Kashmir Continues to Bleed by Shamshad Ahmad
Raised in the playground of army camps, checkpoints, and bunkers, with screams from torture chambers for a soundtrack, the young generation has suddenly discovered the power of mass protest, and above all, the dignity of being able to straighten their shoulders and speak for themselves.
Kashmir is aflame again and is bleeding under a renewed outpouring of popular non-violent revolt against India’s military occupation. Kashmiris are out in the streets bringing the valley to a complete shutdown. Despite curfew and military crackdown, the current political revolt is fast developing into a mass movement not only resurrecting the memories of the Kashmiri uprising in the 90s but also giving a new dimension to this indomitable struggle for freedom.
The hundreds of thousands of demonstrators that fill the streets of Kashmir's cities today are overwhelmingly young, many in their teens, and armed with nothing more lethal than stones. Yet the Indian state seems determined to strangle their voices as it did of the old ones. Since June this year, Indian soldiers have shot dead more than 90 Kashmiri protestors, most of them teenagers. There is a deliberate and direct targeting of young people by the military forces, intent on crushing the anti-occupation movement.
To misrepresent the gravity and magnitude of the Kashmiri uprising, India is crying wolf by raising the bogey of “terrorism”. Kahsmiri youth are only pelting rocks and stones on trigger-free Indian soldiers.
Fatal losses are only being suffered by “non-combatant” Kashmiris alone. Not one casualty has been reported on the side of Indian para-military forces which have been given obtrusively sweeping powers to open fire, search houses, detain suspects and confiscate property, while themselves enjoying total immunity from prosecution.
Apart from the magnitude of violence unleashed by the military forces against protesters, the most poignant aspect of the situation is the acute suffering of the whole population caused by the frequent curfews, disregard of normal life, arrests, detentions and sometimes disappearances of innocent civilians by the authorities. This is a situation without precedent in South Asia and with few parallels in the world today.
This time, as indeed two years ago, nobody can blame any foreign hand in the Kashmir uprising. The Kashmiris have chosen to speak for themselves and are speaking loud and clear by chanting Azadi, Azadi. They want nothing but freedom from Indian occupation to be able to exercise their inalienable right of self-determination pledged to them by both India and Pakistan and the international community through solemn UN Security Council resolutions. It is indigenous and an inevitable eruption of volcanic suffocation simmering underneath among the Kashmiri people for several decades.
The New York Times last week described the protests as a comprehensive "intifada-like popular revolt". The world however remains silent over this tragedy. There is no voice of conscience from any major Western capital. The Muslim world remains aghast as an embarrassing symbol of absolute helplessness. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hesitatingly issued a statement expressing concern over the worsening situation in Kashmir. Otherwise the UN is today left with no authority or credibility on implementing its own resolutions.
During his US presidential campaign,
Apart from the magnitude of violence unleashed by the military forces against protesters, the most poignant aspect of the situation is the acute suffering of the whole population caused by the frequent curfews, disregard of normal life, arrests, detentions and sometimes disappearances of innocent civilians by the authorities. This is a situation without precedent in South Asia and with few parallels in the world today.
This time, as indeed two years ago, nobody can blame any foreign hand in the Kashmir uprising. The Kashmiris have chosen to speak for themselves and are speaking loud and clear by chanting Azadi, Azadi. They want nothing but freedom from Indian occupation to be able to exercise their inalienable right of self-determination pledged to them by both India and Pakistan and the international community through solemn UN Security Council resolutions. It is indigenous and an inevitable eruption of volcanic suffocation simmering underneath among the Kashmiri people for several decades.
The New York Times last week described the protests as a comprehensive "intifada-like popular revolt". The world however remains silent over this tragedy. There is no voice of conscience from any major Western capital. The Muslim world remains aghast as an embarrassing symbol of absolute helplessness. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hesitatingly issued a statement expressing concern over the worsening situation in Kashmir. Otherwise the UN is today left with no authority or credibility on implementing its own resolutions.
