India. Certain political forces in
Kashmir who claim to represent the
cause of Kashmir people too share
this view. The acts of Pakistan
rulers like showing sympathy to
Kashmir people, propping up some
militant elements and their attempts
to occasionally bring the Kashmir
question on the agenda are only
aimed at reminding the Indian
rulers that the question of Kashmir
concerns Pakistan too and it
cannot be solved without their
involvement and concurrence.
Thus, the ghost of Pakistan had
become a convenient tool even for
the Indian ruling classes as it helps
them to project the Kashmir
problem as a creation of Pakistan
and paint a tar and negate the
genuine national and democratic
aspirations of Kashmir people.
The imperialists never
respected the genuine aspirations
and rights of Kashmir people. Yet,
they shed tears for the Kashmir
people. They too project the
Kashmir issue as a problem
between India and Pakistan. They
seek to fish in the troubled waters.
Their attempt, as US President
Donald Trump has recently done,
to place themselves in the role of
mediators and judges in the
Kashmir problem is only a part of
it.
The kind of political defense of
its own policy and role in Kashmir
the Congress leaders had put up
in the face of BJP’s criticism has
weaknesses of basic nature. Their
criticism of BJP govt’s abrogation
of Article 370 and 35A holds little
water without explaining where they
stand in relation to the main
content of special status to
Kashmir, the promises and
commitment and how they propose
to do justice to Kashmir people.
The repeated assurances of
Congress leaders that they are one
with the BJP govt. in upholding
Aug,Sep - 2019
national interests and in opposing
Pakistan’s interference in Kashmir
issue can only be a walk into the
propaganda trap laid by the BJP.
The general mass of people and
democratic forces see it as nothing
but an attempt to express the
solidarity and unity among the
Indian ruling classes against the
Kashmir people.
BJP’s move is conspiratorial
and sinister. It is stab in the back
of people. It carries with it far
reaching consequences for
Kashmir people. They have had a
bloody experience in the last seven
decades. Yet, a remote hope or
illusion was lurking in their minds
that one day some wisdom may
dawn on the Indian rulers and
things may take a better turn. But
the present move of BJP govt. had
inflicted a devastating blow. Their
struggle has entered a most
difficult phase.
The people (undivided)
Kashmir has their own distinct
economy, culture, language and
life style. They represent fine
qualities of a budding nation, It will
be a great injustice and insult for
the Kashmir people from the
divisive lenses if Hindu or Muslims.
The national aspirations and
democratic features of people here
had blossomed in the course of
their prolonged struggle against
feudal kingdom, for radical land
reforms and a democratic system,
Here people of different faiths like
Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Sufis
had set a best example of co-
existence, harmony, mutual
respect and brotherhood. The
Kashmir people proudly call the
common, secular and unifying
culture which they have developed
by a common effort as “Kashmiriat”.
They suffered worst attacks and
massacres under the Dogra king
Hari Singh. They withstood the
pressures and provocations from
Pakistan and rabid communal
forces, and the disastrous
consequences of two major wars
between India and Pakistan. BJP,
its earlier incarnations and Sangh
Parivar forces had done a lot to
communalise and communally
divide them. The present move of
the BJP Govt. to cut Jammu and
Kashmir with a big axe physically
into two pieces is a monumental
crime or blatant regressive move
to nullify whatever the progress the
Kashmir people had achieved by
shedding their sweat and blood in
developing the healthy features of
their nationality.
The BJP and its sangh parivar
had done much earlier to divide the
Kashmir people. In the last six
years, it has shed much blood of
Kashmir people (2016) to suppress
their just struggle. However, they
miserably failed in breaking the will
and unity of Kashmir people. Now,
by their act of physically cutting
Jammu and Kashmir into two
pieces and down grading into
entities (UTs) worse than a state,
the BJP seems to hope to freely
play its dirty politics of communal
division and break the back bone
of Kashmir peoples’ struggle for
better political future.
The onslaught of BJP Govt. on
Kashmir people has sent
dangerous signals even for other
people in India. The people in the
North East region of India, with
their historical backgrounds of
evolution and development, are still
in the process of gaining
confidence in their integration in
India. Some of the political groups
here are in different stages of
dialogue and struggle with the
Indian Govt. The Kashmir
development came as a big shock
for them. The states which are
assured of special statuses fear
where and how the axe of Indian
contd. on page 23
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