Civil Disobedience: Entering a new phase

As lawyers and women joined the prolonged civil disobedience movement in Pakistan occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) on 9 and 10 October respectively, it is definitely entering a new phase.

Firstly, it has taken all the political parties unprepared and by surprise. The reason for this is simple. None had put their trust in the people that could fight for freedom by themselves.

Political parties, whether nationalists in PoJK or in the diaspora, fell victim to the illusion that they were the sole representatives of the subjugated people of PoJK. This is called substitutism i.e. a group of terrorists, political parties and organisations act on behalf on the broader population.

Each group then makes their own assumptions and carry out their activities accordingly. For instance a terrorist organisation will conduct explode bombs and use firearms to target government officials or state security forces and political parties will simply knock on the doors of international human rights forums and seek help.

But history has proven time and again that liberation of a subjugated and oppressed people is never achieved thought acts of terrorism or by writing letters or delivering speeches at international forums.

The real power to bring change lies with the people themselves. But they only realise their potential as a force of change after the circumstances forced them to take collective action. And recent developments in PoJK have proven to do exactly the same.

For months the people of PoJK have been protesting against power cuts and load shedding, cuts in UN approved subsidies, lack of flour and wheat and finally heavy taxes on electricity bills.

Up until recently these protests had been sporadic and lacked coordination. But that changed after the call of a general strike and the formation of Jammu Kashmir Joint Action Committee (JKJAAC) in the last week of September.

So far there have been two general strikes in PoJK in the span of one month. Lawyers have observed a PoJK-wide strike on October 9, women are due to take out protest rallies all over on October 12, students will be doing the same on October 17 and finally the month of October will be bid farewell with a PoJK- wide protest day on October 28 in which all of the above mentioned social groups are expected to take part.

The question is where is all going to lead. There seem to be three scenarios. One is that the JKJAAC succeeds in forcing Pakistan to meet the demands of the movement which include reversing of taxes on electricity bills, gaining control over all hydropower projects and provide PoJK with free electricity and reintroduction of subsidies.

This is most unlikely since Pakistan is not in a position to meet the above- mentioned demands due to its own economic constraints and failures.

Second scenario is that the movement is crushed by force and everything is back to ‘normal’. This could happen but not without serious consequences.

The JKJAAC has already warned that if Pakistan sends in Punjab Constabulary, Frontier Constabulary or even the Ranger into PoJK it will be treated as an attack by a foreign country on PoJK.

This is a very serious statement made collectively by the attendees of JKAAC meeting held last week in a secret place and attended by leaders of JKAAC from all 10 districts of PoJK.

If this happens then we might witness formation of some kind of people’s defence committees on the same lines like the East Pakistan Mukti Bahini militia that fought against the Pakistan army in 1971. This would give India a solid pretext to intervene.

However, so far there are no signs of such development are taking place. Which brings me to the third scenario. In case the movement is crushed then the public anger and resilience that we see today will degenerate into haplessness and frustration.

This could then lead to two things. One is an the beginning of individual acts of terrorism and the second is a surge in recruitment of Jihadi organisation and diversion of the public anger toward India.

What should be done is to make this once in a lifetime prospect of ending the conflict in our region to succeed. How it could be achieved?

Well, by introducing new demands and replacing the old ones. So what are the slogans still hovering upon the minds of the protestors and are raised at every occasion?

First slogan is Wasail Hamaray, Qabza tumhara, (Resources our, Occupied by you), another is cut taxes on electricity bills and so on and so forth.

We know that Pakistan cannot fulfil theses demands due to reasons explained earlier. Hence the new slogans must guide the consciousness of the people to something achievable which could really bring about change.

Therefore, I am introducing the following three slogans in the movement. One, ‘Go Anwar Go’.

By introducing this slogan the movement gets a concrete direction straight away. The resignation of the PoJK prime minister, president and all members of assembly is key to achieving the second slogan which is ‘All power to the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee’.

The central executive committee of the JKJAAC must replace the government in Muzafarabad. This will immediately transform the content of government.

Similarly all sections of Awami Action Committees in PoJK should prepare to take over every town and city by capturing administrative building, police stations main road and bridges and other key locations.

The third slogan should be Quit Kashmir. This slogan will give people a great sense of freedom and a target that the main goal of the JKJAAC is to secure power and rid the territory of Pakistani occupation. Once in power the JKJAAC itself will take charge of the running of the affairs of the liberated state. And enter into negotiations with the government of India regarding the pending reunification of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

This is the only way that the on-going civil disobedience movement could guarantee success. Will this happen? Well, it depends on how quick the masses learn from their experience and force the JKJAAC to adopt the three slogans I have introduced.

Dr Amjad Ayub Mirza is an author, broadcaster and human rights activist from Mirpur in PoJK. He lives in the UK.