What does Kashmir Day mean to us

What is common between Hazratbal and Hyderpora? This question left me confused for a while when I received a phone call. It was evening, 5th February, when internet connections suddenly snapped, even the mobile calls hardly got through. “I heard internet connectivity is down just in two area, Hyderpora and Hazratbal, any reasons for this.” Since I work in a newspaper, the person on the other end thought I’m the right person to call. My ignorance must have made him change his opinion about people working in newspapers; we are not always informed.

Then the word went around that it was meant to stop Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, living at Hazratbal, and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, living at Hyderpaora, from speaking on-line to the Kashmir Conference held at Landon, on the occasion of Kashmir Day.

Pakistan observes Kashmir Day on 5th February. They say it’s a national expression of its undying relationship with the people of Kashmir. This year a conference was organised in London to attract global attention. Days before this conference, the foreign minister of Pakistan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, made two calls to Kashmir – one to Hazratbal, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, another to Hyderpora, Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Understandably it ruffled feathers in New Delhi. So all lines to Pakistan are dropped.

In a way Kashmir conflict is a story of a wily, and violent, termination of Kashmir’s relationship with anything sounding Pakistan. But in the face of this guile and gore, Kashmir held on to this connect, any way possible. War of games or games of war – the victory at Sharjah or the explosions at Chagai – every time the link turned loud.

Gandhi knew it well, and even acknowledged it at many occasions. Nehru knew it, didn’t want to acknowledge, and worked tirelessly to effect a split. To him, Sheikh M Abdullah’s lone function was to wean Kashmiris away from Pakistan. The talk of secularism was a ruse. But by 1990 NC’s capacity to herd the people of Kashmir diminished. Armed movement dismantled the Nehru-Sheikh complex of politics. That was the time the cry ripped through airs:

Kashmir Banaiga Pakistan

Finally, Kashmir is Pakistan

This slogan is watered by blood – both Kashmiri, and Pakistani. It’s a Blood-Brotherhood. If the earlier images have turned fuzzy, post 2016 is a forceful reminder. Each time a militant falls, and his body is carried on thousand shoulders, the green flag unfurls to celebrate the relationship. This is a fact on ground. But this is not the only fact.

This cry – Kashmir Banaiga Pakistan – stings India the most. An intense acrimony between the two countries is a graspable reality. There is a third strand to it. This idea of Kashmir finally becoming a part of Pakistan also bristles against the minds of many who stand for the idea of an Independent Kashmir. They have their own slogan.

Iss Paar Bhi Laingai Azadi

Uss Paar Bhi Laingai Azadi

We are not India

We are not Pakistan

We are only Kashmir 

So we have three axes making a deadly triangle. One, Kashmir wants to become Pakistan. Two, India is deadly scared of any such thoughts. Three, within Kashmir there is a potentially disastrous divide between two opinions – accession to Pakistan, and Independent Kashmir. It is Bermuda triangle for anyone navigating the politics of Kashmir conflict. It makes Kashmir dangerous from within, and nightmarish from without. The hostility between Indian and Pakistan continues and we are treacherously placed in the lines of fire. A deep schism between the two opinions exists in Kashmir, and anytime in future it can rip us apart. In this backdrop, what does 5th February signal.

For a student of conflict it is a challenging task to understand this triangle and discover a geometry that connects the three axes unproblematically. Each vertex of this triangle is a fusion of contradiction.

5th February gives a clue on how to solve this puzzle. Kashmir Day was only rehashed by Qazi Hussain Ahmed. The father of this idea is Iqbal. He started it. Then there was no Pakistan, and no Kashmir dispute. His idea was to stand for the oppressed people against an oppressive king. But he visualised the struggle of Kashmiri Muslims as part of the larger political challenge the undivided India faced. To him, the solution was in Reorientation, not Partition, of the sub-continent. On Kashmir Day someone needs to travel through Iqbal’s mind, and discover a new geometry of politics for this region. Reclaim the old relationships, and reorient the existing patterns.

Tail Piece:

Pakistan suffers two congenital deformities. One, Civil-Military contest. Two, an unresolved debate over the nature of this state; is it a nation-state as the modern politics understands, or a religious state, as the traditional narrative of Muslim politics claims.

Kashmir’s Movement for Freedom suffers the same congenital deformities. One, overground-underground contest for leadership. Two, an ongoing debate over the nature of this movement; is it Political or Religious.

Even in its abnormalities, the two are related. Kashmir is Pakistan!

mrvaid@greaterkashmir.com