Author: Nancy Kaul
Publication: Vijayvaani.com
Date: October 4, 2010
URL: http://www.vijayvaani.com/FrmPublicDisplayArticle.aspx?id=1440
Intifada and mob violence, the tools to further the agenda of terrorism and
proxy war in Jammu & Kashmir, has been tested by Pakistan and the separatist
elements in the Kashmir Valley. This is getting support in terms of firing
from across the Line of Control (LoC) by Pakistan, to push more terrorists
into the State, to create violence and terror strikes.
The shrill cacophony of Self Rule, Autonomy,
Greater Autonomy, for the Kashmir Valley-centric politicians, along with azadi
and pro-Pak slogans, have become the hallmark of the secessionists and separatists
in Srinagar and now New Delhi, and are fast emerging as an open challenge
to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Indian State.
The shadows of the design to dismember India
are quite visible and the naked truth is that there is a sustained effort
being made to dilute the connection between the State of Jammu & Kashmir
and India. The terms of reference to the country's unity and sovereignty are
fast becoming a casualty. This is getting ample support from the self-styled
intellectual-NGO brigade which has no compunction about helping erode the
basic fibre of the nation and joining the secessionist agenda.
The azadi bandwagon with NGOs with little
or no respect for the sovereign, territorial, strategic and security issues
of the nation are playing to the gallery for the western-funders of their
seminars and dinners. The sole loser is the Indian Nation.
On 29 September 2010, WISPA, an Indian NGO
founded by the late Nirmala Deshpande, was hosted by the United Nations Information
Centre (UNIC) to conduct one such seminar in his official premises at Lodi
Road - clearly as part of the escalation of Kashmir violence in the run-up
to the visit of American President Barack Obama next month.
Here, the contours of reference were just
direct attacks on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, and
blatant attacks and outright villainous accusations against the security and
armed forces that are struggling to control the murderous stone-pelters, and
losing life and limb in the process. [As for Nirmala Deshpande, she had once
joined hands with Admiral Ramdas and hosted a delegation of 150 Pakistanis
at a seminar and public meeting in Chennai, as part of some Pakistan India
Peoples Forum for Peace and Democracy. The star attractions included the Mirwaiz
Umer Farooq and Abdul Gani Bhat].
Although UNIC's New Delhi office website states
that it engages with a broad spectrum of NGOs organizing seminars, colloquiums,
conferences and dialogues on diverse UN themes and priorities, this seminar
was certainly contrary to these claims and reverberated with ugly anti-India
rhetoric and slogans, and gave a free hand and encouragement to the secessionist
elements.
The very structure of the seminar - supposedly
to hear the voices of women affected by the violence in the vale and bridge
the gap between communities - gave the game away. The delegates from Kashmir
were only Muslim women and men who supported separatism vociferously. No delegates
were invited to speak on behalf of the other religious, linguistic, ethnic,
and regional groups from other parts of the state.
The tenor of the anti-India and security forces-bashing
was supported by none other than a sitting member of the Planning Commission,
Dr Sayeda Hameed, a post equivalent to a Minister of State in the Government
of India. The Central Government must explain this behaviour of a nominated
member on a constitutional post, and the indulgence towards such conduct.
Nayeema Hameed, wife of the separatist Hurriyat
Conference leader Nayeem Ahmed Khan, who is under arrest for his role in the
mob violence and arson unleashed in Kashmir Valley since June 2010, termed
security forces fighting counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir
as occupation forces and asked for the demilitarization of the Valley as demanded
by then Pakistani president General Musharraf (so as to facilitate the free
movement of terrorists). This India-bashing and misinformation campaign did
not stop here; the speaker wanted Kashmir to be separated from India and azadi
to be discussed. [Is it possible UN and WIPSA did not know the identity of
the lady, her connections? Unlikely, a number of speakers actively promoted
Syed Ali Shah Geelani as the sole leader with credibility in Kashmir today].
Zamruda Habib, another secessionist, raised
the pitch of separatism and balkanization of India by shouting pro-azadi slogans;
she was joined by another woman who literally yelled 'hum kya chahte, azadi.'
