Freedom Politics In Kashmir: Issues, Problems and Future Prospects
An Outline of the Topic
Past
This is a universally accepted fact that Kashmiri people do not want to live with India. With the emergence of a new post-colonial south Asia in 1947, Kashmir like all other Muslim majority states would have opted to become a constituent state of Pakistan, had it not been for the fact that India occupied the state by sheer intrigue and military force, and stopped the natural course of history.
India’s real achievement in Kashmir is not its successful military occupation, but cultivation of a proxy-puppet, but nonetheless, working political system. This puppet politics(commonly but wrongly termed as ‘mainstream politics’) is fake, a counterfeit product because it does not reflect peoples’ aspirations, nor is it based on any lofty vision where, in the face of its intrinsic merit, one would ignore its unpopularity. The puppet politics is rootless, but organized, structured and fully functional. On the other hand, the freedom politics is deeply rooted in genuine aspirations of Kashmiri masses. It has firm roots, but right from 1947 it is beset with problems of organization, resources and leadership. Its problems started when in early nineteen thirties Muslim Conference got infiltrated by forces of the so-called Indian Nationalism ultimately leading to the exit of the late Mirwaiz Maulvi Yusuf Shah from Kashmir which in turn gave National Conference a full sway over Kashmir’s political space. Being reflective of the popular political sentiment in occupied Kashmir, the freedom politics could not consolidate itself into a solid structure with a credible leadership and a clear strategic course of action. Although it represented the popular political sentiment, yet it could not successfully entrench itself in masses. Perhaps, freedom politics was at its best in the form of All J&K Plebicite Front when it functioned as a mass political party which in reality it is.
Present
In the recent past since 1989 things have not become any better. For the first time since 1947, the freedom politics had an underpinning of an armed movement which did favourably change the India-Kashmir power equation, and provided a higher pedestal for the freedom politics to operate from, but again the problems of organization, structure and leadership prevented any gains to change into successes. Although, one big factor why freedom politics could not consolidate itself as a solid political institution has been Indian repression and brute force right from the beginning, yet in recent times some other factors have also played a negative role in a big way. Because of these new factors, various groups with particular sectarian or political interests within the freedom politics have entrenched themselves, and have been busy in competing with each other within the space of freedom politics making the common cause of freedom a tragic casualty. Huge financial resources from a number of vested interests and dubious quarters around the world have aided and abetted this process. Given the time and the environment when it was formed, the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) could have by now grown into a formidable political institution, which it unfortunately did not for two kinds of reasons, both complimenting each other: on one hand, it never had a clear sense of direction, and sense of common purpose, and on the other, it was the victim of outside interferences with particularist agendas. The net result is: freedom sentiment in Kashmir, undoubtedly the popular sentiment, still lacks, though not wholly, proper channels of articulation. It is a very powerful and genuine sentiment, but does not have an equally powerful vehicle for expression.
Looking Ahead
Nothing is more reassuring than the fact that the freedom sentiment has survived the test of time. The young generation is equally unwilling to live with India as were their forefathers in 1947. However the historic challenge remains:
How to ensure the existence of a dynamic, credible, and politically institutionalised freedom movement in Kashmir.
The assets are there as ever. The peoples’ sentiment is the core asset, and so is moral, political and strategic rightness of the Kashmir Cause. Changing world scenario, and power equations between Islam and the West particularly in the Middle East (where these are most significant) are again very favourable factors. Although the final objectives have not been achieved, yet there will be quite a few important gains that will have been made in the course of struggle for the past 19 years. These gains have to be identified, and consolidated.
If Kashmir Cause/Movement means complete end to India’s sovereignty over Kashmir, which it really does, then one has to look for a political movement sustainable for as long as it takes to deliver its goals, which should be very clearly spelt out. People cannot afford to go in circles, nor can they undergo trial exercises of the type that since Pakistan changed policy we had to stop at D, otherwise we would have gone up to B. People will say, if you had to stop at D, we would have not moved at all in the first place. People of Kashmir can, as do other people in the world, start at a point, and progressively move on the right direction without unnecessarily suffocating. At any point in time, it should be clear to a fair observer that they are nearer to the destination than they were at the preceding moment.
A credible movement has got to be independent in its decisions, flexible in its approach and general operation, and financially self-sufficient. Funds are always needed and, therefore, welcome, but a proper freedom movement in Kashmir can and should mobilise enough finances within Kashmir. This must be borne in mind that any political movement that seeks to liberate Kashmir from India’s occupation, and make it a part of wider Muslim fraternity, is essentially securing the future of Islam in Kashmir. As such, all those assets, which are related to Islamic heritage in Kashmir and Muslims’ attachment and loyalty to those, are actually the assets for the freedom movement. There is no reason why all the income from the shrines, particularly Dargah Sharif Hazratbal, should not be utilized for the cause of the freedom of Kashmir. So far, these assets have been exploited by puppet politics, and the puppet politicians continue doing this without shame.
