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| 'Renegades' at their best in India-bashing in Kupwara | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, May 3: None other than the People’s Conference founder Abdul Gani Lone introduced the derogatory term of 'renegades' in Kashmir for those who, according to him, reneged on the path of 'Azadi'--- Kashmir's total separation from India. Lone, who had earlier contested the Assembly elections and taken oath in the name of Allah to protect the sovereignty and integrity of India while being sworn in as Janata Party's MLA in 1977 and a Minister in Syed Mir Qasim's Congress government in 1972, floated the tag "renegade" for the militants who deserted the guerrilla groups like Hizbul Mujahideen, JKLF and Al-Barq, and formed the counter-insurgents groups of Muslim Mujahideen and Ikhwanul Muslimeen.
Call it tragedy or irony, Lone was soon shot dead and silenced by the Jihadi guerrillas who he wanted to protect from the "renegades" and the Army and BSF. He drove all the way to Chrar-e-Sharif and, along with his fellow Hurriyat leader Shabir Shah, and posed enthusiastically for a picture with 'Major' Mast Gul and a band of his gun-totting field commanders who are still perceived to be the separatist leader's killers at Iddgah on May 21, 2002.
Two of the people who helped Lone in everything from maintaining an intimate liaison to the JKLF and the Al-Barq, which later came to be known as the PC's guerrilla arm, are today contesting the Indian Parliamentary elections from Baramulla-Kupwara. While the militants-turned-"renegades" like Jalal Din of the "Al-Barq Al-Garq" fame spewed crude venom for about a year against India and those becoming part and parcel of its systems in Kashmir, two of Lone's associates provided an intellectual tinge to the PC's India-bashing. Again an irony that one of the Al-Barq commanders from Pakistan issued a notice to one of the duo, asking him to give the account of the money he allegedly swindled in the militant outfit. That happened when Lone was alive.
Even until the street turbulence in 2008, both the 'intellectuals' stole a march over all the Kashmiri separatists outclassing even Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, in abusing the Indian democratic system and calling it a façade. One of them, turned an interior page of a popular Urdu weekly into his platform much like the Hizbul Mujahideen spokespersons Junaid-ul-Islam and Masood Tantray. Tantary was killed in an encounter on an information known to have been provided by a Tehreeki in Pampore town. Junaid-ul-Islam was last week shot at and left injured allegedly by a militant.
Nobody knows why most of the weekly's columnists were treated as "traitors" and bumped off. JKLF raided the weekly's office in an attempt to kidnap the columnist who was known for his proximity to Lone.
However, the unassuming columnist did not lose a second to jump onto the election bandwagon when he noticed the "Ragda-2008" dying its death. His colleague in the PC differed with the columnist with the argument that "not even a dog" would participate in the elections. Call it tragedy or irony, not a dog participated but as many as 17,50,000 Kashmiri resident Muslim voters did. The columnist won a seat and entered the Assembly with an oath in the name of Allah to protect the sovereignty and integrity of India.
The 2009 Lok Sabha elections followed. The columnist's left-over colleague jumped into the fray but was not lucky enough to grab a seat. As usual the seat went to the much despised National Conference candidate Sharifuddin Shariq. Now the CRPF-guarded separatist-turned-'renegade' is making his second attempt to score a victory. But he is not fighting the NC candidate alone. His arch rival is the same old columnist. For many of the youngsters in Kashmir, who used to listen to these leaders' India-bashing and pro-Azadi lectures on TV, this is just an evidence of the Indian democratic system's magnanimity that even those who mercilessly denigrate it with their rhetorical statements are accommodated by it like those who serve it legitimately.
It is interesting to note that the duo are at its best to abuse Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for "suppressing of Kunanposhpora" and Omar Abdullah for having worked as a Minister in Vajpayee's NDA government. Their complaint is that the Muftis and the Abdullahs have "failed to represent Kashmir in the Parliament". But it appears that they are going to represent only the larger constituency of the victims of personality split syndrome. |
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