Author: Dr. Syed Mohammad Inayatullah Andrabi

The talk of unity among the pro-freedom groups in Kashmir is as old as the current movement. Recently some Hurriyat leaders, among them Syed Ali Shah Geelani, the senior leader, have been talking about it. Here, I intend to make some submissions in this regard, but first let me allude to the bigger problem of which this is only a symptom. The bigger problem is the non-existence of a genuine as opposed to fake, manoeuvred, and engineered (by intelligence agencies) politics in Kashmir. This is an issue of far greater importance with huge implications for the future of Kashmir and the socio-cultural progress of its people.

“What is the recent blasphemous film ‘Innocence of Muslims’? Do they represent speech or ridicule and abuse? Making fun, using filthy language, mockery and ridicule, does it constitute speech? No, it does not, so the question of freedom does not arise in the first place. The United States by invoking freedom of speech, is actually advocating freedom to abuse, denigrate Islam, the values of Islam, its sanctities, and its noble personalities,” Kashmiri author and political analyst Dr. Syed M. Inayatullah Andrabi said in an interview with Fars News Agency.

Pakistan, alongside India, emerged as a sovereign state in 1947, but unlike India it could not put in place a credible system of governance, and the country has been oscillating between Army rule and the civilian. Without going into the analysis and discussion of individual events and situations, if we look at the situation of Pakistan, as it has developed over the past 65 years, the most profound and undeniable statement that can be made is: Proper and genuine politics have not developed in Pakistan till date. We could move further on to substantiate this statement, but will not, simply because this, per se, is not our subject of discussion here. However, it would be worthwhile to note that the biggest event that happened to Pakistan after its emergence in 1947 was its break-up in two in 1971.