Let us deliberate over these issues with the sole aim of making a contribution, doing one’s own bit, and not indulge in blame games and point scoring. May Allah(SWT) be our helper at all times, and in all situations.
About Blogger:
Dr. Syed M. Inayatullah Andrabi is the founder convenor of Mahazi-Islami, Occupied Kashmir. He is an intellectual-political activist from Srinagar, capital city of occupied Kashmir.
This write indeed invoke genuine thoughts and must be deliberated in length and breadth to restructure the wheels and in fact, the whole vehicle of this just movement of Kashmir. All those who either claim to represent the freedom sentiment or in reality representing the freedom sentiment got to believe while being sincere and devout to this precious movement that restructuring can be done to put this vehicle of just movement on the right road to trace.
For this the prejudices, partisan politics, power politics or whatever the obstacles got to be shelved. One can easily find these done in the secular world where the general aim of doing everything is for the world whereas we being the Muslims believe to stand up in front of the Almighty for our actions and acts in the world hereafter. This must coerce our efforts to be sincere, honest and earnest .
While restructuring this vehicle of movement, the fundamentals have to be right from the scratch. For instance, where does the remote control of this movement lies? Does this remote control lie in Kashmir or somewhere else? If this remote control is really in Kashmiri hands, does it lie in the genuine hands of Kashmir?
We need joint efforts by Kashmiri’s,Pakistani’s and rest of the peace loving inhabitents of the world.There is no other choice but to join the Kashmir Cause,as in this globalized world,it’s an global issue and the world peace depends on the solution of Kashmir according to their own choice. World should realize that they have been paying a huge price (suppression,oppression,repression,genocide,gang rapes,imprissonments,death and ongoing occupation). And the questin is: when will the conscience of freedom lovers,force them to ask the United Nations to respect,regard and impliment the Resolution of the Commission of January 5, 1949 !!
The article is very well written. Congratulations. I think we need a lot of itellectual input in Kashmir, which will educate people in understanding all nuances of politics being played there. Inputs such as yours can go a long way in keeping the flame of freedom alive in the hearts of our people.
The article is well written and I think we all need to educate ourselves with facts of our Past to understand why Kashmiris don’t want to be with India and also the mistakes made in Past including by our own kashmiri politicians for their own greed .India has not been sincere since day one of J&K’s accession with it.But Indian denial and oppression will not benefit India in long run.India,Pak and kashmiri leaders need to resolve this issue sincerely through dialogue. The problem with kashmiri movement I think is that lack of leadership and vision.I hope and wish peace and freedom for kashmir..
I agree to the fact and being a concerned kashmiri outside kashmir. we have to do lot of home work to achieve what we are looking for. azaadi is a larger than life concept. we have to be concerned and to solve our domestic problems and to speak language. when we are talking about domestic problems that does not been build road sand building, that means to be human take care of our neighborhood ad feel the pain what others are going through with and help them in whatever way we can. we dont have leaders and dont expect from leaders, they are not born leaders they happend to be what they are now. If we are on right path our leaders will be right no matter how much time it takes freedom is the destiny of kashmiri people….
no doubt in it
With United nations being toothless, our leadership directionless, Pakistan internally weak and diplomatically isolated, it is the time that we think rationally as to what our goal should be at this point of time.Before we look for complete freedom, we need to have a strong leadership that has a say in the all three regions of the state and that has a mass base in all communities of the state.United nations resolutions have gathered a lot of dust and the world is not going to support Pakistan to get them implemented.Calling for Hartals and Bandhs and chalo calls will not hurt India but it will hurt kashmiri people.Our pro-freedom leadership must make sure that Pandits return to kashmir so that the communal colour of our struggle is taken off and let the pro-freedom parties open their offices in Jammu and Ladakh as well.
