Kashmir Issue!

 Can Aazadi be the Fate of Kashmiris?- By shadabchisti

Everyone has a photographic memory. Some don’t have film. Kashmiris remember everything that has happened to them in the past few decades but the other part of the world seems to be without the photographic film.

I remember when I used to leave my home for school early in the morning & my mom used to instruct me not to speak with the cops and when I used to return home safely in the evening she used to treat me as if I had returned after a decade. Today nobody knows whether their near & dear ones will return home by the dusk. That’s the fear that the people of Kashmir are living with.

Freedom, for Kashmir, is a search for the lost identity of its rich cultural & religious class of medieval world. The issue of Kashmir is not as ordinary as most of the people in India think. People of Kashmir are dying & dying for the future of their unborn. I just want to convey to the outer world & the citizens of India that the common man in Kashmir is not a terrorist but a human being who has needs like anyone else does, and among them, the most important is the safety need. But, unfortunately, no Kashmiri feels safe here. Tell me if some one barges into your house & asks you to vacate the house and the land which u have been cultivating for years & from where you earn your bread and butter, then how does it feel. It seems that the JAGIRDAAR system has returned to India & is haunting the people of Kashmir.

Some one is trying to hold on to this land & some one is trying to take it away, but now the issue is not about the property or land but of the most precious thing on the planet- HUMMAN LIFE, which unfortunately is on SALE in Kashmir, thanks to the Govt. & the hundreds of battalions of the forces who are doing it in the name of maintaining the so-called peace and providing safety to the people. Kashmir is not a battle field so stop the bloodshed. Stop turning the paradise into hell before it is too late for anyone to stop the fire within the Kashmiris. LET THE PEOPLE OF KASHMIR LIVE IN PEACE…..!

Indians have been through all this, we have read books about out forefathers and freedom fighters who gave us a nation for which we lost thousands of lives. Today India is repeating the same thing with the Kashmiris. Does this mean that Britishers were more legitimate and humanly than Indians? Britishers gave independence to India without thinking that they have ruled India for Decades. Why cannot India give Independence to Kashmir so that thousands of lives could be saved?

Indian Govt. has been claiming for years that Kashmir is their integral part & cares for its own people. Now the question is why the politicians are interested in ripping the article 370 from Kashmir & why innocent people are being killed on a daily basis- as if they have any sales target (KILLING PEOPLE) to achieve per day or month? Govt. agencies are trying to destabilize the economy of Kashmir and shatter the only hope Kashmiris have.

The entire world is of the opinion today that the best solution to the problem of Kashmir is to allow them to make their own choice. Why not Referendum? Trust me they have only two choices, either INDIA or INDEPENDENT KASHMIR.

The problem arose from the day the British through its East India Company wanted to establish its rule over India for which in order to improve its economy sold Kashmir for a meager Rs.75 lacks to then Dogra Ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh under Amritsar Treaty. This led to “QUIT KASHMIR” movement for a long period.

During the course of time, India & Pakistan got liberated from the British in 1947. However, 642 princely states of United India were given the right to exercise option of either joining India or Pakistan. On 26th October, 1947 the state of Jammu and Kashmir was accessioned to India and this accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to India, signed by the Maharaja against the wishes of the people of Kashmir, was accepted by Lord Mountbatten.

Sheikh Abdullah patronized “Quit Kashmir” movement against Maharaja Hari Singh, the heir of Maharaja Gulab Singh and as such sheikh was elevated to the status of “pir” (holy man). The Maharaja opted for a temporary accession with India and as such many cases of treasons were filed against the Shiekh Abdullah for his Quit Kashmir movement by the Govt. of India. With the help of Mahatma Gandhi & Jawaharlal Nehru, all the cases were withdrawn for which Sheikh Abdullah supported the accession of Kashmir with India.

Pakistan, with the help of Qabailie Jihadies, sent its troops in 1948 to Kashmir and annexed 3/4th of its territory. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru took the matter to U.N.O. where he accepted a resolution favoring holding plebiscite in Jammu & Kashmir. People of Kashmir accepted the resolution & waited for plebiscite. The Govt. of India did not implement the decision of U.N.O. for one or the other reason. This was resented by the people of Kashmir in general and that of by Pakistan in particular.

In 1975-1976, when Sheikh Abdullah was the chief minister, there was a widespread movement in Pakistan Administered Kashmir to march to Indian Occupied Kashmir — an exact opposite of the present Kashmiri slogan of ‘Chalo Muzaffarabad’. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was hanged by Pakistan military dictator Zia-ul Haq on April 1, 1979. A complete support for India vanished in a few years and dictator’s photographs began to adorn the homes of Kashmiris.

In the late 1950s when Nehru sent Haribhau Pataskar to gauge public opinion in the valley (in order to hold the referendum he had promised), Pataskar told him that the valley was all for joining Pakistan. Sheikh was lured by the friendship of Mahatma Gandhi & Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru and for his own vested interests took the reins of power in 1951 as The Prime Minister of J&K. While in power he again harped for holding plebiscite on seeing the mood of masses. He was then arrested and put behind the bars for 22 years.

