THE KASHMIR SYNDROME &THE FAILURE OF INDIAN STATE

 “Patriotism is, fundamentally, a conviction that a particular country is the best in the world because you were born in it....” 
― George Bernard Shaw

Giving an unprecedented relief to the families of security forces who died defending the temple of Indian
democracy(eventhough the acts that happen inside this temple is not really saintly)the mastermind of parliament attack Afzal was hanged yesterday.Death of anyone should not be celebrated but the act of this person was so ghastly n barbaric that we really can,t mourn his death.But the issue is not that simple.We will get 100,s of afzal born in the valley till we do not really address the grievences of the people of Kashmir.Afzal was just a common Kashmiri medical vender who even thought of appearing for civil services.What really made him a terrorist.it is something worthwhile to be introspected.Why has world,s largest democracy failed to assimilate 6 million Kashmiris when it was successful in assimilating even more heterogeneous groups like People of sikkim,aruanchal pradesh,Garos n Khasis etc..Was it religion,stragetic location of Kashmir or simply the blunder by blunder by the Indian state right from imprisioning Sheikh Abdullah by nehru to rigged elections of 1987 which alienated Kashmiris from the indian state.

The question that needs to be asked is that whether Kashmiris were so against the New Delhi since the birth of this nation or they become alienated during the course of 65 years of our Independence.
During the october of 1947 lal chowk was filled with jubilant crowd led by Sheikh Abdullah. The crowd was chanting slogans against communal-ism and was calling for muslim-hindu-sikh Unity which was the basic essence of Kashmiriyat which developed in valley over the course of 500 years beginning with the tolerant and secular  Zainul abiden,s era(whom kashmiris referred as Bud shah or the great king).It was due to the active support of the common Kashmiri that Indian army defeated the tribal pashtun army of Pakistan.Thus in 1947 under Sheikh Abdullah (the most popular leader Of kashmir during that era) Kashmiris preferred secular India over Theocratic Pakistan.Thus from where did this alienation started it is a important question.I will discuss point by point about the blunders committed by us which have led to this current situation


In 1953 sheikh Abdullah the most popular leader of Kashmir was arrested on the charge of corruption and autocratic ism and the last hope for complete integration of kashmiris with the indian people ended.It was the first mistake of the indian state(just like 3 mistakes of chetan bhagat,s famous novel Indian state committed 3 mistakes which have brought us in this mess.).He was replaced by ghulam bakshi who was both corrupt and inefficient and was no match for Sheikh,s Abdullah,s Charismatic personality.50,s was the period when the mis-match between the ruling elite of Kashmir and the common man started.The reasons for this are the local elite soon found that due to the uncertainty of a future plebiscite they were able to attract money from New Delhi to fight the so called "Secessionists.So these elite and their bureaucrat colleagues earned large some of money.


Let,s move forward to second mistake which Indian state did in 1980,s.Maqbool butt was arrested when he returned back to indian Kashmir in 1978 he was sentenced to death in 1984 on the charge of killing a CB CID Officer.He was hanged out of hastness of indian state when few kashmiri militants killed Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre.. This was the turning point for IOK because maqbool bhat became a sudden martyr in Kashmir.Kashmiris who had actually no hero since zainul abidin simply found a new hero in bhat... It actually led JKLF to wage a armed struggle against indian state..

1987  a boiling point in INDO-Kashmir relations.elections were announced and Muslim united front led by few orthodox but still peaceful pro-indian guys were giving a tough fight to Puppet national conference led by farooq Abdullah.While MUF was winning the election suddenly mr Abdullah called mr rajiv Gandhi and requested him to change the electoral verdict if he wants Kashmir to be part of india.Thus within few hours new verdict came and mr abdullah was declared winner.This was a boiling point for the Kashmiri masses who lost all faith on so called Indian democracy and few of them finally concluded that armed struggle is the only solution to this kashmir problem and most prominent among them was Syed saluddin who was part of MUF and was defeated by NC candidate  crossed the border and founded hizbul mujahideen who still continues to wage against India.

SOLUTION AHEAD
Let me make it very clear that azadi is no solution To Kashmir issue because a tiny country surrounded by 3 giants India, Pak n China cannot really succeed in being a truly Sovereign and autonomous country. It will probably become a new Afganistan where the 2 emerging giants India and china will play a proxy war to fulfil there imperial designs thus the only solution plausible to be is more autonomy and change in the overall minsdet of the indian masses towards the kashmir problem.Probably we need to be more sensitive towards the suffering and torture of Kashmiri masses by the Indian security forces.  First of all we need to accept and realize the sufferings of Kashmiris by we i mean all non kashmiri Indians.Because we sit in Delhi and mumbai in our comfortable homes and comment that AFSPA should be there without realizing how draconian this law is which has actually killed and raped more people than Probably the americans did it in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We need to give Kashmir more autonomy probably make Kashmir hong kong of India and Demilitarization and sensivity By masses of India towards the genuine Kashmiri suffering is what will normalize things.
There is certainly no democracy,no press freedom and no human rights in Kashmir we should try our best to win the hearts of kashmiris not by AK-56 But by love...More than that we indians need to stand up against this draconian AFSPA and should realize and feel the sufferings of our kashmiri brethren..
This is really ironic that when one women is raped in delhi so many stand up but when our security forces rape thousand of kashmiri women no one in Lutyen,s Delhi or Nariman point in Mumbai care about it...
By our deeds in last 65 years we have lost the faith of Kashmiri masses we need to first won there confidence by displaying an utmost level of tolerance and love otherwise forget about peace in Kashmir because till the genuine grievances Of Kashmiris are not solved there cannot be no permanent peace and calm in the valley..I would be glad if Manmohan singh apologizes to the masses of Kashmir for the conduct of indian state like he did with the sikh victims of 1984 riots and start a fresh begining with the removal of AFSPA and by giving more representation to Kashmiris in managing there internal affair,Things will not be solved overnight because the kind of atrocities we have perpetuated on Kashmiris is something really abysmal and the grievances will not be solved in 1 day or perhaps 1 year but we should try confidence building measures till we don,t succedd. Probably a more interaction between Kashmiris and rest of India will reduce some stereotypes that  Kashmiris have towards the people of the India and the Non Kashmiris have towards the people of Kashmir.We cannot rule forever on 6 million Kashmiris on the might of 700000 soldiers.India and before that indians needs to accept Kashmiris as there fellow brethren and therefore should need to show empathy and sympathy with our Kashmiri brothers.Till that does not happen we will continue to see Afzal,s getting born every day in the valley!!!!!!!