The killing of Salman Taseer, the outspoken and liberal Governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, for opposing the anti-democratic blasphemy law, incidentally, comes days after the senior Kashmiri separatist Abdul Ghani Bhat asserted at a Srinagar meet of the moderate Hurriyat wing that it was time to stand up and speak the truth — that the senior separatist leader Abdul Ghani Lone and prominent lawyer and JKLF supporter Abdul Ahad Wani were, actually, killed years ago due to the internal rivalry among the separatists and not by the Indian Army or by the state police.
Bhat also said he too might be risking his life for speaking the inconvenient truth. “If you want to rid the people of Kashmir of sentimentalism bordering on insanity, you have to speak the truth”, he felt. This assertion of Bhat’s comes when the recent stone throwing movement in Kashmir has lost its steam even before the winter set in.
Back in Pakistan , Taseer’s killing has again advertised the grip of the religious fundamentalists and Taliban elements on the civil society and the security/army set-up. It is debatable whether the majority of Pakistanis is in agreement with the fundamentalist ideology or are just being held hostage by the divisive leaders. But, what is beyond doubt is that the Pakistani society, by and large, has been failing to politically fight back the extremists who, thereby, are making their country a rogue state.
Similarly, Abdul Ghani Bhat’s call in Kashmir to stand up and speak the truth can help only if the mainstream politicians, separatist leaders and the Kashmir intellectuals and youth muster the courage to stand up to the Islamic fundamentalists who seek to hijack and pilot the Kashmiri movement against army excess and curbs on civilian life. Of course, there is a case for the Centre to address many genuine grievances. But, by letting religious fundamentalists hijack their movement, the Kashmiris would not helping their political cause to grow beyond propaganda seminar circuits.
Since it took many years for Bhat to publicly say what has always been whispered that the likes of ‘pro-talks’ Lone and Wani were killed by ‘the anti-talks guns’ — one should not expect an early and honest admission on the real reasons for the stone-throwing losing its momentum either. But the fact remains the supposedly unattached agitating youth lost their credibility when they started functioning as Geelani’s foot-soldiers in imposing his ’protest calendar’ by holding normal life to ransom. No movement can survive long without public support.
Similarly, for many years now the propagandists have been insisting the minority Hindus left the Valley on their own or on Jagmohan’s instigation. They will never accept Pandits were, actually, driven out by Islamic majoritarian communalism just as Muslims in Gujarat and Sikhs in Delhi were attacked by Hindu majoritarian violence.
The forced shut-down of cinema halls across Kashmir and the denial of the Kashmiri youth of their right to enjoy life in a normal fashion all are part of this fundamentalist agenda. Geelani has been open in justifying the Islamisation of the movement. In an interview to Kashmir Times at the height of the recent violence, Geelani said, “Islam teaches that Muslims must follow the guidance of Islam in every action of theirs—not just in prayers but also in matters such as war and peace, trade, international relations and so on... How can you say that the Kashmir conflict has nothing to do with religion?”
He articulated why the Islamic way of life should be imposed in Kashmir: “For instance, Muslims in Kashmir under Indian rule live in a system where alcohol, interest and immorality are rife, so how can we lead our lives completely in accordance with Islam?”
At the Srinagar meeting, the Mirwaiz said: “A movement goes through ups and downs. If there are shortcomings, and the leadership is not able to deliver, then the intellectual class should come forward with suggestions”.
True, like Taseer’s killing has once again turned the mirror on Pakistan’s mainstream society, Bhat’s Srinagar call to face the truth should make the Kashmiri intellectuals, liberals and unattached youth activists to do an honest soul-searching, at least, for the sake of their own movement.
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