Afzal’s hanging will not be death in isolation
- By Inam ul Rehman, 10 November 2006
Afzal’s hanging will not be death in isolation but it will take with itself hundred of funerals. It will remind Kashmiris once again how communal and biased Indians are when it comes to Kashmir.
But why should Afzal not be hanged? Certainly, if he is released it will expose not chinks but deep communal bias against Kashmir. Afzal has to die in one way or the other. To cover-up the sordid episode in Indian Democratic History, Afzal must be hanged for the rarest of rare cases. If those who are against Afzal’s hanging succeed in converting that into lifer; will it succour anyway? How is it going to help? Will it mean justices! And why do we forget the other guy Showkat Guru! If SAR Geelani, Afzal have been framed on canard charges then what about Showkat Guru?
If we look at the context of Dec.13, 2001 attack on the Indian parliament it will reveal a startling revelation. USA is ‘attacked’ and it declares war on Taliban. Indians have score to settle with Pakistan. Despite India offering its land for USA army, America turns towards Pakistan and leaves India in no doubt that Pakistan is going to enter into strategic alliance with US. Double that with the notoriety NDA government received with the exposé of NDA members taking bribe and selling army coffins.
So was it blessing in disguise that Indian parliament was attacked and the attackers were immediately dubbed as Pakistan and incongruously the attackers carry with themselves every items which could reveal their identity! The mileage India wanted at that time, it nearly got, except that America didn’t consider Pakistan as ’Axis of Evil’. NDA government successfully erased the Tehelka exposé from public memory and Indian masses were hypnotised with war threat and attack on Temple of Democracy! The gullible masses of India believed the version of Indian police as gospel. And media once again showed that when it comes to Kashmir it is ‘us’ versus ‘them’.
Bye the bye, have you ever asked Kashmiris what this TOD stands for. If Afzal is hanged, earth is not going to shake, oceans are not going to dry but Kashmiris are sure to die. Kashmiris have seen thousands die in their arms and they believe they have died for cause and this cause is greater than life. Hang Afzal and they will get their own Bhagat Singh. There will books and films on him.
Patriotism does not mean to close your eyes on the misdeeds and atrocities. India has a dismal record when it comes to winning the confidence of the people of Kashmir? Vehement supporters of hanging Afzal should come and stay here for one month and then realise the harsh realities; when they will be asked to show I-Cards, stopped at every 100 metres: asked to come down from the vehicle and searched in quite humiliating way, when their women folk will be disrobed of there chastity. In such a place, if a person slams those very guardians who promise him, Democracy, Liberty, Justice and Equity and that very House which they consider Holy is converted into whore house is attacked but not blown, is he a terrorist! Of course it does not mean Afzal is the attacker, he is only suspected until proven innocent.
Democracy cannot be run on the behest of army. If India is a genuine democracy then give the people right to dissent and protest and repel the draconian laws implemented in this part of the world. But the army has to keep the pot boiling, so their embedded journalists are hell-bent to hang Afzal. The higher ups in army will never want the violence to shun: it gives them easy money and time to win some medals and laurels. How many Indian journalist question army for their huge assets they acquire during their service in Kashmir. Otherwise 1500 militants pitted against 7.5 lacs stand no chance of survival! Still it goes on and it means Indians should ask those soul searching questions to themselves first and then write and support the hanging of Afzal
Years of servitude have made Kashmiris humble and meek but their emotions that well-up under the open sky are not disingenuous. Any Joe can explain Indians the matter in discuss but the result would be that a person who does not understand the matter would misunderstand the explanation ten times more. Indians cannot understand the gravity of the matter sitting in cosy rooms. Indians must leave their jingoism and see the wretched conditions people are living with. Kashmiris living in India are humiliated. Indian police and public attack them. Destroy their image. Incarcerate every bearded Kashmiri. Label them ‘gaddaar’ or terrorist and the kill them in cold murder. Yet nothing moves. No one objects. When was the last time a Kashmiri was not looked suspiciously?
Certainly one cannot feel to be the part of this ‘great democratic’ country which mistrusts us, kills our innocent buds, molest our womenfolk and then labels us traitors. For without us, Indian secularism is vacuous. It has not left any stone unturned to communalise the Kashmir problem. Balarj Puri, an eminent political expert on Kashmir issue, has summoned up Indian mentality on Kashmir aptly: India has created a sort of virginity test of patriotism that a Kashmiri must not only be loyal to India, he must also be loyal to the Kashmir Government, the Central Government, the ruling party here, and in Kashmir”..
But I suppose it is not the fault of Indians, after all: History is the monopoly of winner. Losers only narrate!