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| Panun Kashmir Seminar: Jammu makes sense of happenings in Kashmir | | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
Jammu, Aug 14: M.M. Khajuria, who knows everything about what has been happening in Kashmir since decades, was of the view that the "present rioting in Kashmir appeared to be yet another attempt by Pakistan and its stooges in the Valley to demoralize the Indian State." He said: "The Quit Jammu & Kashmir" call given by Tehrik-e-Hurriyat chief Syed Ali Shah Geelani amidst the ongoing disturbances in the Valley exposed the political dimension of the conspiracy hatched by Islamabad and its local collaborators" and that "this vicious slogan could be dismissed as a gimmick or prank but for the fact that the extremist fringe was holding a sizable section of the population in the Valley to ransom and causing severe dislocation of the economic, social and political life. This, as intended, was attracting international attention and providing grist to Pakistani propaganda mills."
Not just this, Khajuria urged the governments in Delhi and Srinagar to "take all necessary measures to effectively deal with the disturbances and challenges to national integrity." "There was", he emphasized, "an urgent need to review political and strategic formulations to break the cycle of violence and isolate the mischief mongers" and that the "anti-national elements have for long got away with making such pernicious demands and indulged in rank adventurism unchallenged which gave their fulminations disproportionate importance." His basic refrain was: "In such affairs, the nation's silence can be misconstrued. Challenges to integrity of the country and unity of the nation have to be faced openly, boldly and squarely. We, therefore, reiterate that Jammu & Kashmir is not only an integral part of India, it is India. The option to quit rests with those who feel otherwise". What Khajuria said was needed to be said by all the concerned Indians, without any exception, considering the situation the Indian nation has been.
The operative part of his whole formulation was: "One wonders why there appears a total disconnect between Delhi and Jammu on issues concerning national unity? Delhi allows anti-India protests and goes all out to save those charged with waging a war against the nation. It supports ideas and influences inimical to the nation's unity and works in tandem with those who support balkanization. Conversely, Jammu, forsaken and forgotten, denied and drained, pushed with its back to the wall, frets and fumes, frowns BUT fights. It persists despite the gravest provocations to preserve its plural yet valiant character."
Prof Hari Om expressed almost identical views. He told the sophisticated audience: "…besides the involvement of Pakistan, it is the outlook of the Indian establishment which is sustaining the current strife in the Kashmir Valley ". Prof. Hari Om pointed out that the "statement of Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Aug. 6 in the Rajya Sabha, is nothing but a blend of contradictions; instead of assuring the House of Elders that New Delhi would change its strategy in the changed circumstances to controvert the pernicious influence of Pakistan and defeat its evil designs on Kashmir, Chidambaram raised the issue of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and reduction of security personnel in the state".
Prof. Hari Om bemoaned and said that "the Union Home Minister had been", it appears, " influenced by the decision of the Omar Abdullah-led coalition government to abdicate its authority in favour of Geelani, as also by the PDP president and Leader of the Opposition Mehbooba Mufti's suggestion to Omar Abdullah that the state government should use the good offices of Geelani in order to douse the fire in Kashmir". He further said that the "situation has climaxed to the point where the Indian establishment prefers to silence persons like Union Home Secretary GK Pillai and Army Chief Gen. V.K. Singh who had put things in perspective by exposing those responsible for the current anti-India strife in Kashmir." The "Indian state", he said, "seems pitted against its own people and civilization and is in a self-destructive mode" and added, " Jammu is the focus, it is the battlefront for saving India and the very thought of Indian-ness."
Ajay Chrungoo said "it was the time the nation recognized the extremely regressive content of the movement which is holding whole of the Kashmir Valley in its grip. It is time the whole nation de-legitimized the public mobilizations in the Valley by emphatically stating that the strife in Kashmir is basically driven by an ideological content which negates the freedom of mankind, breeds hatred and aims to destroy pluralism based on right to equality. It is time all of us reiterated our commitment to the indivisible unity of India and proclaim that nobody, even the brute majority, has a right to negate it. It is time the message goes loud and clear that nobody has the right to change or seek exceptions on the basic structure of the Constitution of India". He did not stop here. He went to say, and very rightly, that the "forces which are ruling the roost in the Valley have already brought about the genocide of an entire community of Kashmiri Hindus. These forces have to be defeated ideologically and denied the respectability of a legitimate political movement. Government of India has to correct its policy formulations and realize that concessions to communalism and separatism have been self-defeating. The situation in Kashmir cannot be salvaged through flirtations with variants of separatism and communalism there". As a matter of he warned that "a disease cannot be cured by nourishing it" and that "we are witnessing a situation where sovereignty is being used to wreak sovereignty."
The seminarians were specific and unanimous on three issues - there is a basic structure of Indian constitution which nobody has the mandate to dilute even marginally; the ideology of the separatist movement needs to be countered and de-legitimized; and the Government of India should abandon forthwith all those policy formulations which serve as a psychological fuel to communal separatism in the Valley and elsewhere. Indeed, they put things in proper perspective by exposing the nature of the movement in Kashmir and questioning the New Delhi's policy towards Kashmir.
One can only hope and pray that good sense would finally prevail and New Delhi adopts a national and secular policy that defeats the regressive forces in Kashmir and integrates the state fully into India. (Concluded) |
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