Insurgency vs. State power : Kashmiri Muslim Youth to Introspect

Insurgency vs. State Power

(Kashmiri Muslim Youth to Introspect)

Lalit K Kaul

We as a single community need to retrospect on what has been going on for last thirty years and also individually introspect on the same.  

Those who coined the slogans ‘ھم کیا چاہتے آزادی हम क्या चाहते आज़ादी’ and ‘کشمیر بنےگا پاکستان कश्मीर बनेगा पाकिस्तान’ were never in the forefront of the so called movement because its originators, masters, commanders and dictators were and continue to be in Pakistan. The second line of leadership (essentially mere executers of the commands from across the border) stayed safe in their homes, mohalla and mosque while instigating the youth to pick up arms against the Indian State to fight the proxy war for Pakistan.

Under Operation Topac of Zia Ul Haq (President of Pakistan) the preparations for armed revolt (insurgency) against India (to avenge Bangladesh) had been going on for long only to explode prematurely on the scene in 1990. The enthusiasts became ecstatic dreaming that Kashmir had slipped out of the Indian hands for, not only had Pakistan promised them that, but that the explosion had occurred despite Indian army presence in the Kashmir region and Srinagar city! The then CM of J&K fled to UK to play golf (as reported in press)! The mainstream political leadership failed to control the situation. Thirty years is a long time and Kashmir is still with India much more cemented than ever because of its UT status.

Where did the things go wrong? What was the false premise on which edifice of Azadi (from India) had been envisioned? Who planned such a treacherous act against their own fellow Kashmiris?

False Premise: 

The local Kashmiri leadership (so called Hurriyat/ separatist) was perhaps too naïve to accept Pakistani premise that an armed rebellion against Indian State would burden India so much that Indian leadership would be compelled to let Kashmir go!! This is the inherent weakness in the politics governed by commonness of religion because religious passions cloud reason. In any case the self styled leaders had nothing to lose because they weren’t going to be in the forefront of armed rebellion nor their family members were going to be actively participating in it. Their only job was to instigate the gullible from their home turf, mohalla streets and through loudspeakers of mosque and make them easy fodder for the Indian State machinery while they watched the fun enjoying hospitality of both India and Pakistan.

Yes, in 1990 India was economically not at all sound, but that should not have clouded the basic premise of the very existence of a Nation State: That it has to protect its integrity and hence geo-political boundaries against an adversary, no matter what. The fulfillment of this basic duty becomes easiest job to do when it comes to facing insurgency from within because any State – big or small- is armed enough to face challenges from within.

The annihilation of LTTE by Sri Lankan forces is a singular example of how even as small a State as Sri Lanka has this capability to quell internal threats.

Treacherous Act:

Both those in Pakistan and Hurriyat (and their supporters and sympathizers) in India were aware of how India had been quelling 1) insurgency in the North East region, 2) Naxalism in various parts of country and how it had annihilated Khalistan Movement in Punjab (instigated and supported by Pakistan) and not hesitated to raid Golden Temple. If the most sacred place of worship of Sikhs could be raided, then there remained no doubt about the ruthlessness of the Indian State. Moreover post 1962 debacle the Indian defense forces had been on the rise in strengthening them against any external threat, what to speak of internal threats. Pakistan had not been able to defend herself in 1965 and 1971 wars so, how possibly it could decimate India through proxy war!

The plan of Pakistan as supported and implemented by the Hurriyat and their supporters can be classified as the singular act of treachery against fellow Muslims of Kashmir because it was not only against the historical current, but also against the tenets of the religion that did bind Pakistan leaders and the Hurriyat and on the basis of which was coined the slogan ‘ھم کیا چاہتے آزادی हम क्या चाहते आज़ादी’   

What went wrong?

It was designed to be so. It was not for annexing Kashmir from India, but to bleed India to an extent that its economics is hurt and its growth process retarded for it to remain a limping Nation. So long as in their scheme of things (hurt India economically!) Kashmiri Muslim youth was persuaded to become fodder (Azadi movement for them!) Pakistan couldn’t have asked for better; the things having been made easier by the complicity of the local leaders (for material gains and fame!). This was, to say the least, the INHUMAN ACT of monumental proportions and as much unethical to make scapegoats of humans!

 Outcome:

While the leaders (Hurriyat) are in safe custody and the so called mainstream leaders have lost their coordinates (with J&K becoming UT) and Pakistan is crying hoarse in international forums only to draw a blank; the Kashmiri youth continues to be a sacrificial goat while all slogans and political chicanery have disappeared in to thin air. The mission Topac is a failure and in any case it was not for liberation of Kashmir from India because Zia Ul Haq was not so naïve as to believe in that and on the other hand he had succeeded in indoctrinating the local leaders (the Hurriyat) for achieving the impossible.

It is time for youth to see the reality and plan for their better, peaceful and prosperous future, because picking up guns against a State does not pay.