Greater Kashmir Oct 25, 2006
The great Indian Tamasha
Afzal’s hanging - a drama to drown the truth, thus comments M. AahrafF
. Unfortunately no one from both the sides, for as well as against the execution, is looking at the real background of the whole episode. It is a pity that even those who have been continuously protesting against this execution and claim to stand for the rights of Kashmiris have not been able to project their case in the right perspective.
Dr.Goebels had once said that if a lie is repeated a hundred times, people start believing it as truth. This is precisely what a group of fundamentalist and chauvinist Indians are past masters in. Create so much noise, hue and cry and enact such a great Tamasha that the truth becomes a casualty.
Almost every day half a dozen Afzal Gurus are killed in Kashmir but these persons claiming to plead for the Kashmiris’ basic rights and professing to be great Indian nationalists as well as the human rights activists do not even create a whimper. Afzal Guru’s hanging which by all canons of justice, fair play, and equity is fundamentally wrong, has been made into such an emotional and political issue as if the fate of the entire Indian Nation hangs on it! Firstly the fairness of the trial itself because of inconclusive evidence, the absence of proper and fair legal defence, and the reported involvement of Indian Counter Insurgency agencies, is very much questionable.
Secondly, even if from the Indian patriotic point of view the conviction is taken to be legal, the quantum of sentence is disproportionate. Justice must not only be done but must appear to have been done. It is just like telling the hang man hang anyone for the sake of hanging! If any one cares to go deep into the causes of the whole incident the most important question would be why was the Indian Parliament targeted in the first place? Fate of Kashmir is still undecided even by India’s own admission before the world community and the umpteen declarations made to Kashmiris from time to time. It continues to be on the agenda of the UN Security Council not withstanding Indian Politicians’ repeated somersaults in this behalf and continuous assertions that it is an integral part of India. Earlier the Indian leaders had been parroting so much the fact of accession and integration that one would feel that they themselves do not believe it to be true? For past sometime they have been less vociferous about this probably because such assertions have been increasing the alienation of Kashmiris from India?
Thousands of Kashmiri youth are being held without any trial in different Indian jails for more than sixteen years. No body ever talks about the inhuman treatment being meted out to them in violation of the Geneva Convention and the International Declaration of Human Rights of which India is a signatory. Even by their own admission more than 45,000 Kashmiris have been killed during last sixteen years. (Kashmiris put the number at double of that).
They were not killed after any legal or illegal trials. They were not killed by mere chance. They were killed in a conflict which has been raging for last sixteen years. Quite a few were killed in so called “cross-fire” or even by “mistake” as admitted by security forces in a number of instances. But what has been the basic cause of the conflict? Why is the majority of population in Kashmir totally alienated from India? Well instead of having the courage to face the stark truth the members of the extremist group in the Indian polity have always tried to rely on the Machiavellian doctrine of drowning the truth in the cacophony of lies. The truth is that Kashmiris have been struggling to get their right of self-determination for last half century. After failing to get it through democratic means the youth took up arms. An armed conflict ensued in 1990 which is still continuing in one or the other form. The one phrase that this group of chauvinist Indians has succeeded in selling to the entire country and also to the world at large is the “Cross-Border Terrorism”.
Every incident is attributed to “Cross Border Terrorism”. The people have become so paranoid and naïve that they even associate the recent Dengue Fever outbreak with “Cross Border Terrorism”. Every Kashmiri has been labelled as a potential terrorist. India has become a very unsafe place for Kashmiris and they are scared to move to different parts of the country. However, one needs to concede that India’s silent majority is not fundamentalist or chauvinist. They are themselves facing heavy odds in day to day living. It is difficult to understand why they remain silent and allow the other extremist group to force the Government of the day to keep their eyes shut and refuse to see the writing on the wall. Unless the people with reason move fast, they will be in for an unprecedented volcanic eruption. Kashmiris are very patient people but there is a limit to their patience and one has to beware of the fury of a patient man. There is a new generation of Kashmiris which has grown through bullets and bombs. They have almost reached the end of the road. Some intellectuals and journalists are saying that Afzal’s hanging will give Kashmir Youth a reason to fight the Indian State. They seem to have missed an important point! The Kashmir Youth are already fighting the Indian State.
The hanging will only give them a rallying point and a new impetus to the fight. In spite of all the suffering they have gone through during last sixteen years, there is still chance for the reason to prevail. Any act which shows that there are people in India who care for justice and fairplay may at least open a way for redeeming the situation. Unfortunately at the top level there is a dichotomy. On one hand two countries are trying to come closer through confidence building measures and are planning “Cross Border Trade” while on the other hand a group of people with vested interests in a perennial conflict are bent upon scuttling the entire peace process. It is the time for the right thinking people to realise that the carrying out of the execution of Afzal Guru at any time in future will be the proverbial last nail in the coffin of the peace process.
The least they can do is to get either the sentence commuted or hold a fresh trial with proper defence. Let us hope and pray that there are still people in India who see reason and do not allow the State to commit a political Hara-kiri.
Author can be mailed at ashrafmjk@gmail.com)