Sheikh Abdullah fared no better because of his double standards. People realised that they have been supporting the wrong person who cares for his own vested interests. He died in 1982 and within seven years, his birth and death anniversary became occasions to burn his effigy. He thus became the ‘great betrayer’ from his erstwhile position of ‘Lion of Kashmir’.

Thereafter central Govt. induced men of their choice as Prime Ministers & Chief Ministers for suppressing the voice of the majority for plebiscite. These heads of the state exploited their position and curbed the rights of masses & misinformed the international community about the political developments in Kashmir. Central Govt. offered huge budgets to the state, which were misused for their own ends. Stooge governments resorted to misgovernance by corruption, favoritism & nepotism.

Time changed the mood of the people for Self- Rule. Muslim United Front (MUF) wanted to restore the pre 1953 status of Kashmir for which the election results were ridged and its members (Present day leaders of Hurriyat & its factions) were tortured & put behind the bars.

Pakistan, on the other hand, exploited the sentiments of Kashmiri’s especially the youth and provided conduit and shelter for keeping its lost slogan of incomplete accession alive on the international scenario for making Kashmir as part of its country and avenge dismembership of its eastern part, now called as Bangladesh.

This could not have become possible for that over decades Kashmir problem had lost its significance but for the wrong policies of puppet governments responsible for power shortage, non existing industrial setup, unemployment, corruption, nepotism and human right violations mostly effecting the youth has paved way for eruption of boiling Lava from a silent volcano.

The prevailing situation in Kashmir is a result of the inhuman practices and policies of the Indian Govt. People of Kashmir have been living in a situation not worse than a coup. I don’t want to point a finger on anyone but why India highlighted the issue of coup in Pakistan when it is forcing a similar situation in Kashmir? Sudden and unprovoked attacks on the innocent civilians amid severe thrashing and ransacking of the household has been typical of the Bollywood movies to show the reign of terror run by dacoits –the Daakus. But what has been the reel life example of Ramgarh villagers in films like Shoolay, is turning reality for Kashmiris who complain of being taken for a ride by the paramilitary CRPF troopers.

And their misery, amid tight curfew, compounds with the warning note by the men in uniform who before leaving the spot fired gunshots in the air and said, “S**lo Hum Phir Aayaingay!” Since the day curfew was clamped in the Valley, many city areas in the Valley have been facing atrocities at the hands of CRPF troopers and the state police who pounce in the residential areas mostly during evening hours –beat the residents including women, smash the window panes, ransack household and leave with a warning note of returning “to teach more lesson with more Iron Hands”.

It has been a routine, now for years, that troopers forcefully enter the houses and do whatever they can do to break the back of Kashmiris as they believe is the way to end the militancy in the valley. But the fact is that the people of Kashmir are following the Ghandian way of expressing their resentment towards the atrocities and poor policies of the Indian Govt. With over 700,000 Indian army troops in Kashmir, people are literally living in a situation no different from COUP…..!

Recent clashes between the troopers and locals resulted in the death of hundreds including a senior Hurriyat leader. The current condition is not the result of present killings but this has been happening there for ages- Abductions, Fake Encounters, Mystery disappearances & Killings, Rape and what not. People have been protesting against such crimes in the valley by the Indian agencies. Kashmir land was transferred to the SASB (against article 370) without informing the people and to add to the misery of the valley the SASB demanded the poor people to pay for plying the horses. How could a poor pay when he is earning only during the pilgrimage that lasts for around two months and he has to spread his earnings over a period of one year.

This is for the first time in the history of Kashmir that there is no support from Pakistan. In a major shift from Pakistan’s long-standing position, PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, whose party recently took the reins of the country, has expressed readiness to set aside the Kashmir issue to focus on other aspects for improving relations with India. Kashmir on the other hand seems to have a different mindset altogether. The valley believes that they should be given freedom both from the clutches of Pakistan & India. Until now, the issue was between India & Pakistan but now it is only between Kashmir and India. Nobody other than Kashmiris has the right over Kashmir and only the people of the valley should decide its fate.

The poor people had to fight but they were suppressed by the board authorities. This made them to disclose the issue to the entire valley and the news spread like a wild fire. People protested against the illegal transfer of land to SASB which the Govt. later claimed that has been transferred for a shorter period only. During the protests the unity of Kashmir was evident but the Govt. ever tried to curb the protests and demonstrations and ultimately the voice of Kashmiri’s. This, instead, added to the zeal & zest of the Kashmiris and gradually they realized their real goal was to fight for independence.

As such the Indian Govt. used brutality as their weapon but could not break the revolution which started like a spark and spread like a wild fire. Kashmiris did not use any guns during the protests and were able to communicate the international community about their miseries. Erecting “Giant Barricades” will not contain the revolution that took the entire nation by surprise but would eventually result in more hatred for India.

U.N and U.S.A has a bigger role to play in the coming years. Kashmiris are hopeful that the issue would be resolved peacefully with Barak Obama being elected as the President of U.S.A and the U.N Secretary General Ban Ki Moon commenting that the world body was ready for intervention in Kashmir issue if both India and Pakistan approached it on the dispute. The valley has been fuming for decades and after sacrificing thousands of lives, their only hope to move ahead and give a peaceful life to their coming generations is Independence.