Assalamu Alaikum The blog topic “Freedom Politics In Kashmir: Issues, Problems and Future Prospects” is well outlined for deliberation by the author & deliberations on this issue will (Insha Allah) make the participants understand what Kashmir freedom movement actually stands for & how it should be consolidated. It is an established fact now that majority of the population of Jammu & Kashmir as they have stood as they have stood against all the brutalities of Indian occupants and many many thousands have even sacrificed their lives for this just cause. I would like to point out towards certain issues of the freedom politics in Kashmir which in my opinion have casted a negative impact on the freedom struggle among the masses & some of which have gone against the pro freedom masses & in favour of the pro Indian system: 1. “The question of the accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite” (refer Clause 1 of UN Resolution dated January 5, 1949), however, the third option of “secular independent Kashmir” introduced by the JKLF in my opinion was the first setback to the freedom movement & to sabotage the actual issue & believe me or not it has really made a strong dent in the pro freedom struggle. This option has not only confused the masses of Jammu & Kashmir, but has also damaged the cause at the International Level as this option is totally in violation of UN Resolutions & has strengthen the Indian diplomacy on Kashmir issue. Nowadays different world organizations are projecting that so much percentage of Kasmiris are in favour of an Independent Kashmir which not only has weakened the Pakistan’s claim on Jammu & Kashmir but also means that Kashmiris themselves have made the UN Resolutions irrelevant. 2. The different organizations operating in Kashmir for freedom from the Indian occupation are more bothered about their own identity & less about to stand united against the occupants, which has definitely casted a negative impact on the masses. Just go through the series of uprisings during the last three years; it seems that the architects of these uprisings were those who have culminated these uprisings in their favour. Unfortunately, our leaders jumped into these uprisings without any future planning/foresight and got involved in the power politics which has not only resulted in many hundred innocent deaths, but has made thousands handicapped. Had our leaders been matured enough to understand the situations, they could have consolidated these uprisings into a strong mass freedom political movement. However, the only benefit of these uprisings seem to be that masses now feel that something is there that is to be settled with India. 3. Just see in whose language the persons like Prof. Ab. Gani Bhat talked recently and whom the people like him are serving. As far as I am concerned, it is a matter of Imaan (belief) for me, that being a Muslim that neither our future, nor the future of our generations to come is safe with India. We are a Muslim majority State & definitely should struggle to be a part of wider Muslim fraternity. I agree with the author that the existence of a dynamic, credible, and politically institutionalized freedom movement in Kashmir is to be ensured, but it demands a lot which includes the burial of the “secular independent Kashmir ideology” along with making the people educate that to end the Indian forcible occupation from Kashmir is a matter of Imaan for us being Muslims. A lot needs to be done to consolidate the gains of the freedom movement over the last few decades & to give it a shape of a Muslim political freedom movement where every Kashmiri can be accommodated otherwise, even if the Kashmiris get freedom in the present circumstances, God forbid it seems to like one that of Afghanistan and who knows which Karzaie will be installed to leave the other groups fighting each other. I personally feel that the author has the capability in playing the role to put forth the ideology of a sustainable, consolidated and decisive Muslim Political Freedom Movement in Kashmir. Wishing that Allah (SWT) will guide all of us to work for the just mission of Kashmir’s Freedom from Indian Occupation. Wasalam
Please read, ‘It is an established fact now that majority of the population of Jammu & Kashmir are against Indian forcible occupation as they have stood against all the brutalities of Indian occupants and many many thousands have even sacrificed their lives for this just cause.’ instead of ‘It is an established fact now that majority of the population of Jammu & Kashmir as they have stood as they have stood against all the brutalities of Indian occupants and many many thousands have even sacrificed their lives for this just cause.
Bravo! Brother Haidar, have made some good points in his first post. Points on which delibrations could achive a lot.
To add a flavour to brother haider’s post, UN Resolutions make our struggle a just struggle and with UN Resolutions we can go any court of law against India’s brutal and criminal occupation.Need of the hour is that the concensus must be arrived and pursued by the pro-freedom camp and they must chalk out or rather restragegize the movement while taking a leaf from the Blog Author’s write up.
I have read many a times Dr.Andrabi pointing towards institutionalising freedom movement in Kashmir.It sounds a good idea.But I always wanted to see the right suggestion as to how to do that in practice.How do you institutionalise a freedom movement?What do you ought to do?I request Dr Andrabi to come up with explanatory answers to these queries.
Hi, A very interesting post but becomes devoid of truth as it is blinded by the love of the author for MUSLIM UMMA. I agree Kashmiries wanted freedom which included Muslims , Hindus and Budhists.But it has nothing to do with Islamic heritage but which is uniquely Kahsmiriat which has got a history beyond advent of Islam in Kashmir. Infact this aspiration extends to those who reside now in socalled Azad Kashmir like baltits,hunza valley etc etc. Again you should look back at recent history for this socalled freedom movement which was aided and abetted by NR kashmiries staying in USA and funded by them as was the case with Sikh seperatists funded by Sikhs in Canada as was Tamil sepratists who were funded by Tamils in UK. All these socalled aspirations were funded from outside and your article very clearly shows how Kahmiries forget the ancient heritage of Kashmir just like Taliban did when they blew the bamiyan Budhdhas whom they didnot want to acknowledge belongs to them and also to Human heritage.
@Ishfaq: It would be definitely great if Dr. Andrabi would elucidate over what you sought. However, I do not agree with you ane let raise certain points in this regard:
1. It is not the job of people like Dr.Andrabi to do so, what then are the people at the helm doing?
2. People at the helm are supposed to have agenda, vision and objectives to achieve. They not only should have these objectives well defined but the ways to execute to achieve the objectives and goals otherwise it would create a chaos and that is where we are at.
