never in history....

Last week history was made in Kashmir. The genesis of this change in history is the death of two young kashmiri men. This was no ordinary death. They were shot dead in cold blood by army. This was concluded in the investigations of the state government as well as the army itself. Killings like these have been happening in Kashmir for the past 20 years, the latest one after these two being the shooting of a young carpenter in another part of the state. What makes the death of these two young men different is the resistance that the villagers showed up against it. Their peaceful yet resilient fight was against the army camp amidst their village, members of which were responsible for the death of those two innocent men. Their demand: shift the army camp.
They were united and steadfast in their demand. Peaceful, yet so powerful that their struggle yielded results that were never seen before in Kashmir. The army camp was shifted from that village. It was the victory of innocence and peaceful resilience.

for gods sake.. were not hindus or sikhs!

I happened to listen to a few media reports on the recent violence in Pakistan's North-West. Often they interview civilians fleeing military offensives. Once too often one hears some flavor of the following comment from the poor hapless fleeing souls: "its not like were hindus or sikhs.. why the hell is our own government bombing our villages?". Is this messed up or is this messed up?

Democracy is about inheritance

When you speak about democracy in Kashmir, it is more about who your father is than who you are. Take a look at the recently concluded state elections in Kashmir. Who became the chief minister (head of the state)? Omar Abdullah. Son of two time chief minister, Farooq Abdullah and the grandson of the founder of his party, Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah. This is the ruling party National Conference. It is not hard to imagine that the next leader of that party would be Omar's son.

Now let us talk about the main opposition, Peoples Democratic party (PDP), the main leader is Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Guess who is the next in command... his daughter Mehbooba Mufti. Who would be after that...someone from the family. Is this really democracy?

The real democracy is still a pipe dream for the people of kashmir. May be that is the reason for the mess we are in. whatever the elections are worth I think people should be voting for the person to head the state and not the party.

Kashmir Elections

The elections are over. People came out to vote in good numbers and so did those against the elections. Although a large population did cast her vote willingly, the might of Indian army was used to prevent others from freely expressing their anti election sentiments. As people swarmed to cast their vote in certain areas, other areas were swarmed by the police to prevent any expression of dissent. Unannounced curfew was imposed. For seven consecutive friday's no prayer was allowed at the biggest mosque of Srinagar. This election exposes many. Kashmiri people who swarmed the valley streets against Indian occupation in June 2008, came out to cast vote in December. They voted in the elections held under the Indian constitution. This is oxymoron. Is it the win of Indian democracy, let us not forget its intolerance to any dissent. Or, is it the failure of the separatist movement which seemed so powerful in June. My take is, it is neither India's win nor Separatists loss, it is a different ball game altogether. It is the people's game. People of kashmir are choosing who to back and when. Indian democracy or separatists are not the ones maneuvering people but it is the other way round. Both India and the separatists happen to be the players on the bench and the people of Kashmir choose who to back. Neither one could claim any victory over people and they are unable to understand the Kashmiris. Is it because Kashmirs are so complicated?

One aspect is clear, Kashmiris are unpredictable. It is not clear what they want. It may be because they are really confused themselves or may be neither India nor the separatists really understand them. It is completely possible that Kashmiris don't trust either one. I would put my chips on the latter one. Neither one has demonstrated the character that could be trusted. At the same time I believe Kashmiris need a little introspection and could come out in the open to express what they really want. The situation is already complicated enough to need any further complications. People of kashmir would do themselves and others greater good if they made up their mind and voiced it clear.

Freedom Within

I have always been wondering about this. How much freedom do we give to each other. True, we come out on the streets, mourn the deaths of others, resent what is happening in Kashmir. The most important question is what kind of people are we when we don't have a common enemy. What kind of a people are we when we are not seeking freedom.

There are more questions than answers.Here is an example; Lots of my people don't know their language or don't want to converse in it. For some it is not hip, for others it doesn't matter. Are we really the people we are promoting ourselves to be. If we think ourselves as Kashmiris, why is it that we are not even proud of our language. This is the essence of our culture. How come it is not important. Or is it that whenever there is a rallying point we all follow it and when that time is over we get busy with the normal influences of our life. I think we are not culturally proud of ourselves or our culture is too weak to bind us together. I am basing this premise on the influence of other cultures on all of us. I am not trying to question just the ability to speak the language here, I am talking about nationhood. The moment we step out of the crowd, we are not representatives of our nation. We are someone else. May be it is that only a small portion of the people really believe in this freedom from outside, rest are just followers of the tide. However, time and again we seek freedom from outsiders. Freedom for what? Why do I need to be free? I think everyone needs to answer that.
Is it for a cause or is it just so romantic. What does it mean for us to be free? We as a nation haven't figured that out. The answer to this is not really straightforward and it is an evolution but the important point is, are we in that direction? Where is my freedom to choose within my society? Are we tolerant of each other. Are we respectful of each other? Do the weak have equal opportunities? How often do we think about others?

What do we want?

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.

Emergency?

The whole Kashmir valley has been under curfew for the past three days without a break. 8 people have been killed in police firing over the past 3 days. These deaths are on top of 31 shot from point blank range in the first two weeks of August. The newspapers cannot bring out their print editions. Local television channels have been barred from broadcasting news. This is an emergency like situation. All this because people had come out on the streets to peacefully express their desire to secede from India. India's democracy reached its limit after only 4 public demonstrations in the past two weeks when hundreds of thousands of people came out to demand freedom. Shame.

There are lots of videos on you tube showing the barbaric treatment, meted to the people for seeking freedom, by Indian security forces. Shame.