There is certainly great merit in the recent observation made by the JKLF chairman Yasin Malik that elections are just ‘sugar- coated pills’ being fed the people of Kashmir. However, this despicable practice of exploiting the vulnerabilities of the gullible public through emotional appeals is not confined to Kashmir alone, but afflicts every society in the world. The JKLF chairman also feels that the mainstream political parties have “always used this vote to undermine the freedom movement of Jammu- Kashmir and safeguarded the interests of India in Jammu- Kashmir.”
But, how exactly are the people of Kashmir undermining the ongoing struggle for the ‘right to self determination’ merely by participating in elections, lacks logic and defies comprehension! Yes, public participation in elections may give New Delhi the opportunity to shout from rooftops that the people of Kashmir have ‘rejected’ the separatist ideology, but does this claim have any takers? Had this illogical contention really been convincing, then wouldn’t the international community have decided in favour of India on the Kashmir issue long ago?
Even if one was to stretch his or her imagination to the extent of converting it into fantasy, the fact remains that participation in elections can never be passed off as ‘rejection’ of the demand for a plebiscite in Kashmir. Infact, in the past, various separatist leaders including the UJC chief and Hizb supremo Syed Sallaudin have explicitly expressed this opinion by highlighting the completely divergent objectives of elections and plebiscite. Yet, the separatists refuse to overcome their unfounded fears and for reasons unknown, feel so threatened whenever elections draw near that they use every means at their disposal to dissuade the public from casting their votes.
While they do have every right to give an election boycott call, the separatists also need to consider how their obduracy on this issue is harming the ongoing movement in Kashmir. They need to realise that by calling for poll boycott, they are actually helping New Delhi by giving credence to its propaganda that while the people of Kashmir are keen to vote, it is the separatists who are preventing them from doing so! Moreover, when the separatists give a boycott call and people still come out to vote, it conveys an erroneous impression to the world community that contrary to their claims of being the ‘true’ representatives of the masses, the separatists and the people are obviously not on the same page!
The main problem with the separatists lies in their refusal to take stock of the situation realistically and find effective means to carry the movement for the ‘right to self determination’ forward. They conveniently overlook the fact that while starting a mass movement is an easy job, steering the struggle to its logical conclusion is something entirely different and requires much more than mere rhetoric. If one looks back, then it is clearly evident that the movement for ‘azadi’ in Kashmir, which started with mass protests and hartals years ago, has remained very much the same even today. While protest and hartals may be good means for displaying the expression of public disenchantment with the prevailing scheme of things, they by themselves only, cannot be expected to deliver. Unfortunately, by failing to strategise and come up with any comprehensive road map to carry the struggle forward by graduating into something more meaningful, the ongoing movement for the ‘right to self determination’ has just been allowed to stagnate in the morass of protests and hartals!
There is no doubt that the people of Kashmir earnestly desire to exercise their ‘right to self determination’ and aspire for ‘azadi’. However, the fact of the matter is that even though the separatist leaders claim that they represent the ‘true’ aspirations of the Kashmiris, they themselves have never sought the opinion of the public on the issue of ‘azadi’- is it merger with Pakistan, complete independence or just greater autonomy? And more surprisingly, when the separatists, without any exceptions, fully endorse the UN resolutions on Kashmir and vehemently advocate its implementation, why are they not coming up with ideas and suggestions that would make this possible?
The first step towards settling the Kashmir issue as per UN resolutions is the holding of a plebiscite – so, instead of harping and wasting time and energy on peripheral issues like giving boycott calls during elections, why are the separatists shy of working towards creating favourable conditions for holding of plebiscite in Kashmir? The UN resolution on holding of plebiscite in J&K envisages simultaneous plebiscite in both Indian and Pakistan administered Kashmir. While this should not be difficult, there is a ‘catch’- as per the UN resolution, before the plebiscite is held, Pakistan has to withdraws its troops from the areas of Kashmir under its control.
This is something the separatists never talk about for two reasons- firstly, by doing so, the fact that Islamabad itself is ‘illegally occupying’ portions of Kashmir and thus a ‘partner in crime’ alongwith New Delhi will get highlighted. Secondly, the separatists know very well that despite Islamabad’s claims of being fully committed to finding a ‘just’ solution which ‘meets the aspirations’ of the people of Kashmir, it will never vacate the areas of Kashmir under its occupation, even if it is temporarily! It appears that like the proverbial ostrich which buries its head in sand whenever threatened, the separatists may also have intentionally chosen to turn a Nelson’s eye on this vital issue, even though they know very well that without this, the Kashmir imbroglio cannot be resolved!
By confining the struggle for the ‘right to self determination’ to Indian administered Kashmir only, the separatists are doing great disservice to the ongoing movement. Though they may not realise it, but by their selective ‘cherry picking’ approach, they are only helping New Delhi by ‘localising’ an international issue and thus, this will certainly not cut any ice with the international community! And the very fact that all their appeals for international intervention have not yielded any positive results till date amply proves the point.
So, in case the separatists are really serious about seeking resolution of the Kashmir issue, then they have no other option but to project Kashmir as a ‘single identity’ and expose both India and Pakistan as ‘co-conspirators’ for having illegally occupied J&K. While doing this is bound to enrage Islamabad, it certainly has a strong moral justification, as despite its repeated assurances, let alone resolving the Kashmir issue bilaterally with New Delhi; Islamabad has even failed to get New Delhi to agree to the logical suggestion that Kashmiris should also be made a party to talks on Kashmir!
For long, the people of Kashmir have been doomed to subsist on ‘sugar coated’ pills. In 1947, the tribals who came with the ‘sugar-coated’ pill of our ‘liberation’ badly let us down by wasting time in looting Baramulla rather than capturing Srinagar airfield which would have prevented the Indian army from landing there. Then, it was the UN which gave us another ‘sugar- coated’ pill in the form of passing resolutions on Kashmir, which it never bother to implement and this was followed by Nehru’s ‘sugar-coated’ pill of assuring plebiscite and then conveniently forgetting his promise. Both India and Pakistan too have regularly fed us with the ‘sugar-coated’ pill that the dialogue between them regarding the Kashmir issue is progressing in a ‘positive’ manner. Back home, the mainstream parties have also ‘over-drugged’ us with such pills all these years with tall promises.
When the JKLF brought the Kalashnikov to Kashmir, they fed us yet another sugar coated’ pill by telling us that “azadi was just around the corner”. Two and a half decades have elapsed but the ‘azadi’ they promised still eludes us and the bloodshed which the Kalashnikov has caused has completely washed-off the sugar-coating on the pill! Now, it is the separatists who continue feeding us ‘sugar-coated’ pills by periodically telling us how the international community had finally taken note of our plight and would soon intervene by forcing New Delhi to implement the UN resolutions on Kashmir!
The people of Kashmir cannot be expected to survive indefinitely on ‘sugar-coated’ pills and the time has come for the separatist leadership to stop charging at windmills and instead, building up the courage to take the bull by the horns, re-orient their strategy to achieve the ‘right to self determination’ through decisive action. The people of Kashmir have already suffered a lot due to the lack of direction in the movement for the ‘right to self determination’ and even though they may not be afraid of laying down their lives for this cause, asking them to make sacrifices when nothing meaningful is being achieved, is to say the least, morally incorrect!