing its hold over the masses and there are good reasons for the same. Firstly, despite wholehearted support of the masses, the separatist leadership has failed to garner international support for the ongoing struggle for the ‘right to self determination’ in Kashmir. Secondly, they seem to have no comprehensive plan to take this movement forward and are relying solely on hartals and protest marches for the last twenty five years and besides having proved to be completely ineffective, they have made the people weary. Lastly, by their infighting and inability to come together the separatists are themselves setting a very bad example and thus have no moral right to blame the public for displaying lack of solidarity! 

Geelani sahib has absolved the separatist leadership of any responsibility for the sorry state of affairs and instead belittled the sacrifices of the masses-claiming that the real weakness lay in the people of Kashmir and not their leaders. However, what is more worrying is that he has once again reiterated that the role of “armed youth” was “most important” for the “Kashmir movement.” While the Hurriyat (G) chairman is entitled to express his personal opinion he needs to understand that he is widely seen as the face of the ‘right to self determination’ movement in Kashmir. Thus, whatever he says is serious matter as it inevitably becomes the official line of the separatist conglomerate. 

Sanctifying violence and lauding it as something that is “most important” for the ongoing movement for the ‘right to self control’ in Kashmir has far reaching consequences as it changes the very fundamental character and orientation of this struggle. Today the world has outrightly rejected the skewed notion that picking up arms to resist oppression is justified. Yet Geelani sahib has sought to legitimise militancy by arguing that Kashmiri youth have no other option but to pick up the gun since India is using “brute force” to deny them their rights. The Hurriyat (G) chairman also feels that militancy in Kashmir does not fall within the purview of violence as the militants are merely fighting for their rights with “different means.” Now whether Geelani sahib’s reasoning would convince the international community that militancy in Kashmir is something legitimate, I leave it on the reader to decide!

Tailpiece: Geelani sahib’s observation on the people of Kashmiri and not the leaders being weak contradicts what veteran journalist and respected Kashmiri nationalist Late Ved Bhasin had said during an interview earlier this year. In this interview given to a local newspaper, Bhasin sahib in his imitable and no-nonsense style had remarked that “The separatists are weak but the Kashmir movement is strong!” So, now we have two renowned Kashmiri patriots making diametrically opposite observations about who is at fault and this gives us a choice whom to believe. I can’t say about you, but having seen how things have been going, I for one am more inclined to agree with what Bhasin sahib had said! 

Despite wholehearted support of the masses, the separatist leadership has failed to garner international support for the ongoing struggle for the ‘right to self determination’ in Kashmir. Secondly, they seem to have no comprehensive plan to take this movement forward and are relying solely on hartals and protest marches for the last twenty five years and besides having proved to be completely ineffective, they have made the people weary. Lastly, by their infighting and inability to come together the separatists are themselves setting a very bad example and thus have no moral right to blame the public for displaying lack of solidarity! 

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