It was way out of the ordinary for
the Pakistani High Commissioner to invite leaders of several “separatist”
groups of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) to come to Delhi to meet his Prime
Minister’s adviser Sartaj Aziz who came to India recently to participate in
Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM). Even more extraordinary was the Indian government’s
latitude in allowing them to travel to Delhi to keep their appointments with
Aziz. At least one of the separatist leaders – the most vitriolic one – was
till recently under house arrest. Obviously, the Government of India went out
of the way to lift the restrictions to enable him to travel to Delhi.
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| Syed Alishah Geelani |
The leaders included the who’s who
of the separatist groups. They were Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, Jammu and Kashmir
Liberation Front chief Yaseen Malik, the hard-line Hurriyat chairman Syed Ali
Shah Geelani and Asiya Andrabi of Dukhtar-e-Millat, the women’s separatist
organization of the state. Meeting Aziz separately, the groups asked him for a
lasting solution to the Kashmir “dispute” as if by articulating this wish the
Pakistan government and its Army would rush into the quagmire to find a
“lasting” solution. They seem to be having the misconception that they
represent the people of Jammu and Kashmir although they have never contested
any of the elections that have taken place in the state.
While there is an elected
government in place, these small separatist groups have only been obstructing
peace and progress of the state by calling for frequent shut-downs and strikes
under the threat of terror and indulging in violence. They are, in fact, fifth
columnists who take orders from their masters across the borders. One of them,
Yaseen Malik, had even been caught on camera sharing a platform with Hafiz
Saeed, the chief of Laskar-e-Toiba, a radical outfit of Pakistan that organizes
terror attacks in India in collaboration with the ISI of the Pak Army. And,
Asiya Andrabi talks to Sartaj Aziz in Indian capital about her wishful thinking
relating to accession of J&K to Pakistan. It is as seditious as sedition
can be but the government did not seem to have reacted to the reports for
action against her.
It is the softness of the Indian
government that allows such meetings, both in India and Pakistan so much so
that the Pakistani establishment reckons them as “routine consultations”. There
can be nothing “routine” about these meetings and, for all one knows, these are
held to foment more trouble within J&K. There is no earthly reason for the
leaders of these minor groups to meet the representative of a foreign inimical power
for “consultations”. When the Government of India is not in the “talk” mode
with Pakistan the “consultations” of the latter with the separatists of J&K
on Indian soil seems ludicrous and outrageous.
Only the other day, on a call given
by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, October 27 last was observed as a “Black Day” as on
that day the Indian troops, allegedly, commenced their “occupation” of Kashmir.
This was stated by SA Shamsi of Jamait-e-Islami, which organized a dharna (sit-in) in Islamabad, attended by leaders of Pak Occupied Kashmir. The Kashmiri
separatists, whether in India or in Pakistan, have by their statements made the
history of post-Accession Kashmir stand on its head.
Everybody knows whatever these cranky
separatists wearing blinkers have been broadcasting are absolute falsehoods.
Indian Army had no reason to enter Kashmir had Maharaja Hari Singh, the then
ruler of the State of Jammu & Kashmir, not acceded to India in 1947 at the
same time asking the latter for assistance to throw out the Pakistani regulars
who along with tribal raiders had invaded his State. The Indian government did
not send its troops until the Maharaja had also obtained the consent of the
most prominent democratic leader of Kashmir, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah. The Maharaja
had to do it as otherwise the Government of India wouldn’t extended its help.
Inviting the Indian Army was thus a
joint decision of the Maharaja and the most popular leader of Kashmiris. Besides,
the Indian Army had gone into Kashmir when it had become Indian Territory. By
no stretch of imagination, therefore the Indian Army in Kashmir is an
"Occupation Army". It is there to protect its own territory that
includes Jammu & Kashmir. In fact, it is Pakistan which has illegally
occupied a big chunk of Indian Territory in Kashmir by sheer violent
aggression. If there is any "army of occupation" in Kashmir it is the
Pakistan Army which is in forcible occupation of what is known as Pakistan
Occupied Kashmir.
Even the objective commentators in Pakistan
have expressed grave doubts about Pakistani position on Kashmir. In a recent
article, Ayaz Mir, the level-headed and objective journalist, has admitted that
three wars, including the one of 1947, waged by Pakistan have met with only failure
in meeting their objectives, that is, of wresting the entire state of Jammu
& Kashmir from India.
What is more surprising, however,
is that Imran Khan, the Teheriq-e- Insaf chief, supported the dharna and the Black Day saluting the
Kashmiri people for their sacrifices in rejecting the "Indian
occupation". Having been educated in Oxford and having been honoured and
feted in India several times during his frequent visits apart from his numerous
cricketing trips he should have known the history of Kashmir better. Perhaps
compulsions of politics make politicians reach for their oft-used blinkers and
Imran now is a diehard politician.
Prof. Waqar Ashraf, one of the
participants at the dharna in
Islamabad reportedly said, "Freedom is a right wherever one lives and
Kashmiris’ right should be given to them. They cannot be forced to live in a
country they did not wish to belong to and even the UN Charter is against it.” One
can have no quarrel with this line of thinking. Kashmiris, like other citizens
of India, have the right to choose the place and the country where they wish to
live. They have the absolute freedom to leave and go and live in any country
where they find conditions more congenial. None and, surely, neither government
of J&K nor the Government of India, would ever stop them from exercising
this basic right.
Similar sentiments were felt when a
row was kicked up on the non-inclusion of Parvez Rasool, a Kashmiri cricketer,
in the playing eleven of the Indian cricket team while on tour in Zimbabwe
earlier this year. Very strong comments on this veritable non-issue were
reported from Kashmir emanating from the state's knowledgeable chief minister
down to some anti-Indian Kashmiris. Some of the latter said they were not happy
when Rasool was included in a team that represented India. Some others said
that they were certainly not happy when the lad was picked to play for India
and that they would not be happy even if he did well for India, especially so
while playing against Pakistan.
It is quite clear where such
people’s sympathies lay broadcasting as they did their acute antipathy for the
country they lived in. They seem to have forgotten the gratitude and happiness
of their forebearers when this country went and rescued them from the clutches
of the Pakistani marauders in 1947 sacrificing many precious lives. If,
however, they have aversion for this country they, too, have the liberty to
migrate out to whichever country they find more inviting. None in this country
would begrudge their decision to do so. One recalls, similar advice was
tendered to people with similar attitudes in their respective countries by the
governments of Australia and Netherlands.
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