3. If these people at the helm do not have these criteria they must relinquish their self styled roles and take the back seat. However, such a thing will never ever happen as such kind of earnesty cannot be expected from them.
@Aijaz: I think solving Kashmir issue is our collective responsiblity.Freedom loving people,at various fronts,are playing their role.Some with gun,some with stones,some with money,some with pen,some with speech etc.We ought to help each other and give suggestions to acheive our common goal.Some ought to give ideas and if they sound good,some other people need to take it forward.
@Ishfaq: Yes, it is a collective affair, however, was it initiated with the collective sense, was it pushed with a collective sense, is it being moved on by a collective efforts.I am afraid to say, big ‘NO’. This is a movement that uses most precious fuel of the world and that is ‘Human Blood and Human sacrifices’. This is a tragedy that we have not been able to move a cm despite putting heavy losses interms of young souls and their precious blood.
@Aijaz Ahmed & Ishfaq Ahmed: Very rarely does it happen that a third person has to say about the two arguing parties that both of you are right. Generally people say this but that is just to appease both and the merit of the case becomes a casualty. However when I say both of you are right, I do not intend to kill the argument. My submission is that Ishfaq is absolutely right that one has to come up with some practical suggestions/ideas about how do we translate the objective of a dynamic and institutionalized freedom movement into a reality. I would say that in the first place sincere and independent minded people should take this idea on board, discuss it in their own circles, keep reflecting on it, and then we may start arriving at some ways of how to implement the idea. Aijaz Khan is right in the sense that he sees the movement being controlled. However, we must not miss the basic point: of utmost importance is the legitimacy of Kashmir cause and the already existing sentiment among the Kashmiri people to get rid of India. Now presently this cause and the sentiment are managed by an organization (in Kashmir and outside world. I am using ‘organization’ here as a common noun and not as a proper noun to refer to a particular party) which has been super-imposed on the people of Kashmir. Well, may not be a big deal, but only as long as it delivers. The problem which Aijaz is perhaps trying to bring up is that this organization has become a sole contractor of the freedom project not involving anybody else’s INDEPENDENT initiative. But then as I said, the Cause and the Sentiment are so valuable, so great that they go beyond all these super-imposed structures. Well-meaning people do not have to seek permission for making an input to help such a great cause. Permission is needed if you are seeking a position in the currently existing hierarchy of the organisation, but if you sincerely wish to make a genuine contribution to the triumph of the Cause and the Sentiment regardless of the organization now in charge of managing it, then there are no barriers. May be you will find the space too much congested, and therefore, hard to navigate, but as long as you are focused, absolutely serious and loyal to the goal, and, above all, doing this as your humble bit towards the servitude of Allah(SWT) with this thing in mind that He wants me to do it, I am required to do it, I am required to help a suffering people, then nobody can stop your movement.
Institutionalizing the movement is not as simple job as Br. Ishfaq seems it but needs some other parameters to be controlled also. Let us first try to build a consensus among like minded people then transfer the same to down the line. A concept of Participatory approach towards movement may to some extend yield path for institutionalization. Humbly I request Dr. Sahib that so much discontent and distrust is among the Muslim that suggesting Dargah Hazratbal as income source for the movement. I am of the opinion that Participatory approach may produce some results. Br. Aijaz, who are at the helm of affairs about whom you are saying they should have agenda, vision and objectives. Those who control it from outside have State interests first and those who follow them have personal interests. In this situation what need to be done is an agenda based on Truth and Justice need to be put forwarded before people for their participatory role
As salamu alaikum. no doubt the pro india political industry is a puppet of Delhi who are the real movers and shakers. but i sometimes wonder at the robust nature of this industry. it is so functional. people keep it alive and kicking by th…eir vulnerabilities and weaknesses in their resolve as Muslims and that too occupied ones. i believe sending such a people to fight a war is akin to allowing them willingly to commit mass suicide. a people so weak in their resolve and so poor in their vision can and should never be arosed to fight a war. they will fight a war, no doubt but it will be fatricidal, chaotic and produce leaders who are in their place by chance and not by conviction. it all boils down to what people aspire for in our land……………..Peace… a peaceful pursuit of wordly life….. not interrupted by calls of restraint by the people who are atracted by the real life. Jehad is too lofty philosophy for us and freedom is a worthless entity for us. we fight to live another day … another day of pursuing this world and its glory. is there a hereafter.. most of doubt it although none would dare talk so openly.
I think we have to rethink about our Kashmir politics, in Kashmir we are no where, some people might have their gaols but majority of the people are innocent and not know where to go. We are the leader less nation on the world map. This is a remote controlled movement. After so many sacrifices our leaders are asking Pakistan give us representation states. Which means they are nothing.