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| Bloodbath in Yemen must make Kashmiri separatists see reason | | STARK REALITY | |
RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Mar 19: Bulk of the Arab World is in turmoil. As a matter of fact, a pro-democracy wave is sweeping across the Middle East. Fed up with the dictatorial and oppressive rule in their respective states, the people have engineered movements in several countries. They have already succeeded in Tunisia and Egypt and they are likely to succeed in Libya anytime from now, with the United Nations joining the people’s movement there in its own way. Struggle for the introduction of democratic set-up is also going on in Bahrain and Jordan and in the process the pro-democracy forces are suffering at the hands of forces loyal to the dictators. The situation in Yemen and Syria is no different. The pro-democracy uprisings are dotting the political scene of these two countries as well.
Yesterday, in Yemen, the forces of President Ali Abdullah Saleh unleashed a reign of brutalities against the pro-democracy demonstrators, who assembled at a square after Friday prayers in Sana, the capital. The attack, which continued for more than 20 minutes, left at least 46 people dead and hundreds others injured. Many protestors were shot in the head and neck. The local press described the incident as a “bloodbath.” Yemen yesterday witnessed at least three sit-ins in other major towns. The past four weeks have seen the protests against Saleh widening and growing more violent with each passing day.
In Syria, several thousand pro-democracy protestors gathered in the middle of Dara’s, Southern Syria, chanting “God, Syria and Freedom only.” Pro-democracy protestors also held demonstrations in other important towns and demanded the ouster of the corrupt and repressive regime. In the process, at least half a dozen people lost their lives and scores of others suffered injuries. The dictatorial regime took recourse to brutal methods in order to quell the revolt, which is becoming more and more popular with each passing day. The forces used live ammunition and not teargas or anything else. Bahrain also witnessed yesterday atrocities on the pro-democracy forces, with a number of protestors suffering fatal injuries.
What has been happening in the Middle East since the past few months should have made the Kashmiri separatists, and even the so-called mainstream Kashmiri leaders, to sit up and review their stand on India taking into consideration the fact that it was Kashmir and the people of Kashmir, whatever their number and whatever religious sect to which they belong, who had been enjoying unbridled political power since 1947. They should have hailed the Government of India for the simple reason that it never ever acted against them despite grave provocations, including the provocation cause due to deliberate attacks on the security forces and innocent civilians. They should have reformed themselves and reposed faith in the Indian political system for the simple reason that the Government of India had, instead of taking recourse to repressive measures, always been very kind to them overlooking the national sentiment that has always been to the contrary.
But more than that, a change in their attitude had become imperative in view of the fact that it was Kashmir and the people of Kashmir who had been ruling the state and exploiting the people of the state’s two other regions to the hilt. They should have thanked god that the people of Jammu and Ladakh didn’t, unlike the people in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Jordan, Syria, Bahrain, Yemen and so on, come on to the streets even once in the real sense of the term to demand ouster of the successive Kashmiri-dominated repressive regimes in the state. It would be appropriate to say that the plight of the people of Jammu and Ladakh is no different from what has ultimately forced the suffering people in the Middle East to rise in revolt against the repressive, oppressive and anti-democratic regimes. They should be thankful to the people of Jammu and Ladakh.
It is time for the Kashmiri leadership to learn lessons from what the dictatorial regimes in the Middle East has been doing to suppress the pro-democracy forces. The sooner it does so the better. It has no case whatever. For, the rulers cannot be the sufferers. Actually, it is the people of Jammu and Ladakh and several religious and ethnic minorities in the state who need a special attention and care because they are the real victims.
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