In the chair was NDTV anchor Nidhi Razdan, who showed no disagreement, consistent
with the line of most news channels which often hype anti-security forces
venom.
The Kashmir Valley Syndrome of hijacking the
State which is inclusive of other two regions was practiced in toto by the
speakers and organisers of the so-called dialogue. The lone Muslim male who
got up to protest against this Kashmir-centric approach which was totally
aligned with the separatist agenda was told to "shut up" (yes, the
words were actually used). Mr Sajad of Ladakh region objected to the azadi-mongering
in the name of the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir: "I take strong
exception to this. I belong to Ladakh and I do not agree with these Kashmiris.
They have created a hegemony of sorts where we are not even being allowed
our rightful share and voice in the State."
Dr Sayeda Hameed personally indulged in undemocratic
and questionable behaviour towards the gentleman and said they did not want
to hear anything more.
Why do all debates, conferences, seminars
and discussions on J&K feature only secessionists and separatists and
their partners in the Indian polity? Why are all other stakeholders marginalized,
ignored, or simply not invited? I and other friends reached the venue rather
late in the morning, after being alerted that such meeting was taking place
in the UN building on Lodi Road, which we half expected to turn out to be
untrue. It was not. And certainly I feel that this so-called seminar was part
of a larger evil design to balkanize India and talibanize Kashmir.
The sustained attention given to voices that
further the agenda of delinking Jammu & Kashmir from India is now getting
UN support in the very capital of India. Nowhere in the world will a nation
allow secessionism and recognize it as a legitimate demand because a bunch
of foreign-funded separatists, terrorists, intifada-mongering arsonists and
stone-throwers shouting azadi ask for it.
The Charter of the United Nations clearly
states that nowhere in the world will the United Nations support secessionism
or recognize it, so how was this seminar, reeking of attack on the Indian
Nation, allowed? Was the script written elsewhere, like New York, or District
Columbia?
Interestingly, the well-connected organisers
took some of the participating women to meet President Pratibha Patil even
as the seminar was going on. It is learnt that there too some of them raised
the azadi slogan, even though the appointment was sought on some other referral.
Some pertinent questions arise from such wanton
raising of the secessionist agenda in New Delhi, by people and lobbies associated
with the Government of India. The pitch and tenor of attack on the very sovereignty
of India is getting shriller by the day and the central government is either
turning a Nelson's eye or becoming a silent partner in this scheme of hammering
at the very roots of nationhood.
Overtly, the United States maintains that
it is not going to interfere in Indian sovereign rights, yet voices emanating
from Washington hint at a design that could already be unfolding. Even though
Philip Crowley, spokesperson of the US State Department, said India's Security
Council seat was not connected to America's vision (read its pro-Pak stand
on Kashmir) of the issue and its settlement, his statement, "I mean,
we want to see India and work collectively together to resolve tensions regarding
Kashmir," suggests otherwise.
The dimensions of the design emerge in a dangerous
synchronicity when the Union Home Minister goes into overdrive and announces
Rs 5 lakh compensation (apart from other Kashmir-centric proposals) for those
killed during the violence and mob terror unleashed in Kashmir Valley, which
later spread to Poonch in Jammu region; even as he ignores that more than
2000 Security Forces personnel lie injured in hospital due to the same mob
violence and makes no announcements for them.
Chidambaram's over-enthusiasm to remove and
amend the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, even as his mandate is limited
to the Union Home Ministry, raises questions of the dichotomy of the political
and government establishment towards over-indulgence to the whims and fancies
of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has often out of the way to speak out
of turn on issues beyond a Chief Minister's mandate. His frequent anti-security
forces outbursts are more or less in tandem with those of the separatist Hurriyat
or PDP.
The vital question confronting us right now
is that the political establishment as custodian of the constitution, sovereignty,
territorial integrity of the Indian State, needs to understand that the stakes
of each region of the State of Jammu & Kashmir are equal and that each
Indian has a stake in the country's unity and sovereignty.
- The author is convener, Daughters of Vitasta
