People's Democracy

AS the Jammu & Kashmir assembly elections are approaching fast, the country is anxiously waiting for the outcome. The fact is, elections in the state had never acquired such crucial importance as they have today. Nay, it is no exaggeration to say that to an extent the fate of the country, of the subcontinent and of world peace depends on these polls. It is not surprising if the world is waiting for the outcome with bated breath and if mediapersons and international observers are in a queue to get permission to enter the state and have a look at the process.

It is therefore quite understandable if the terrorists are out to disrupt the whole process and deter the people from participating in these elections. The recent massacre of 27 persons, all of them soft targets, was an indication of the terrorists’ future moves to achieve their objective. It is also clear that the murder of these poor and hapless labourers from east UP and Bihar gives a lie to the terrorists’ claim of fighting a "holy war."

The approaching polls are certainly going to witness an increased intervention on part of Pakistan. Since independence, Pakistan has been staking claim to J&K on the basis of two-nation theory, which the princely state’s people themselves rejected and which got discredited in Bangladesh later. Yet the rulers of Pakistan have not given up their baseless claim. During the days of late General Ziaul-Haque, Pakistan embarked on the path of a proxy war against India. That war continues to date and has claimed more than 80,000 innocent lives so far.

However, as said in these columns last week, it seems General Pervez Musharraf is not going to do anything to restore normalcy in the state. To wage a diplomatic offensive against India in the name of Kashmir seems to be his main concern, and he has tried to raise the issue on multilateral fora as well, where raising bilateral issues is not allowed. After coming down in February and March this year after the general’s January 12 address, Pak-sponsored infiltration into the valley has again increased. This role of Pakistan gives rise to apprehensions about the smooth conduct of the polls in the state.

But while taking note of the Pak-supported terrorist depredations in the state, one must not forget that the record of our central and state governments has also been most unfortunate. As for the centre’s role, one must note that for long Pakistan had had no taker of its position in the state. But in order to impose its rule in the state, the Congress party, that ruled the centre for a long time, systematically curtailed the state’s autonomy. More so because it was afraid of the radical measures of National Conference government, like its thorough-going land reforms that abolished landlordism without compensation and galvanised the peasantry in the state and outside. For its purpose, the Congress regime resorted to various manoeuvres; these included engineering a defection in the National Conference and stalling the puppet government of Gul Mohd Shah in Srinagar in the mid-eighties. This way the J&K people were denied the right to have a government of their choice. (Let us recall the parallel example of how the Congress party’s hunger for power hurt the Telugu people’s self-respect in the same decade.) It was in this situation that the Kashmiri people began to feel alienated, and Pakistan got a foothold to intervene in the valley. The beginning of extremism in the valley fairly coincides with the puppet government’s installation.

One must note here that the autonomy the state enjoyed was no alm from the centre. Instead, it was a hard-won right of the Kashmiri people who had fought the Pak-sent armed raiders and also forced the Maharaja to join the Indian Union though he wanted to remain independent under the Mountbatten plan. This role of the people in securing the state’s accession to Indian Union was recognised by our Constituent Assembly that incorporated article 370 into our constitution to assure the J&K people that their aspirations would be respected and protected in free India. But, alas, our bourgeois-landlord rulers did not keep their word, alienated the state’s people and have thus brought us to the situation where our very national unity and integrity is at stake.

The miserable record of various National Conference and other regimes in Srinagar in ameliorating the lot of the people, in developing tourism and industries, and in other areas only worsened the people’s plight further, thereby contributing to their sense of alienation.

It is not that no attempts were made to restore the state’s autonomy as far as possible. Not to talk of the Indira-Sheikh accord of 1975, even P V Narasimha Rao assured that "sky was the limit" of the autonomy to be restored. But nothing concrete came out. The state’s people saw a ray of hope in the United Front regime, as was reflected in their participation in the 1997 assembly polls despite the terrorist threats. But even that hope was dissipated as soon as the BJP came to power at the centre.

