UNDERSTANDING KASHMIR

‘Kashmir doesn’t belong to India or Pak’

Separatists Abandon Pro-Pak Tilt As Protesters Call For Kashmir For
Kashmiris

Arati R Jerath | TNN

Srinagar: The stone-pelters movement, or the Sangbaaz Tehreek as it is popularly called, is

altering equations in Kashmir and forcing separatist leaders to abandon their pro-Pakistan tilt. In
a decisive rejection of the UN resolution that offered Kashmiris only two options — to stay with
India or go with Pakistan — present-day protesters have made it clear to the separatists that
nothing less than ‘‘azadi’’, or an independent state of Kashmir, will do.
    ‘‘We don’t want accession to Pakistan,’’ declared Tehreek supporter Syed Ali Aga (name
changed on request). ‘‘Let me tell you, the Pakistan element is out. And we don’t want to remain
with India either.”
    The message went out in a barrage of protests against hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s call
last month to ‘‘celebrate Pakistan’s independence day’’ on August 14. Geelani, who has
consistently fought to make Kashmir part
of Pakistan, was forced to
withdraw his call after protesters visited his house and flooded stone-pelter sites on Facebook
with posts warning him not to go down a road that has no relevance in Kashmir circa 2010.
    Moderate Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq too acknowledged that he is taken
aback by the ‘‘clarity and objectives’’ of the young generation of protesters. ‘‘They may be
leaderless,’’ he said ‘‘but they are not directionless. They are very clear about their aspiration for
azadi. It has surprised us all.’’
    Although the official perception, both here and in New Delhi, is that Geelani is orchestrating
the agitation, there have been several moments in the past three months when he has been out of
sync with the popular mood and has had to moderate his stand. For instance, after the faux pas
over Pakistan’s independence day, he was compelled to amend his call for protest at Army
camps.
    ‘‘The protesters don’t want a direct confrontation with the might of the Indian state,’’
explained long-time Kashmir watcher and commentator Syed Malik. The young Kashmiri does
not see a future with Pakistan, he said. ‘‘The new generation is aware of the situation. They can
see that something has gone wrong. Internet, TV and the Kashmiri diaspora in the West are all
having an impact. But I would say that the Pakistan option is on the backburner today,’’ he said.
    Significantly, the anti-Pakistan mood cuts across social divisions. Poorer folk are equally
opposed to idea of becoming a part of the Pakistan state as are the educated, English-speaking
leaders and followers of the Tehreek. ‘‘We know what is happening there. We want azadi,’’ said
Abdul Rashid, who works as a fitter near Dal Lake. ‘‘In any case, our elders told us that Kashmir
is not a part of India or Pakistan.’’
    Many youngsters said they were angered by union home minister P Chidambaram’s comment
about the involvement of ‘‘Lashkar agents’’ in stone-pelting. ‘‘This is a purely indigenous
movement. Pakistan has nothing to do with it,’’ maintained Aga. To buttress this, he pointed to
the complete absence of pro-Pakistan slogans from this year’s protests. Till as late as two years
ago, during the Amarnath land row agitation in 2008, protesters raised slogans like ‘‘India teri
maut aayee, Laskhar aayee, Lashkhar aayee’’ (India, death has come, Lashkar has come). Today,
the only chant to be heard is, ‘‘Hum kya chahte: azadi’’ (we want freedom).

‘Azadi for us means an end to repressive military rule in

Valley’
Subodh Varma | TNN

New Delhi: A cross section of Delhi’s civil society and women activists listened in stunned
silence as Parweena Ahangar, a middle-aged Kashmiri woman, narrated the torment of a mother
whose son ‘‘disappeared’’ 20 years ago. It’s believed that he was killed by security forces.
Parweena mentioned her son only once. After that she wept for dozens of others, naming them
and describing the circumstances of their disappearance. Parweena is in Delhi with a group of
Kashmiri women to narrate the horrors of a society at war, and to make another attempt to seek
justice. It’s a diverse group including university and school teachers, a hospital worker, a
journalist and some housewives. They have been invited here by Women’s Initiative for Peace in
South Asia (WISPA).
    Hameedah Nayeem, a professor at Srinagar University, in a counterpoint to Parweena’s
choking grief, provides the context in staccato objectivity. She says that the current protests that
started four months ago are peaceful. ‘‘Protesters throw stones only after police firing or if a
woman’s modesty is attacked, like security men forcibly snatching away the head-dress, as often
happens,’’ she says.
    Explaining what ‘‘azadi’’ — a slogan voiced routinely in the Valley — means, Nayeem says it
means getting rid of the armed forces and their repression, and also, the establishment of
democracy.
    ‘‘In Delhi, you can’t understand what it means to live with the military for 20 years. They
have taken over all the public space — schools, roads, hospitals, cinemas, everything. They can
hold up anyone, enter anyone’s house do anything that they feel like,’’ she says. According to
Nayeem, the military has taken over one million ‘‘kanals’’ of land legally and another 2 million
illegally in the Valley. ‘‘This has destroyed the normal vocations of thousands of people,’’ she
says.
    The women from Kashmir silently weep as Parweena recounts the chilling story of 8-year old
Samir Khan who was going to his uncle’s house one afternoon and disappeared. His mutilated
body was found the next day in the river. Investigations showed that his frail body had been
crushed by boots and a metal rod inserted into his mouth. ‘‘Why is the government honouring
policemen who are responsible for killing thousands in Kashmir?’’ she asks.
    Parweena formed the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) to fight for
investigation of all cases of what she calls ‘‘enforced disappearance’’. According to her, over
8,000 cases of such disappearance are recorded. In many cases investigations have been done
and guilty persons from security forces identified. ‘‘But, we have to run from pillar to post trying
to get somebody to hear our sorrow,’’ she says. The delegation presented a set of demands to
home secretary G K Pillai, which included getting women involved in the peace process,
demilitarization, withdrawal of AFSPA and PSA, release of imprisoned youth, prosecution of
errant security personnel etc.
    Whether it is the agony of Parweena Ahangar or the cold objectivity of Hameedah Nayeem,
the message from the women of Kashmir is loud and clear — they will continue the struggle for
justice and peace, and for end of what they call military rule in Kashmir. ‘‘It’s an oath we have
taken in the name of Allah. We will not give up,’’ says Parweena softly.

RAISING VOICE: Kashmiri activists Zamrooda Malik and Hameeda Nayeem in Delhi