There are protests everyday in Kashmir. More people keep dying and with it more families have to take more hard decisions. Everyday is tough in Kashmir. The uncertainity, the death, destruction and the choking of the expressions is pushing Kashmiris further and further into despair. While peple are out on the streets more pople want to secede from India than to stay with it. However, secessionism carries a different meaning for different sections of the society. I was talking about this aspect of our lives with Suhail recently and with that in mind I will try to represent the major secessionist factions within the Kashmir valley:
1. Mr. Syed Ali Shah Geelani thought: Uphold the plebscite promise and fulfill the resolutions of the United Nations. The United Nations resolutions on Kashmir give one of the two choices to the people of the Jammu and Kashmir state, India or Pakistan. Mr. Geelani is a supporter of merger with Pakistan and so are his followers. He does not believe in any other solution.
2. Another prominent leader is Yasin Malik. He is the chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Libeartion front seeking complete Independence.
3. Hurriyat conference is an amalgam of various secessionist organizations. Its president Umar Farooq wants to secede from India but it is unclear whether it means merger with Pakistan or complete Independence.
With all these people and the majoity of the supporters for secessinism, it leaves people kinda divided about what it means to secede. Kashmiris are suffering but none of these leaders is able to give these people a single goal. While secession from India unites them but if Kashmiris have to negotite their future nobody knows what we should ask for. It is a divided society that is under opression. Leaders need to come out in the open and lay down their goals for this movement. People need to know what they are suffering for. If the leaders fail them they need to decide about their own future. How about letting people decide what they want within before they are asked to decide what they want to achieve.
