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Kashmir reverberates with
aftershocks
By Sonia Jabbar
SRINAGAR - A year after September 11, the aftershocks continue to
reverberate through India's only Muslim majority state
of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K).
Indeed, no
single event in over a decade of violent separatism has
had an effect on the politics and culture of this state
- and especially the comparatively densely populated
Srinagar valley so coveted by Pakistan - with greater
force than the events of that fateful September day.
Up to then, the long-drawn proxy war that
Pakistan-backed militants fought with Indian security
forces was reaching an exhausting stalemate. It was
achieving little for either side, but exacting heavy
casualties among the civilian population of Kashmir,
over which Pakistan and India have fought two wars.
"Do we side with Osama [bin Laden] or the
Americans? It's going to be difficult. Earlier both were
on the same side, both were our friends. But now, if we
side with America then we'll be in trouble with the
mujahideen, and if we side with the mujahideen then who
will take care of us?" asked Abdur Rashid, a taxi driver
a few days after September 11.
As US bombers
first swooped down on Afghanistan in October last year,
barely 200 kilometers to the west of Srinagar, the bets
were on the "invincible" Taliban whose brethren were
already active in Kashmir, ordering women behind veils
and frowning on shaven men.
A cartoon showing
two graves marked "Britain" and "Russia" with a third,
newly dug and empty grave marked "USA", and a smiling
mujahideen, saying "Welcome to Afghanistan", became very
popular, replicating itself endlessly in the local
papers. Glossy posters of bin Laden proliferated.
On October 13, four heavily armed men managed to
bomb their way through the security cordon around the
Legislative Assembly building on the banks of the Jhelum
River - and in seconds, the streets were strewn with
bits of the flesh and blood from some 50 human beings.
Yet the following morning, cries of "Long live the
Taliban mujahideen" accompanied the funeral procession.
Then the attacks on unveiled young women, often
with acid bulbs, began once again. This happens whenever
Islamic fundamentalists feel powerless against the tide
of modernity sweeping the hearts and minds of young,
educated Kashmiris. There was a sudden revival of cries
for Nizam-e-Mustafa, (the Prophet will rule) and the
time when extremists took it upon themselves to cleanse
the Kashmiri version of Islam with its centuries-old
tradition of pluralism and tolerance.
If there
were no more vicious attacks on cafes and beauty
parlors, cinema houses and liquor stores it was because
most had vanished. But the memories were still strong of
people getting killed for being Hindu, communist,
drinking too much, or not supporting the jihad enough.
But the thoroughness of the US bombings in
relentless pursuit of its war against terror and tales
of the rough treatment meted out to Pakistanis who
volunteered to fight on the side of the Taliban in
Afghanistan have had a telling effect on the morale of
groups in Kashmir.
The real blow to those who
expected a Taliban victory and Islamic rule in Kashmir
came in mid-January when Pakistan President General
Pervez Musharraf declared in a televised address that
Pakistan would no longer tolerate terrorism in the name
of freedom movements, even in the case of Kashmir.
Pressure on Musharraf increased following the
attacks on the Indian Parliament in New Delhi on
December 13 and the growing realization in Washington
that it could not pursue a "war on terrorism" on
Pakistan's western border, while ignoring what was
happening on its eastern border.
In the
following days, the Pakistani police cracked down on
Islamic organizations, sealing their offices and
arresting some 2,500 of their workers, although many
were released by a military administration still wary of
fundamentalists who retaliated with strikes in Pakistan
itself.
But in Kashmir, the unshakeable belief
in an uninterrupted flow of money from Saudi Arabia and
the Gulf states and of unceasing training, arms and
logistical support from Pakistan, and an indulgent if
not blind eye on the part of the western nations was
completely shattered.
"The gun cannot work
anymore. The world has changed. Armed struggles are
completely unacceptable today," said Nazir Masoodi, a
Srinagar-based journalist who is convinced that the
Kashmiris are fast realizing the change in mood
internationally.
Many realize they actually have
political choices they can exercise through the
staggered, four-stage state assembly elections starting
on September 16 and which Indian Prime Minister Atal
Bihari Vajpayee has promised would be free and fair.
If the assassination of influential Kashmiri
leader Abdul Ghani Lone - one of the first politicians
in the Hurriyat who openly welcomed the elections - on
May 21 was a setback to those who supported the idea of
elections, there are signs that his People's Conference,
which has considerable influence in northern Kashmir, is
determined to participate.
The separatist All
Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which claims to
represent 23 separatist groups including the People's
Conference, is boycotting the polls. But it is having a
tough time keeping its constituents together especially
since Vajpayee has announced that only elected
representatives would be involved in talks on a
political settlement of the Kashmir issue.
According to Masoodi, Musharraf's January speech
has had a dampening effect on young Kashmiris
volunteering to cross over into the Pakistan- controlled
half of the state for training. He says there have been
no fresh recruitments this year.
With the
People's Conference ready to throw its hat into the
ring, the elections are no longer going to be a moribund
affair, with the ruling National Conference of Chief
Minister Farooq Abdullah winning the elections
unopposed. With the US and the European Union actively
backing the electoral process, the APHC cannot continue
to ignore the polls and say that they are being held by
India only to "perpetuate its occupation of Kashmir".
India responded to the December attack on its
parliament by deploying 700,000 troops on the border and
says they will remain until after the elections are over
in early October to stop infiltration from the
Pakistan-controlled half of Kashmir.
This troop
deployment has seriously hampered APHC constituents,
many of which have just a handful of supporters, while
the People's Conference can command crowds willing to
defy threats as it recently demonstrated through
rallies.
"Things do not remain static," said
People's Conference leader Abdul Majid Banday. "A good
politician is one who can read the pulse of the people
and change with the times."
(Inter Press
Service)
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