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| Let separatists abandon misguided priorities to give peace a chance | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Sept 11: On September 8,2010 the plan of the National Conference to commemorate the death anniversary of Sheikh Abdullah remained a low key affair despite chief Minister, Omar Abdullah's presence in one such meeting. On August 9,2010 the 56th anniversary of the arrest of the tallest Kashmiri leader, Sheikh Abdullah, and the dismissal of his Government, was not commemorated either by the ruling National Conference or by any other agency. It was for the first time that such historical events went unnoticed. The National Conference leadership and the party workers had not forgotten the day and date when Sheikh Abdullah was arrested on August 9,1953. But the National Conference leadership in general and the Sheikh's son, Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy, and his grandson, Omar Abdullah, Chief Minister of the state in particular had not forgotten this painful chapter in the Kashmir history.
But circumstances had prevented them from holding any function to commemorate the dismissal of the Government headed by Sheikh Abdullah and his consequent arrest. The function related to his death anniversary was a low key affair. It was so because both Farooq and Omar had by now realised that remembering Sheikh Abdullah, who during his life was a darling of the millions of people in the state, which is evidenced by the fact that over one million people marched, wailed and wept when his body was being carried for burial on September 9,1982, could prove a red rag to the demonstrators protesting against human rights violations by the security forces and in favour of settlement of the Kashmir issue.
During the last 20 years pro-Azadi and pro-Pak elements have not hesitated inciting angry demonstrators for desecrating the mausoleum of Sheikh Abdullah adjacent to the historic Hazratbal shrine in Srinagar. And during these years the mausoleum has been under security cover. What are the reasons for this anger against Sheikh Abdullah, who ruled the hearts of people for over 50 years ?The only reason being that he was instrumental in taking Kashmir to India and he was responsible for cementing the accession with India even after his 22 year long political wilderness when he spent most of his time in jails.
But those who harbour such feelings possibly do not remember that it was Sheikh Abdullah who nurtured pro-Pak and pro-Azadi sentiments between 1953 and 1975. During this period the valley would reverberate with slogan "Hum Kiya Chahtey Rai Shumaree' (what we want is right of self-determination). And this very slogan, which is being heard every now then whenever there is trouble in Kashmir, was given by none other but by the Plebiscite Front that was formed soon after Sheikh Abdullah's arrest. In fact during those 22 years Sheikh Abdullah acted as its patron.
And whenever Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the Union Home Minister, P.C. Chidambaram, make an offer for talks to the Kashmiri separatists the hardliners, headed by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, invariably responds to this offer by saying "I will attend the talks if Delhi accepted that Kashmir is a dispute and it agreed to give people of the state the right of self-determination as provided in the 1948 UN resolution on Kashmir." This itself clearly indicates that Geelani is unwilling to accept invitation for talks with Delhi.
At one stage the moderates, headed by Molvi Umar Farooq, and his party colleagues have been in favour of dialogue with Delhi and Delhi had series of talks with the moderate Hurriyat leaders between 2003 and 2006. But these very moderates have been left with no alternative but to endorse the stand taken by Geelani. And Molvi Umar, while reacting to the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh's, offer for talks, which he made at the All Party meeting in New Delhi, said that the "Prime Minister's statement is insignificant as it shows no seriousness on the part of New Delhi to resolve the Kashmir dispute. "He too wants the right of self-determination formula to be tested. And the hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani said" New Delhi should show some clarity on the dispute. Kashmir is political problem rooted in right of self-determination."
Though the demand for a plebiscite has been doing rounds during the last over 50 years but Delhi has hardly made it loudly clear that the occasion for implementing the UN resolution had been lost because Pakistan had not fulfilled various provisions of the resolution. The first direction for Pakistan was to withdraw all its troops from the occupied Kashmir which it had not done till date. Secondly the plebiscite had to be carried out in the entire undivided state of Jammu and Kashmir, including the Gilgit and northern areas in occupied Kashmir but these very areas Pakistan has gifted to China thereby again allowing India an opportunity to ignore the sanctity of the UN resolution after it had been violated by Pakistan.
Much bloody water has flowed down the Jehlum and it is time for the separatists to abjure violence in the sense they stop inciting people to stage violence protest rallies. Whatever packages the Government has offered they should accept it with the sense of sincerity and responsibility so that peace was restored to the valley. And the separatists need to remember that once the cauldron of violence over spills it could prove counter productive with people directing stones and guns against them Enough is enough. Let the separatists give peace a chance and stop standing on some ego. |
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