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| `Undecided' Geelani to take other actors on board | | To consult Mirwaiz, Yasin Malik and civil society | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Nov 1: Hurriyat (G) chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, it seems, has been forced to do some re-thinking on the proposed agitation. He has formed a five member committee headed by Ghulam Nabi Sumji. He also intends to consult Hurriyat (M) chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and JKLF chairman, Mohammad Yasin Malik before launching the agitation. He has plans to consult the civil society as well.
Political experts believe the octogenarian leader has been forced to do some homework for a variety of reasons. The 2008 agitation, they said, was spontaneous. The leadership had no role to play initially. A committee was formed after the people came out on the streets and registered protest for eight consecutive days. Similarly, they said, the 2009 (brief) agitation was also spontaneous. The people protested the twin Shopian murder/rape case for several days before the leadership came out.
And contrary to common belief, the 2010 agitation that claimed 120 lives was not launched by any leader. It started on January 31 when a youth got killed in down town. This was followed by another killing on February 5 near Nishat. Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Masarat Alam were behind the bars then.
The situation is different now. The people seem in no mood to come out on the streets this time. Geelani has to ensure peoples' participation in the agitation and for that he has to work hard. And if the events of the past four years are any indicator, then Geelani can only pray for a successful agitation.
In 2008 the people expressed their anger so much so that the Government expected a low turnout in the polls. But the same people came out and participated in the electoral process on their own without any coercion from any quarter whatsoever. Commenting on the strange behavior of the people of Kashmir, a Delhi based journalist wrote: "Kashmiris are God because only God can be so unpredictable." Secondly, the leadership has been accused of behaving more like crisis managers for New Delhi than revolutionary leaders. According to them, the leadership failed them on all the three occasions. "They could not channelize the public anger. On all the occasions the agitation was called off to ensure a peaceful harvest and examinations", they said.
Geelani is also playing safe this time. The names of the five member committee have not been made public. Geelani also wants to take other important players like Mirwaiz and Yasin Malik on board this time.
The survey conducted by local journalists around the Holy cave also `weakened' Geelani's stand. According to them, no construction is going on and no permanent structures have been erected anywhere in the ecologically fragile area. Geelani, therefore, has to keep all these harsh realities in mind before launching his agitation. What happens in the coming days remains to be seen. |
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