Junaid Ahmad
Among the many intriguing things in the aftermath of Afzal Guru’s hanging, the apparently similar posturing of the Pro-freedom and the Pro-Indian camp is the most compelling.
The condemnation of the hanging by the pro-freedom group was expected. But it certainly wasn’t the case with the pro-India camp. From Omar Abdullah to Mehbooba Mufti to Engineer Rashid, all sang the same tune – of condemning the execution. And it has not ended yet as Guru’s mortal remains are yet to be brought back from Tihar jail for burial here.
The pro-India politicians in Kashmir have been so outspoken about their apparent displeasure at the hanging of Afzal Guru that Indian media had to take the term “soft-separatism “out of the cold storage and put it to use again. Indian media labeled the reaction of pro-India politicians of Kashmir to hanging of Afzal Guru as ‘separatist-esque’ in wake of the joyous reaction of the Indian nation and satisfaction of its ‘collective conscience’. Hence “soft-separatism”.
The tears shed by the mainstream politicians were, however, crocodilian in nature and an apt display of the lessons learned from their masters in New Delhi. Omar Abdullah cried hoarse while reacting to the hanging of Afzal guru and pleaded that he didn’t know about it until the morning of the execution. However, only a few days later, a leading Indian Newspaper wrote that Omar Abdullah had been told about the hanging 10 days earlier.
Omar Abdullah mourned, anticipating the reaction of the Kashmiris and the danger it could pose to his government and not because he actually cared for Afzal Guru and his unfair trial. But rather cunningly he put on sheep’s clothing and mourned and cried, putting to use all the tricks he had learned.
Infact Omar Abdullah had stressed that Afzal’s hanging would have “greater consequences if executed in summer months”. Dreading the consequences for his blood-stained chief ministership, Abdullah’s heart would have skipped a beat when according to the Hindustan Times report, Shinde called Abdullah at 8pm on February 8 and said “Woh jo hum ne baat ki thi, woh kal subah hogi (The thing we discussed will take place tomorrow morning).” The chief minister knew exactly what the home minister meant when he said; to maintain secrecy, the words ‘Afzal Guru’ were not uttered during the phone conversation.
Mourning For Its Sake
National conference obviously leapt into the mourning, shedding crocodile tears for the umpteenth time. NC’s Member of Indian parliament, GN Ratanpuri even wrote to the president saying that Kashmiris would opt for Azaadi if given a chance. Ratanpuri even met the besieged pro-freedom leader, Syed Ali Geelani at his residence in Delhi.
The main opposition party – PDP – led by Mehbooba Mufti castigated Omar Abdullah for not acting in time in trying to save Afzal from being sent to the gallows. And then out came the perennial wolfy one liner, “We would not have let this happen, if we were in power.” She was obviously trying to score brownie points over her political rival and seek maximum political mileage out of the hanging of Afzal Guru. It is a classic case of two monkeys taunting each other for the redness of their rears.
NC and PDP are the two sides of the same coin wanting to dominate each other for their personal gains. Period. For years now pro-India groups in Kashmir have unleashed brutal oppression on Kashmir on behalf of their Indian masters. And now they are hypocritically crying hoarse over the execution of Afzal Guru whom they watched and even cheered getting closer to the deadly noose. NC, PDP and others of their ilk had apprehensions about the consequences of hanging of Afzal Guru not even because of their concern for maintaining Indian dominion in Kashmir but for their own future which becomes uncertain in wake of another fresh resistance in the Kashmir freedom movement.
All For One
The collaborator class of Kashmir, especially the politicians, will never hesitate to create an illusion of their empathy towards Kashmiris. It is especially true when their wicked interests are threatened by the imperial policies of their masters. Masters who have no remorse after sacrificing their puppets when it comes to satiating their own interests.
All the Bollywood-inspired drama enacted by the pro-India groups in Kashmir coupled with shedding of crocodile tears cannot conceal their reality as representatives of occupation in Kashmir.
Pro-India groups in Kashmir simply could not afford to posture themselves any different from the dominant public opinion in Kashmir which is overwhelmingly condemning the hanging of Guru. The campaigns and debates underway to get back the mortal remains of Afzal Guru from Tihar Jail has again found resonance in the Pro-India camp of Kashmir as well as with the Indian political parties – even with BJP, bizarrely.
The Indian interlocutors, who were deputed to Kashmir to buy the Indian state some valuable time during the 2010 mass uprising, have also joined the chorus. While Radha Kumar amusingly “mourned” the Indian government’s non-seriousness in solving the Kashmir dispute, MM Ansari ridiculously compared Kashmiris with rats who hated cats (India). Good old crocodile tears.
But all this political gimmick of the Wolves and Gharials, cannot integrate Kashmir with India, nor will it get them any closer to being humane.
(The organisation does not necessarily subscribe to the author’s views)
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