Srinagar: Former chairman of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and Muslim Conference Chairman, Professor Abdul Gani Bhat, Friday warned if the people of Kashmir didn’t have a deeper understanding of things, they would achieve nothing.
“You won’t get anything if you don’t have deeper understanding of the situation,” he said apparently pointing towards the present Kashmir unrest.
“I won’t speak in a traditional way today,” he said. “This is not a plain talk, but a message to Indians, Pakistanis and Kashmiris—which also includes people of Jammu and Ladakh. Don’t read my speech in words or sentences, understand its pain and message.”
Prof Bhat was speaking before a gathering of people who had called at his Wazirbagh residence on the eve of his book launch ceremony on Friday.
The launch was attended by large number of his party workers and people from different walks. He termed the book as his ‘confessions’.
Prof Bhat cautioned people that in absence of ‘light’, they would get lost in the maze and reach nowhere. “Darkness is your candle”, Bhat quoted famous saying of Rumi. “He (Rumi) doesn’t talk about the light of moon or stars, he talks about understanding, and the light of mind.”
He said it was necessary for a person to learn the art of getting out of a situation before jumping into it. “If you jump into a river, you will surely drown if you don’t know swimming,” he said.
Prof Bhat remarked that in absence of a visionary leader, the herd is sure to get lost. “Everybody in Kashmir has now become a leader. There are all leaders around and no people,” he said. “People will have to choose the most honest, sincere person who has deeper understanding of things as their leader.”
Prof Bhat said the line drawn by Cyril Radcliffe along with a representative of Congress and Muslim League, only to be redrawn later gave rise to the darkness in Kashmir, India and Pakistan, otherwise what was the need to redraw a line that was already drawn.
He said India entered into Kashmir with a roar of gun amidst the noises of democracy. “The collective soul of Kashmir was deeply wounded that time. We vividly remember the lesson we learnt from none other than India’s first prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, that Kashmiris will be give a choice to decide their fate,” Bhat said. “Even after 70 years, Kashmiris have not forgotten the lesson and will never even forget.”
“Kashmiris are very sharp minded people. I will say sharper than people of many regions around us. It is our (Kashmiris) sharp mindedness that we have been able to lock horns against the world’s second largest populous country,” he said.
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