news details |
|
|
| Sense of alienation in Kashmir too deep, says Wajahat Habibullah | | The Dying Of The Light | | Rustam
JAMMU, Sept 11: Former bureaucrat and the so-called expert in Kashmir affairs Wajahat Habibullah, who once recommended creation of five regional assemblies in the state, two each in Jammu and Ladakh and one for the Kashmir, has come out with a new book dealing with the circumstances leading to the "conflict in Kashmir". He has also suggested a solution to the Kashmir issue. The book is titled "My Kashmir: The Dying of the Light". It was published by Penguin Books this month.
I have not studied this book so far. I have read only what he told media persons the day before yesterday, which was carried by a section of print media. Hence, it would not be possible for me make an elaborate comment on what he has written and what precisely has he suggested as a solution to the so-called Kashmir problem. Since I have only read what he has said, this story on the same should be construed as a first reaction. A detailed comment would be made after a few days.
I could have avoided a comment on "My Kashmir: The Dying of the Light" at this point in time taking into account the fact that I have not read the book. But I couldn't resist because whatever appeared in a section of print media was so provocative, so disgusting and so irrational. Even a naïve and greenhorn in politics would have been provoked by his views under scrutiny to the extent that he would have taken no time in dismissing Habibullah as a communalist of communalists, as also as a champion of Kashmiri separatists.
It would be only appropriate to quote certain relevant portions from what he said to make the point and establish that Mohamad Ali Jinnah is still alive in the person of Habibullah.
What did he tell to media persons about his new book? He, among other things, told: "I thought the present placid summer cresting with a peaceful Ramzan and peaceful Eid, despite efforts at infiltration, would help support the hope that this was an endgame of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir. But the sense of alienation is too deep and will take time and corrective policy at the level of both the centre and the state to overcome (read a strange argument in the sense that it is Kashmir that has been ruling the state and exercising unbridled powers since 1947)…A truly representative government in Kashmir (note the word Kashmir and see for yourself its political status in the country as well as the manner in which it has been consistently jeopardizing the political, economic and social interests of the people of Jammu province since 1947) can come with full public participation in all elements of governance and fullest accountability of the government to the people…The scars of 1990-1991 (insurgency) have never healed. That is the challenge for democracy in Jammu and Kashmir…If security concerns remain the font of state policy, freedom of expression will always be the victim of collateral damage (read full freedom to the secessionists and communalists in Kashmir to do whatever they want to do so that they are able to divide the country and destroy it)…Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's attitude towards Jammu and Kashmir (read Kashmir) had been grounded in concern for national security and in a lack of confidence in the younger (Farooq) Abdullah in ensuring it (read Habibullah's unflinching support to Farooq Abdullah who had, like his father, adopted a threatening posture and also read his bitter opposition to Iindira Gandhi who tried to rein in Farooq Abdullah). When the state government issued a proposal to turn Srinagar airport into an international airport, Indira Gandhi not only rejected the proposal but also called her joint secretary G. K. Arora, who had recommended acceptance, to admonish him that an ulterior motive must always be suspected in such proposal received from the state…History apart, the other factor that has majorly (sic) contributed to the turmoil in the state (read the small Kashmir Valley) is the clash of two concepts of nation-hoods (read secular and democratic Indian nation and Kashmiri Muslim sub-nationalism that stands for exclusiveness and division). The concept of partition was deeply flawed and it engulfed in its wake the invaluable heritage of Kashmir (read Kashmir which witnessed persecution, torture and exodus of Kashmiri Hindus on an unprecedented scale for centuries and which became almost hundred per cent Muslim after cleansing the Hindus from the Valley). The distinct identity (what is so distinct about Kashmir's identity except that it has always remained in turmoil and sought to give a particular orientation to the Kashmiri society and polity) has through the deliberate ministrations of the agents of both India and Pakistan, been deeply eroded. (It is indeed an obnoxious charge. It is not Kashmir whose identity stands eroded. It is Jammu and Ladakh whose identity and personality has been consistently eroded by those at the helm in the state since 1947, of course, backed to the hilt by the Indian political leadership.) "The concept of Azadi, so basic to Kashmir's political thought, was consistently evolving. Azadi (freedom) is, therefore, an idea in the making, which I consider to be simply a move towards the feeling that Kashmiris are a free people of a free country (read this formulation as a willful attempt on the part of Habibullah to mislead and hoodwink the Government of India and the Indian nation, as also as an attempt at inducing the powers-that-be in New Delhi to concede what the Kashmiri leaders, without any exception, have been demanding since decades on the ground that Kashmir is a Muslim-majority area.) But no Kashmiri feels any such sense. To give Kashmir this feeling requires courage. It requires creativity but is decidedly doable (read Habibullh's insistence on a system that accords legitimacy to the Kashmiri Muslim sub-nationalism and that treats the Kashmiri Muslims a race apart - race that cannot co-exist with other Indians.) The title of the book was taken from the exquisitely poignant poem by American poet Dylan Thomas. In this case, it refers to the end of much that was beauty without peer in the cultural heritage of Kashmir -- its spiritual syncretism, abhorrence of violence, the union of man and nature. I lament the passing of a golden era from history in this book" (read Habibullah's shameful move to distort and murder the history of Kashmir by preaching falsehood and by suppressing what actually happened in Kashmir over the period and also read his concerted attempt at concealing the truth that it is intolerance of extreme form and politics of exclusiveness that has dominated the socio-religious and political history of Kashmir for centuries and centuries together and the trend continues unabated.)
It is for the enlightened readers of Early Times to draw a conclusion from what Habibullah told media persons and some of the comments and observations this writer has made. Will the Congress take cognizance of what Habibullah spoke about Indira Gandhi? It is extremely doubtful considering the fact that the Congress is sharing power with Farooq Abdullah at the centre and Omar Abdullah in the state. But the Indian nation would certainly take cognizance of Jinnah and Habibullah. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
