Kashmir Needs A New Narrative To Break The Logjam
This article below by Banerjee is more than 6 months old but quite relevant to the current events in Indian Occupied Kashmir.
If India is to prosper as a truly democratic nation, it cannot allow a sizeable section of its citizens—the Kashmiris—to live in perpetual disenchantment and despair, writes Ruben Banerjee.
The sea of mourners at the recent funeral of a Lashkar-e-Toiba
militant killed by security forces in Anantnag of south Kashmir reemphasised
what we have already known, but refuse to readily acknowledge: an
ever-deepening divide that separates the people of the otherwise picturesque
region from the rest of the country, including the rulers in Delhi.
The turnout at the funeral was also proof that with every
‘success’ registered by the security forces, we are not getting any closer to
a resounding victory.
If anything, these ‘successes’ help in feeding local grievances
and losing more ‘hearts and minds’. Lives are being lost without any tangible
gains. Kashmiris are bearing the brunt of the turmoil, but even India is
bleeding, with casualties on both sides, including soldiers made to make the
ultimate sacrifice. This utter hopelessness and cycle of violence have been
allowed to fester for far too long.
Indeed, few disputes in the world have defied a solution for
this long. North and South Korea have been at daggers drawn for decades, but
following a summit between Kim Jong-un of the reclusive Pyongyang regime and US
President Donald Trump, a thaw looks imminent. In between, disputes such as the
ones in Northern Ireland and Bosnia have been thrashed out. Kashmir,
unfortunately, is one of the two long-running disagreements stubbornly refusing
a solution. The other is Gaza, at the heart of what seems to be an intractable
standoff between Palestinians and Israelis.
Stalemates are energy-sapping and self-defeating, so it
would surely serve all of us well if an agreeable solution to Kashmir is
arrived at the soonest. It is easier said than done, but what’s the harm in at
least trying? If India is to prosper as a truly democratic nation, it cannot
allow a sizeable section of its citizens—the Kashmiris—to live in perpetual
disenchantment and despair. A breakthrough is the need of the hour.
But what is more urgently needed is a concerted and
conscious bid to move away from oft-repeated phrases such as ‘Kashmiriyat’ and
‘healing touch’, and arrive at some concrete measures. The delusional clichés
of the past have failed to deliver and we find ourselves trapped in a situation
where positions have only hardened on either side. The last remnants of
goodwill have seemingly dissipated and been replaced by hate in both public
discourse and prime-time TV. There are many among us who see any word of sympathy
for the Kashmiris as an act of treachery and betrayal. There is distrust and
suspicion on the other side too, with many hot-heads amid their ranks.
It is, therefore, time for a new initiative, a new narrative
and new idioms to break the logjam, infuse hope among a populace who feel they
have none, and allow a well-meaning government to seize the initiative.
Arriving at a common ground and a consensus is a minefield with divergent views
and diverse actors involved: ranging from Muslim Kashmiris and Kashmiri
Pandits, to non-state actors and our bete noire Pakistan.
Every roadmap must necessarily begin with brainstorming
and Outlook for one made the effort to gather people in a quiet Delhi
hotel for an honest discussion. The panelists were drawn from diverse
sections—the RSS, the National Conference, the PDP, the Hurriyat, the army and
also thinkers from Kashmir who have a lot at stake in the way things pan out in
the Valley. The Kashmir Roundtable we hosted was necessarily rich and partly
rhetorical. But amid the din and disagreements, there were also suggestions
that bore the early signs of what could someday emerge as a meeting point.
Dialogue, we believe, is a must to solve a puzzle that many
see mostly in terms of geopolitics and strategic affairs. For me though, it is
a humanitarian tragedy that is at the core of the Kashmir issue, waiting for an
urgent solution.
Comments
Post a Comment