During his US presidential campaign,
Barack Obama had pledged he would appoint a special envoy to the region and declared that solving the 'Kashmir crisis' would be one of his 'critical tasks'.
Since then, however, the US president hasn't uttered a word about this crisis that has seeded all major conflicts in south Asia. If only Obama would keep his promise, it would certainly hasten the process of peace and stability in south Asia, home to one-fifth of the human race. In the ultimate analysis, durable peace in Afghanistan is also predicated on peace in South Asia.
Since1947, Kashmir has remained at the core of South Asia’s issues of peace and security, and is today a sombre reminder to the world that despite universalization of fundamental values and freedoms, the people of Kashmir remain deprived of them. In the 90s, the Kashmiris waged a militant struggle bringing renewed international focus on the Indian military occupation of Kashmir and its repression of the Kashmiri people. India coped with this situation by holding fruitless dialogue with Pakistan to deflect international pressure.
In the post-Kargil period, taking advantage of global concern with terrorism, India has remained locked on to the alleged nexus between “terrorism” and Kashmiri struggle with the demand that Pakistan cease assistance to Kashmiri cause. In 2006, it managed to secure an “affidavit” from General Musharraf not to let Pakistan’s territory used for any cross-border terrorist activity. It also almost clinched a “back channel” deal on Kashmir in Musharraf’s four-point “out of the box” solution. Since November 2008, India has sought to redefine the Kashmir issue purely as an issue of terrorism.
The reality, however, is alarmingly different. There could be no grimmer description of the Kashmir tragedy today than what the renowned Indian writer, Pankaj Mishra, in an article (The Guardian, August 14), writes; “Once known for its extraordinary beauty, the valley of Kashmir now hosts the biggest, bloodiest and also the most obscure military occupation in the world.” He then illustrates the everyday regime of arbitrary arrests, curfews, raids, and checkpoints enforced by nearly 700,000 Indian soldiers, the valley's 4 million Muslims are exposed to extra-judicial execution, rape and torture.
Mishra speaks about the Indian media amplifying "the falsehoods and deceptions of Indian intelligence agencies in Kashmir", which argue that the Kashmiri protests are the work of Islamic fundamentalists and/or terrorists. But in the case of Srinagar, the population of a major town cannot be composed entirely of such elements. Kashmiris simply demand a speedy implementation of the pledge solemnly extended to them by India and Pakistan and the UN to be allowed to decide their future through an unrigged and uncoerced vote.
Virtually everyone, men, women and children of the capital city of Kashmir, Srinagar, has taken to the streets to lodge a non-violent protest at the office of the United Nations against the continuance of Indian occupation. But such non-violent protests have received little or no press coverage, even though they have been taking place, as Mishra recalls, since 2008. According to him, the ongoing protests are an unmistakable expression of Kashmiris' resentment against the indifference of world powers and their failure, largely because of toxic power politics, to implement international agreements.
No wonder, the Kashmiris today feel betrayed and are out in the streets demanding to be freed from the degradations of Indian military rule. Theirs is the voice of a wronged and neglected people. Only two years ago, another Indian writer and world’s renowned humanist, Arundhati Roy had challenged the world’s and India’s conscience on this issue drawing their attention to a huge price being paid in terms of military, material, moral and human costs in keeping the Indian occupation of Kashmir against the wishes of its people.
Arundhati also recalled that “there have been mass rallies (in Kashmir) in the past, but none in recent memory that have been so sustained and widespread.” This time it is not the mainstream political parties of Kashmir or their leaders but the people who were in the forefront. The leaders did appear and speak at the rallies but “not so much as leaders as followers. It was the spontaneous energy of a caged, enraged people that exploded on Kashmir streets.”
