Maqbool, Afzal, and Kashmir
Kashmir observed two shutdowns in a week to remember late Muhammad Afzal Guru, and late Muhammad Maqbool Bhat. Afzal was hanged in New Delhi’s Tihar Jail on February 9, 2013 while Maqbool Bhat was hanged in the same jail on Feb 11, 1984. Both of them were laid to rest at Tihar jail and their mortal remains were not returned.
Death anniversaries of Maqbool Bhat and Afzal Guru every year remind Kashmiris of their struggle, and Delhi not returning even the bodies of two Kashmiris who were sent to gallows.
New Delhi’s Kashmir policy during the past six decades has been clear that anyone who indulges in a “misadventure” against its rule has to pay a price for it. The price varies. Sometimes one has to pay a heavy price for not thinking on the lines which don’t suit the state.
Kashmir, according to the veteran separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, is an “unfinished agenda of partition” and people of Kashmir should be allowed to exercise their Right to Self Determination (RSD) to determine their future. The Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), which was founded by late Maqbool Bhat, differs from Geelani’s ideology and wants Kashmir to be independent. Every separatist group has its own ideology but all of them claim that their goal is one.
Some people are of the opinion that separatists not sharing a common platform and them not putting up a united face has helped Delhi’s cause. Whenever someone asks separatists why they cannot put up a united face they come up with one or other unsatisfactory reason. It’s high time for separatists to think about putting up a united face as time is changing fast, and so is Pakistan, which is grappling with its own internal problems.
Past 25-years have been difficult for Kashmir and Kashmiris, they have left no stone unturned to reach out to the international community but no one seems to be interested in knowing what Kashmiris want. Every big country wants to have cordial relations with India as it’s a big market and one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Pakistan too seems to have given up on Kashmir. It somehow wants to improve the relations with India. Priority for Pakistan at this point of time seems to be to set its own house in order and one thing is sure that its Pakistan first and everything else, including Kashmir, later.
The indifferent attitude of the international community towards Kashmir has pushed the separatist leaders to the wall. They also know it very well that something has to change if they want Kashmir movement to survive. These are the testing times for the leaders in Kashmir as Delhi seems to have further tightened its grip over Kashmir.
Kashmiri people have faced all the odds since 1990 despite that they have put up a brave face and have followed the separatists, almost blindly. For people nothing has changed, neither the sentiment nor the cause. If Kashmir is being ignored and no one is interested in pleading the Kashmir cause, so what. Kashmir observing shutdowns to pay homage to late Muhammad Afzal Guru, who was hanged to satisfy the collective conscience of a country, and Muhammad Maqbool Bhat, is an ample proof of the fact that people have not given up hope. They still believe that there could be light at the end of the tunnel.
(Javaid Malik is Senior Editor Greater Kashmir)