During its four-year regime, the de facto BJP government at the centre has further worsened the situation in the state. The BJP promised that, while in NDA, it would not raise the demand for abrogation of article 370. But the fact is that RSS-controlled outfits have been crying hoarse about it. Then, when the state assembly passed a resolution to demand restoration of autonomy, the BJP-controlled centre did not take a minute to outrightly reject the demand, without even dwelling on its merits or demerits. The BJP regime has effectively internationalised the Kashmir issue, and its attempts to give it a communal colour is threatening to further worsen the situation. Quite recently, the RSS demanded the state’s trifurcation along communal lines and no BJP leader had the guts to criticise it. Union home minister Advani did make a show of rejecting the demand, after which the RSS threatened that it would back in the polls an outfit it had itself floated some time ago.

The attitude of the BJP regime to the problem has created a ridiculous situation when the National Conference, that has adopted a lame-duck attitude, is a part of the central government and also not a part of it.

At the same time, the RSS-controlled outfits are trying to communalise the problem of minority Hindus. There is no doubt that Pak-backed terrorists have created an atmosphere of fear in the state, and more so in Kashmir valley. The result is lakhs of Hindus had to leave their hearth and home and migrate to other areas for safety. A big number of these migrants is living in a pitiable condition and there is no prospect in sight of their early return. Hence whatever is done to ameliorate their lot is laudable. But the RSS propaganda among these migrants is not for creating a conducive atmosphere for their return. On the contrary, the RSS attempt is that these migrants must bury their composite culture deep and allow their vision to be distorted by a communal outlook.

How much dangerous to our national unity and integrity the RSS drive is, was detailed in these columns last week. Suffice it to note that this drive is directly giving a boost to Islamic fundamentalists within the All Party Hurriyat Conference (APHC) and outside. Evidently, any series of actions and reactions on part of fundamentalist forces can only prove detrimental to our future.

As for the APHC, one knows it is a motley combination of several outfits with most diverse ideologies. Some of its constituents are openly communal and pro-Pakistan and want to have the state merge with Pakistan on religious ground. The biggest among these is Jamaat-e-Islami-led Hizbul Mujahideen that also has the maximum firepower. But most of the APHC constituents are not pro-Pakistan and want to see an independent Kashmir. Yet it is certain that, given an elastic attitude and political will, the forces of this kind can be won over, brought to the negotiating table and persuaded to accept the principle of Indian unity.

One must also not forget that, as detailed last week, US imperialists are itching to intervene in the region for the sake of their geo-political strategy. So far the US has consistently failed to have a foothold in this centre of the Old World. But, thanks to the myopic policy of the BJP government, the US has now got hopeful of having a say in deciding the future of Kashmir and of the whole subcontinent. A pro-US government in Kashmir eminently suits the US drive for global hegemony.

Thus the democratic, secular and patriotic forces of the country, nay of the whole subcontinent, have to see that ---

1) The Kashmir problem is not communalised, but treated as a problem of democracy in the widest sense of the term.

2) The US or any other third force is no allowed to intervene. The spirit of Shimla accord has to be followed.

3) There is no compromise with anti-India terrorist outfits who are being backed by Pakistan and some other quarters.

4) The state must be restored maximum possible autonomy, and the people’s sense of alienation must be overcome so as to win them over.

5) The state’s economy and socio-cultural life has been derailed for about one and a half decades. Vigorous efforts are needed to rebuild it.

6) All those who subscribe to the principle of Indian unity must be allowed to take part in the electoral process. Efforts must be initiated to bring all such forces to the negotiating table as are not pro-Pakistan.

7) Security arrangements must be strengthened and steps taken to avoid any harassment of the people, so that they are able to participate in the electoral process to the maximum possible extent.

8) Special efforts are needed to assure the Kashmiri pundits that it is only with the support of the democratic-minded people that their distinct identity and culture, called Kashmiriyat, is safe.

It is along these lines that we can hope to rejuvenate the composite culture of the state, rebuild its socio-economic and political life, foil the game of US imperialists and Pakistan, and protect India’s unity and integrity while evolving a durable solution to the Kashmir problem on a democratic basis.