She then flagged the point that “not surprisingly, the voice that the government of India has tried so hard to silence in Kashmir has massed into a deafening roar. Raised in the playground of army camps, checkpoints, and bunkers, with screams from torture chambers for a soundtrack, the young generation has suddenly discovered the power of mass protest, and above all, the dignity of being able to straighten their shoulders and speak for themselves, represent themselves. For them, it is nothing short of an epiphany. Not even the fear of death seems to hold them back. And once that fear has gone, of what use is the largest or second largest army in the world?”
Depicting the popular mood in Kashmir, Arundhati described how “day after day, hundreds of thousands of people swarm around places that hold terrible memories for them. They demolish bunkers, break through cordons of concertina wire and stare straight down the barrels of soldiers’ machine guns, saying what very few in India want to hear. Hum Kya Chahtey? Azadi! And at that time the Kashmiris chanted the ‘Jeevey Jeevey Pakistan’ slogan in equal numbers and with equal intensity. If this time, this slogan is missing, we just need to look into our souls.
Arundhati concluded: “The Indian military occupation of Kashmir makes monsters of us all. It allows Hindu chauvinists to target and victimize Muslims in India by holding them hostage to the freedom struggle being waged by Muslims in Kashmir. India needs Azadi from Kashmir just as much as- if not more- Kashmir needs Azadi from India.”
Besides the loud slogans of Azadi, Arundhati also heard plenty of insults and humiliations for India: “Ay Jabiro Ay Zalimo, Kashmir Hamara Chhod Do.” This is the crux of the Kashmir situation. India will do itself good by seeing writing on the wall. Popular movements cannot be suppressed. Brutal military force brings no relief to anyone. Stark lessons are there to read in the unclosed chapters of Afghanistan and Iraq.
There is but one fair, just, legal, and moral solution to Kashmir which was provided by the United Nations and which both India and Pakistan had accepted. The setting aside of the UN resolution is one thing; the discarding of the principle they embodied is altogether another. The underlying cardinal principle of self-determination cannot be thrown overboard.
The Kashmir settlement has to be in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people; impartially ascertained; in conditions of freedom from intimidation. It is never too late to revert to the path of justice and fair play, and to heed to sanity and rationality. Perhaps, appointment of a special envoy by the United Nations or by President Obama, like Bishop Desmond Tutu will hasten the way of peace and prosperity in the region of South Asia.
Since1947, Kashmir has remained at the core of South Asia’s issues of peace and security, and is today a sombre reminder to the world that despite universalization of fundamental values and freedoms, the people of Kashmir remain deprived of them. In the 90s, the Kashmiris waged a militant struggle bringing renewed international focus on the Indian military occupation of Kashmir and its repression of the Kashmiri people. India coped with this situation by holding fruitless dialogue with Pakistan to deflect international pressure.
In the post-Kargil period, taking advantage of global concern with terrorism, India has remained locked on to the alleged nexus between “terrorism” and Kashmiri struggle with the demand that Pakistan cease assistance to Kashmiri cause. In 2006, it managed to secure an “affidavit” from General Musharraf not to let Pakistan’s territory used for any cross-border terrorist activity. It also almost clinched a “back channel” deal on Kashmir in Musharraf’s four-point “out of the box” solution. Since November 2008, India has sought to redefine the Kashmir issue purely as an issue of terrorism.
The reality, however, is alarmingly different. There could be no grimmer description of the Kashmir tragedy today than what the renowned Indian writer, Pankaj Mishra, in an article (The Guardian, August 14), writes; “Once known for its extraordinary beauty, the valley of Kashmir now hosts the biggest, bloodiest and also the most obscure military occupation in the world.” He then illustrates the everyday regime of arbitrary arrests, curfews, raids, and checkpoints enforced by nearly 700,000 Indian soldiers, the valley's 4 million Muslims are exposed to extra-judicial execution, rape and torture.
