THE FARCE OF SEPARATIST MOVEMENT IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR
The separatist movement, though begun decades ago as an ideological war against the political establishment, seems to be lost into oblivion since the abrogation of Article 370 in the valley. Even though the separatists projected themselves as messiahs of the so called „oppressed‟ Kashmiris and garnered unquestioned support of the Kashmiri population for years, their failure in living up to their promises over the decades have sidelined them in the milieu of events post 2016. So what could be the possible reasons behind the downslide of the advocates of „Azaadi‟ and what could have gone wrong in their methods of addressing the issues they relentlessly fought for? The succeeding paras lead to in depth analysis of the causes that led to sudden downfall of the separatist movement.
The very first flaw is related to the geopolitics of the region. The separatists often forget that the region has ethno-religious diversity created by four districts of the State viz. Kashmir, Jammu, Leh and Kargil. Out of the four districts, Kashmir is mostly Muslim dominated, Leh and Kargil are largely Muslim and Buddhist dominated ones, whereas Jammu region is largely a Hindu dominant one. The separatists who passionately made a hue and cry about the causes of „Kashmiris‟ and „Kashmiriyat‟, clearly failed to envision that Kashmir does not belong to people of a specific ethnicity or religion, but is an amalgamation of multiple cultures and while considering a particular community, they grossly overlooked the other inhabitants.
Secondly, the movements launched by the separatists have always been antigovernmental in nature which led to clashes between the political establishment and the civilians. This resulted in the losses of civilian lives and damages to the public properties on a large scale. Moreover, Identity of the state as the most disturbed state in India tremendously affected its economic growth and pushed back the development in the region for many years. The Kashmiri population could clearly see that all the dominant parties, whether political or separatist, worked only for selfbenefits while overlooking the genuine concerns of the Kashmiris. The media has amply highlighted the cushy lives enjoyed by children and grandchildren of the separatists who are well settled overseas, thus revealing the dichotomy between the lives of the separatists vis a vis a commoner.
Thirdly, the separatists always lacked concrete objectives and were found disillusioned at critical junctures. Just to quote an example, despite their personal and ideological differences, three top separatist leaders -Yasin Malik, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq – were forced to establish the Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) in late 2016 to streamline street protests and galvanise a united front regarding developments in the so-called ‘self-determination’ movement to keep their political relevance intact in the aftermath of the outbreak of violence beginning July 2016. This alliance underlined the fact that separatist leaders do not command absolute power as perceived by their followers and face a realistic fear of losing their influence or being marginalised. This realisation put an irrevocable dent in the image of the separatists.
Fourthly, the „Kashmiri Awam‟, which was already fed up with the unfruitful „Azaadi‟ rhetoric, found sense in the agenda of development proposed by the government. Initiatives by the Indian Army like hosting educational tours of Kashmiri youth to other parts of India under „Operation Sadbhavna‟ helped in making the younger generation realise that people from rest of India are truly sympathetic towards the Kashmir issue and the reality is totally opposite to the grim picture painted by the separatists. Having seen the development in other states, the youth has realised the significance of maintenance of peace and stability for upliftment of the Kashmiris.
Last, but not the least, the stern stance taken by the Indian Government that it will not talk to the separatists but directly to the people of Jammu and Kashmir has further marginalised the separatists and has given an opportunity to the Kashmiris to voice their opinions without any apprehension. The government‟s masterstroke has given an open platform to the Kashmiris who have been ever oppressed and confused by multiple separatist parties.
It seems that the separatists are now left with no option other than listening to the genuine concerns of the people without any prejudice and actively contributing in the development of the region rather than repeating the old fashioned rhetoric of „Azaadi‟. It would be interesting to see as to how many separatist parties and leaders choose to adopt a desperately required mid-course correction to sustain themselves amidst the slew of initiatives by the government.
