What exactly does azadi
mean to Kashmiris?
Why can’t it be discussed? Since
when have maps been sacrosanct?
OUTLOOK 25
July 2016
full article being printed in Outlook
of 25th July
The people of Kashmir have made it clear once again, as they have
done year upon year, decade upon decade, grave upon grave, that what
they want is azadi. (The “people”, by the way, does not mean
those who win elections conducted in the rifle sights of the army. It
does not mean leaders who have to hide in their homes and not venture
out in times like these.)
While we denounce—as we must—the gunning down of unarmed
protesters by the security forces, the attacks on ambulances and
hospitals by policemen, and the blinding of teenagers with pellet
guns, we have to keep in mind that the real debate cannot only be
about the violation of human rights by Indian security forces in the
Kashmir valley. Egregious though they are, those violations are the
consequence—the inevitable and unavoidable consequence—of the
militaristic suppression of a people’s struggle for freedom.
Kashmiris are not fighting for the establishment of the rule of law
or an end to human rights violations. They are fighting for azadi.
For this, they are prepared to face down bullets with stones. For
this, they are prepared to die in numbers. For this, they are
prepared to exhibit acts of open defiance that may lead to their
death or incarceration in the most densely militarised zone in the
world. For this, they are prepared to take to arms, to fight to the
death, knowing full well that they will die young. They have proved
that with tragic regularity. They have been nothing if not
consistent.
It’s no use pretending that what the Indian government has on
its hands is a fleeting law and order problem created from time to
time by a fickle, volatile people. What is happening is a dangerous,
spiralling crisis of unmanageable proportions in a region that is
sandwiched between two hostile nuclear powers. For that reason alone
it should concern the whole world.
If we really want address that crisis, if we really want to stop
the endless cycle of killing and dying, if we really want to stem the
haemorrhaging, the first step has to be a small concession to
honesty. We have to have an honest conversation. However diverse the
views may be, however opposed to one another—the subject of that
conversation has to be azadi: What exactly does azadi mean to
Kashmiris? Why can’t it be discussed? Since when have maps been
sacrosanct? Should a people’s right to self-determination be denied
at any cost? Are the people of India prepared to have the blood of
thousands of ordinary people on their conscience? With what moral
authority can we talk about all the other horrors being visited upon
us, if we are prepared to swallow this one? Is the presumed
“consensus” in India on the subject of Kashmir real or
manufactured? Does it matter? In truth, it shouldn’t. What matters
is what Kashmiris want, and how to arrive at that consensus in the
most peaceful, democratic and informed way possible.
If there is to be a solution to this terrible, seemingly endless
tragedy, we have to be able to think clearly, speak freely and listen
fearlessly to things we may not want to hear. We have to find a new
imagination. This applies to everybody, on all sides of the dispute.
Something beautiful could come of it. Why not? Why ever not?
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