Why Kashmiris would be better off rejecting separatists and accepting the Indian state

When Rajnath Singh met Nabeel Ahmad Wani, the 26-year-old who topped the recruitment exam to join BSF and also happens to share his surname with slain militant Burhan Wani, the Centre (along with the state BJP-PDP government) was probably sending a not-so-subtle message to Kashmiris. Born in a lower-middle class family, Nabeel Wani availed a government-sponsored minority scholarship that paved the way for him to complete his engineering. While it might as well be a photo-op, the message being sent out is crystal clear – India isn’t as bad as the separatists paint it to be. Hard work and education can bring more rewards than pelting stones or fighting for a cause which simply won’t come to fruition.

The truth is that for years now, Kashmiris have been living with Indians across the country, without much incident most of the time. Kashmir and Kashmiris are as much a part of India as the Bengalis, Gujaratis, Tamilians and every other state in this nation. It’s time for Kashmiris to accept the reality they live in, as opposed to a perceived nature of that reality created by separatists. They can either be part of the Indian state, which has its flaws but isn’t as bad as separatists make it out to be, or they can continue the struggle which has brought life in the Valley to a standstill and be assured that India is never going to give in to their demands – either for a separate state or one that’s aligned to Pakistan.

No Indian politician, not even one from the Left parties is going to ever consider their demands. To accept even plebiscite would be political suicide, as Jyotiraditya Scindia learnt when his statement in Parliament was mistaken as one that seeks plebiscite (he moved fast to point out he meant plebiscite against BJP-PDP government).

While Kashmiris might think they have a lot of support for their voice, when they hear outrage from quarters like JNU or other left-leaning institutions, they have to realise that these ‘voices’ are simply using the Kashmir situation to further their own careers, whether political, creative or otherwise. They might think Pakistan is with them, but our neighbours, more often than not, show exactly how not to be a stable country and Kashmiris could do well to learn from their mistakes. Pakistan’s global currency, as the world grapples with the rise of Islamic terrorism, is fast-depleting and even China’s backing is simply to offset the new-found India-USA bonhomie, now that Uncle Sam has finally moved on from the hurt that was caused by India’s closeness to the erstwhile Soviet Union. The argument for being part of India is simple. Kashmiris can be part of the fastest growing economy of the world. As to counter the argument of the ‘iron-fisted’ Indian state crushing dissidents, well if it had been that ‘iron-fisted’, over 4000 security personnel wouldn’t also have been injured since Wani’s death. In the same breath, the civilian death toll of more than 75 people in the current unrest cannot be ignored. But isn't it time to put an end to the endless circle of violence and death on both sides?

Opposition MPs try to talk to separatists but no doors were opened (PTI)

Meanwhile, the separatist leaders’ current state of existence should illustrate just how much they really care about ‘azaadi’ as they comfortably live under the aegis of the Indian government while egging on others to do the dirty work. None of them or their progeny are out there throwing stones or risking their necks. The sad truth is that Burhan Wani was a pawn, as will be his successor Zakir Rashid Bhat whose address and choice of words made for interesting reading: “I am neither a commander nor the chief of any outfit. I am a soldier of Allah who wants to alert/forewarn you of India's nefarious designs India is conspiring by recruiting special police officers (SPOs). They are trying to revive Ikhwan in Kashmir. They want Kashmiris among themselves. Do not take part in it (recruitment drive) and those who participate will be responsible for their death".

Zakir Rashid Bhat’s phrase about being a ‘soldier of Allah’, along with PDP leader Muzaffar Baig’s assertion at the all-party meet that this time the struggle was ‘religious’ is making the current movement against the Indian state look more like jihad against non-believers than one for self-determination.

It is something even the government has realised, hoping not to create an environment that could lead to the arrival of the Islamic State. Mannan Kumar wrote for dna: “Sources said the government has drawn up plans to silence the violent protests within two weeks by carrying out intelligence-based counter intelligence operations (CI Ops) to weed out the militants who, exploiting the over two-month-long unrest, have milled among the protestors. The government move follows a briefing by intelligence agencies that the protests are increasingly having religious overtones that may prepare a fertile ground for IS elements.”

File photo of slain terrorist Burhan Wani 

The Islamist jihadi nature of the struggle as opposed to the earlier struggle for self-determination has put the Kashmiri freedom struggle under a new light. One that allows PM Modi to go on the offensive on world forums like G20 or East Asia summit, to deplore Pakistan for fomenting terrorism in the region, which also makes Pakistan's statements about caring about the Kashmiri struggle look ridiculous. Secondly, the jihadi element makes the movement closer to global terrorist outlets like Islamic State or Al Qaeda than those of a people fighting for self-determination, a perception that will make the world less sympathetic to their cause.

This was also observed in the UN’s subtle snub over giving the Kashmir unrest a global stage. The United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) snubbed separatists by saying they didn’t have a mandate beyond the Line of Control, a move that led Syed Ali Shah Geelani to rage:"Why is UNO unmoved over the genocide of the people of Kashmir? Why is this world body silently watching the brutal killings of the minor children in disputed Jammu and Kashmir at the hands of the Indian forces?” That the separatists refused to talk to the all-party meet, also suggests just how much they care about the Kashmiri people.

Thirdly, the current political scenario of the state, finds the PDP and BJP as partners, one that’s as strange as it gets, with a previously soft separatist outfit partnering with a hardcore right-wing national outfit. The pre-CM Mehbooba Mufti is very different from the one currently in the chair. A politician who would often visit the families of slain militants, Mufti is now a hard critic of separatists, slamming them for asking our ‘children to fight bullets, pellets and tear gas, but themselves fearing a policeman’ and also accused them of sending their own children out of the Valley.

Now I am not going to turn around and claim that the Indian government has always been right in Kashmir or that atrocities haven’t been carried out that could be categorised under human rights violations. Human nature has shown that when one group is given a modicum of power coupled with less accountability, they will misuse it, as we’ve seen from the behaviour of cops across the country when they bully regular people. Also, there’s no denying that AFSPA is a travesty, and it should go, but it can’t be repealed while terrorists continue to mingle with commoners. While the hurt and resentment of the common Kashmiri person suffering from years of violence in the Valley cannot be wiped out easily, we have to start building bridges at some point. 

In 1759, French philosopher Voltaire, the most wrongly-quoted individual after Rumi and Kalam, wrote a satirical novella called Candide: or, The Optimist. The plot revolves around a young man named Candide who lives in paradise but leaves it to find the world is full of hardships and loses his optimism. But by the end of it, he comes to the conclusion that can be described as make the ‘best of what you have’ or to use the allegory used in the novel ‘we must cultivate our garden’. It’s time for Kashmiris to realise that the best way to ‘cultivate their garden’ is to accept the Indian state, warts and all.

As for their right to self-determination, I will paraphrase another quote, often mis-attributed to Voltaire but one which was actually written by Evelyn Beatrice Hall in The Friends of Voltaire and has become the clarion call of ‘freedom of speech’: “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.” Well my Kashmiri friends, particularly separatists, I don’t agree with what you are saying, and I will defend to death your right to say it, but I have to point out that what you are saying is pretty unreasonable.