Kashmir: Political Failure Shabeer Ahmad Failure of political process has to cease within Kashmir, others can only help A G Noorani’s observations about the current politics in Kashmir – Unionist as well as Separatist – are starky factual. Both the political spaces are severely divided. Apart from the lack of cohesion there is absence of vision on how to move forward on the question of Kashmir. How the space for electoral politics is conducted in Kashmir reflects sharply this grave predicament Kashmir faces today. Noorani, someone associated with Kashmir for a long time now, and in a profound way, has scanned through the politics of Kashmir in his weeklong tour. His article in The Dawn draws a very hopeless picture of Kashmir’s current politics, holding all the political parties responsible for this failure. Noorani’s observations are not uncommon. Political analyst is a political analyst, even a gossiping common man in Kashmir talks about it in his own way. But the conclusion drawn by Noorani deserves a thought. Convinced that the “Kashmir’s political process has reached an impasse at all levels”, Noorani believes: “The only hope for progress lies in an accord between India and Pakistan on the dispute.” This conclusion is a telling indictment of all the politics that has been done by the political parties in Kashmir in the name of resolving the Kashmir dispute. The tenor of the article unmistakably points out that Noorani rests his conclusions on his impression that Kashmir’s political parties have completely failed Kashmir. This failure can be explained in other ways too that produce different conclusions, but the failure is too manifest to be missed. So arguing this point is denying the obvious. Who is responsible for bringing all the political processes to an impasse in Kashmir is an entirely separate subject. How India choked all the available space and parties like National Conference cheaply offered the space of electoral politics to New Delhi; this all cannot defend the Resistance politics on this indictment. Noorani’s person, and his understanding of Kashmir apart, the failure of Resistance Politics is largely explained by the doings of resistance politics itself. However, there is a lurking danger in Noorani’s conclusion. Such a thinking carries a dangerous negation with itself; the negation of the people of Kashmir as an agency to shape their political destiny. Discounting the people of Kashmir, and pinning all the hope in the states of India and Pakistan, is a vicious proposition. Even if India and Pakistan clinch an accord on Kashmir, it has to go through the minds of the people of Kashmir. Unless a political process begins in the people’s mind, or at least this mind is capable of engaging with any Indo-Pak accord on Kashmir, any progress on the dispute of Kashmir is unthinkable. Here a clarification is needed; we have often seen Resistance Parties invoking people whenever the talk of an Indo-Pak agreement surfaces. That invocation is always high on emotion and almost completely vacuous on content. The absence of democratic culture in these parties and a criminal disregard towards people’s day to day problems is enough to explain their detachment from people. We have also seen Unionist parties invoking people as the prime party to Kashmir dispute. About such parties less said the better. Their relationship with people is not just expedient but overtly exploitative. Bringing in people at a time when a conclusion is drawn that since political process has come to a deadlock in Kashmir the only hope is an accord between Indian and Pakistan, is for the purpose of underlining an inherent danger in such a conclusion. If a people are not encouraged to think over the failure they have suffered at the hands of their own political parties – Unionist and Resistance – no progress on Kashmir dispute can be thought of, even if India and Pakistan agree on some political compromise. If people are elbowed out of the frame, both the political streams in Kashmir – Unionist and Resistance – will relish in the failure of politics. Presume that India and Pakistan pull off a miraculously workable accord on Kashmir, how will that travel to, and through, Kashmir! It will be through the political structure, comprising the same political parties that have failed Kashmir. In presence of parties like NC, PDP and Congress, as they are in Kashmir, what difference can India make to Kashmir! And when Hurriyat and others occupy the Resistance space, in the way they occupy it, what change can Pakistan bring to Kashmir! How can a success travel through a failure! In this case the only way for India and Pakistan to work out an accord on Kashmir and make it ‘acceptable’ to the people is by becoming partners-in-coercion. Such an accord can only crush the people of Kashmir under the coercive weight of two states – India and Pakistan. That is not a progress on the dispute. Deadlock in the political process can end only by unlocking political process within the Kashmiri mind; India and Pakistan can help in that only by not interfering in the flourishing of such a process. People-of-Kashmir is a live mass of minds and hearts. If individuals, institutions, and groups can work on this live mass of minds and hearts, new possibilities of politics can emerge. Contrary to identifying a positive role for India and Pakistan on Kashmir dispute, there is a negative role for both these states. India can help in any genuine political process by meaningfully cutting down on the territorial militarization, and de-agencying the politics in Kashmir. (Don’t forget that there are seven hundred thousand troops in Kashmir besides an elaborate network of known and unknown agencies.) Pakistan can assist by dismantling the violent configurations in the Muslim mind, besides preferring trust over suspicion in the political processes germinating in the people of Kashmir. Deadlock in the political process can end only by unlocking political process within the Kashmiri mind; India and Pakistan can help in that only by not interfering in the flourishing of such a process. INKsight Mehmood ur Rashid mrvaid@ greaterkashmir
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 23:42:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015