Mishra speaks about the Indian media amplifying "the falsehoods and deceptions of Indian intelligence agencies in Kashmir", which argue that the Kashmiri protests are the work of Islamic fundamentalists and/or terrorists. But in the case of Srinagar, the population of a major town cannot be composed entirely of such elements. Kashmiris simply demand a speedy implementation of the pledge solemnly extended to them by India and Pakistan and the UN to be allowed to decide their future through an unrigged and uncoerced vote.
Virtually everyone, men, women and children of the capital city of Kashmir, Srinagar, has taken to the streets to lodge a non-violent protest at the office of the United Nations against the continuance of Indian occupation. But such non-violent protests have received little or no press coverage, even though they have been taking place, as Mishra recalls, since 2008. According to him, the ongoing protests are an unmistakable expression of Kashmiris' resentment against the indifference of world powers and their failure, largely because of toxic power politics, to implement international agreements.
No wonder, the Kashmiris today feel betrayed and are out in the streets demanding to be freed from the degradations of Indian military rule. Theirs is the voice of a wronged and neglected people. Only two years ago, another Indian writer and world’s renowned humanist, Arundhati Roy had challenged the world’s and India’s conscience on this issue drawing their attention to a huge price being paid in terms of military, material, moral and human costs in keeping the Indian occupation of Kashmir against the wishes of its people.
Arundhati also recalled that “there have been mass rallies (in Kashmir) in the past, but none in recent memory that have been so sustained and widespread.” This time it is not the mainstream political parties of Kashmir or their leaders but the people who were in the forefront. The leaders did appear and speak at the rallies but “not so much as leaders as followers. It was the spontaneous energy of a caged, enraged people that exploded on Kashmir streets.”
She then flagged the point that “not surprisingly, the voice that the government of India has tried so hard to silence in Kashmir has massed into a deafening roar. Raised in the playground of army camps, checkpoints, and bunkers, with screams from torture chambers for a soundtrack, the young generation has suddenly discovered the power of mass protest, and above all, the dignity of being able to straighten their shoulders and speak for themselves, represent themselves. For them, it is nothing short of an epiphany. Not even the fear of death seems to hold them back. And once that fear has gone, of what use is the largest or second largest army in the world?”
Depicting the popular mood in Kashmir, Arundhati described how “day after day, hundreds of thousands of people swarm around places that hold terrible memories for them. They demolish bunkers, break through cordons of concertina wire and stare straight down the barrels of soldiers’ machine guns, saying what very few in India want to hear. Hum Kya Chahtey? Azadi! And at that time the Kashmiris chanted the ‘Jeevey Jeevey Pakistan’ slogan in equal numbers and with equal intensity. If this time, this slogan is missing, we just need to look into our souls.
Arundhati concluded: “The Indian military occupation of Kashmir makes monsters of us all. It allows Hindu chauvinists to target and victimize Muslims in India by holding them hostage to the freedom struggle being waged by Muslims in Kashmir. India needs Azadi from Kashmir just as much as- if not more- Kashmir needs Azadi from India.”
Besides the loud slogans of Azadi, Arundhati also heard plenty of insults and humiliations for India: “Ay Jabiro Ay Zalimo, Kashmir Hamara Chhod Do.” This is the crux of the Kashmir situation. India will do itself good by seeing writing on the wall. Popular movements cannot be suppressed. Brutal military force brings no relief to anyone. Stark lessons are there to read in the unclosed chapters of Afghanistan and Iraq.
There is but one fair, just, legal, and moral solution to Kashmir which was provided by the United Nations and which both India and Pakistan had accepted. The setting aside of the UN resolution is one thing; the discarding of the principle they embodied is altogether another. The underlying cardinal principle of self-determination cannot be thrown overboard.
The Kashmir settlement has to be in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people; impartially ascertained; in conditions of freedom from intimidation. It is never too late to revert to the path of justice and fair play, and to heed to sanity and rationality. Perhaps, appointment of a special envoy by the United Nations or by President Obama, like Bishop Desmond Tutu will hasten the way of peace and prosperity in the region of South Asia.
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