Tarun Upadhyay
It would be politically too naive to assume that the Prime Minister Modi appointed interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma just for the heck of doing so. Sceptic and conspiracy theories- abound in Kashmir- would surely tend to believe so. But, the context and perspective is important more than the perception.
On Aug 22, 2017, US president Donald Trump in one of the stingiest message ever to Pakistan by any POTUS said: “We can no longer be silent about Pakistan’s safe havens for terrorist organizations, the Taliban, and other groups that pose a threat to the region and beyond.”
Taken aback, Pakistan foreign minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif retorted in equal measure. He turned the tables, though, it did go un-notice especially in India. About a month later, after this public criticism, speaking at Asia Society in conversation with author and journalist Steve Coll, he put the blame on the US on how the things have panned and made Pak to ‘suffer’ . He said we (Pak) have been left with this legacy (terrorism) after you (US) left the Afghanistan in the ’80s- after the pull back by the then USSR- and were left to deal with it ourself.
“It’s a collective sin we committed. You shouldn’t have left that way. We went to the hell and are still burning,” he said .
“To support you ( US in Afk), we re-wrote our history to justify the Jehad, that suited our friends (US) . And in the process our ethos were destroyed. … A whole new generation doesn’t know what the Pak was like just 30- yr back (till ’80s). Where every one could live peacefully. We made our heroes anti-heroes and anti-heroes the heroes. We made ethos to support jehad and we are paying a very heavy price. It makes my heart bleed. It’s tragedy of of national level and you have to share our pain,” said the Pak foreign minister.
In Kashmir too the ethos of pluralism died in the two-decade of terrorism. A section got swayed by the manufactured narrative of Pakistan being their ‘natural’ home and ‘Azaadi’ just round the corner. It created a new set of ‘ethos’ to support the gun and hanged the pluralism. The reality of what happened , what is happening and how realisation has finally dawned in Pakistan can’t be separated from Kashmir.
Rewind the clock a bit and picture starts emerging probably also pointing to show strings are being pulled
Addressing the assembly in Jammu on Jan 30, 2017, the CM said: “The Kashmir can’t become Afghanistan or Syria… their aim is different and Kashmir is Kashmir… Jammu is the shining example of Kashmiryat . the composite culture.. this is what the Kashmir once was.”
The time span between these two statements is of eight months. The context may sound different but the content has same connotation. The common thread is radicalism- the most hated and feared word in the present global order. It would be again naive to presume it (radicalism) came out of nothing, was stoked for nothing and also used for nothing.
The correlation may sound bit offending and out of context too but like Marxism this ideology too believed in its own utopian world-though former believed in achieving it through humane instincts , the later by striking at the animal instinct. The ideological empires built on Marxism collapsed- it’s a different matter the timing of collapse of USSR and rise of Wahabism is almost same- and the so have the Caliphate of ISIS or Daesh.
The timing of the routing out ISIS and the coming together of forces, once considered hostile to each other- Iraq and Kurdistan were in engaged biter conflict just recently-, in battle against it can’t be lost sight of. Radicalism has surely not withered away and misguided youth do get swayed to it. The highest number of terrorists from Europe fighting for ISIS were from France, which witnessed one of the deadly attacks at Nice in 2016.
Radicalism- though it’s fact is generally used with Islam- has also resulted in bigotry. India too has not been untouched by these developments. However, what is being not noticed is in these two extremes is coming again of the space for rationalism and liberalism.
The radicalism is self-consuming. The democracy works on the rationalism. The political class represents the spirit of democratic values, though enjoy the perks too. Radicalism can only breed autocratism and routing of democratic spirit. And, if and when it spreads out, the political class will be consigned to flames. It’s one of things the political class will not like to happen.
It’s in Kashmir than any other part of the country that this danger is staring at dangerously. Addressing it needs multi-pronged approach. In Nov 2015, the PM Narendra Modi addressing a public rally in Srinagar had said he doesn’t need advice from anyone on Kashmir. Just about two-year later, and this time addressing the nation from the Red Fort, he said you don’t have to abuse or embarrass people of the Kashmir but embrace them. The context and contours of the two statement are self-reflective and need no explanation but yes, do reflect a progression of the approach.
Viewed from this prism and perspective, the appointment of interlocutor- yes he said he is an interlocutor- Dineshwar Sharma makes an interesting development.
Just days after his appointment he said: “The way youth of Kashmir were moving, “which is radicalisation”, will ultimately ‘finish the Kashmir society’ itself. I am worried about the people of Kashmir. If all this picked up, the situation will be like Yemen, Syria….it’s very important that everybody contribute so that suffering of Kashmiris end.”
The concerns and statements of PM Modi, CM Mehbooba Mufti and Dineshwar sound astoundingly similar. More importantly they are moving in world matrix where it’s getting the required push and oxygen. Noted Pakistani columnist Khalled Ahmed in a piece in Indian Express writes: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has vowed to return the country to “moderate Islam” and claimed that it had become “extreme” 30 years earlier, spurred by Iran’s revolution of 1979.
“..Before Iran went crazy, S Arabia was a moderate state uninterested in spreading Wahhabi creed. It’s true that S Arabia stoked the Sunni-Shia conflict in the region after the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.”
Here again the ringing of Soviet invasion of Afghanistan sounds similar. It’s just spitting image of what Pak foreign minister said.
“It’s easy to say Pak is supporting Afghanis, Hafiz Sayeed, Lashkar terrorists. They are liabilities and created by you (US) but give us time to get rid of them support us,” said Pak foreign minister Khawaj Asif in the same talk.
It’s after this statement by him that the Trump administration started re-approaching Pak. The Government of India is too re-approaching Kashmir and root out toxic liabilities. The process may be time consuming but it surely is not just to buy the time. The movement of this process is in the matrix of Kashmir and the onus also lies on it to give it space and not assume it’s just another chip in the block .
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