6.10.12

Who Owns Kashmir?

Rahul Gandhi, like the rest of the Nehru-Gandhi clan before him, will never contest an election from Kashmir. When he says, “I myself am from Kashmiri family and want to have lifelong relations with the people of Jammu and Kashmir”, it is a declaration of the divine right of the potentate in a jigsaw puzzle of a state.

A delegation of panchayat leaders from the state visits him in Delhi; he lands up in Sonmarg and tells the people he wants to “understand your pain deeply”. This makes former chief minister Farooq Abdullah so emotional he blurts out, “We are Indians and we will die as Indians. No power can separate us from India. A day will come when children of Rahul and Omar will see fruits of steps taken by us.” In July, Hurriyat leaders met Pakistan’s foreign minister on her official trip to India.

So, who is ruling the state?

Rahul Gandhi organises a corporate picnic with big industrialists. Many promises will be made. Perhaps for more formula racing, tulip gardens, skiing facilities, to ensure tourist traffic. These are mirages used to market the state to others. He wants to “connect Kashmiri youth with the development process”. There is no introspection as to why that has not happened yet.

>>Read the rest in Express Tribune

12 comments:

  1. I blame article 370 of our constitution and the nonchalance of the kashmiri politicians. It's time they join the Indian republic, educate their people and create wealth and Jobs. A country may own a piece of land, but their people should be able to utilize the resources and then alone their would be prosperity but ... every bit is wasted in false nationalism and ideology. Time for hegemony to change and stop this chatter of who owns what.

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  2. Rizwan Alam,

    I am in complete agreement. The way forward is:

    1. Consign article 370 to the nearest (and dirtiest) toilet bowl in Srinagar. Integrate the state fully with the country. Allow (encourage?) Indians to settle in the state.

    2. Make a final declaration in the UN that India no more considers itself bound by the outdated UN resolution. May Nehru's soul rest in peace forever.
    3. Formally ask Pak to withdraw its forces and state instituions from the occupied regions. Like hell they will do it, I know. But gestures matter. Ask FV!
    4. Revamp education system in the state. Reduce the stranglehold of the seperatist ideology on young population by opening more universities (govt and private) in the state.
    5. Link AFSPA removal to number of terrorist incidents, percentage of voting in polls and enrollment of students in schools.
    6. Constitute a judicial commission to look into the demand for trifurcation of state.
    7. Finally, open up restrictions on movement of people and goods across LoC. Take my word, it will work wonders.

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  3. FV,

    Interestingly, the article has garnered far more number of comments on the Express Tribune site. Just see their general content and you will know where you stand on this issue. You can be blithely "even-handed" here because Indian nationalists are not like Jehadis and will probably not call on your home with a butcher's knife! The maximum they would do is add a few comments on the newspaper website.

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  5. @Free and Footloose
    "The maximum they would do is add a few comments on the newspaper website."
    so,this is the view you hold of your audience.Firstly, you write articles to state your opinions-which are foolish anyway-and then compare all those readers to jihadis,and then claim that they are better than jihadis just because they don't carry knife with them.seems that you hold a prejudiced view for nationalists.

    to label everyone as 'Indian nationalists' just because they don't share your views,seriously,in what way you are any better than those whom you labelled as Indian nationalists',you are not better than the leaders or politicians whom you are trying to mock in your articles.there is a similar phenomenon happening in Pakistan, anyone who says against the public view or chooses diverge from the mass madness,he is labeled as 'liberal fascist',in India its 'nationalist'.

    fascist,fundamentalist,racist,zealot,bigot, leftist,rightist, Maoist, Marxist,misogynist,nationalist, capitalist,communist,atheist, Islamist,radical,neo Nazi, Zionist.......How long will you continue to label people.Everyone, every man, every living person on the surface of the planet is labeled and bundled in one or the other category,sick of this society,there are no innocents left,continue with your usual work,Some more new words will be coined to label every living man-not in good way-to satisfy the false sense of prejudice. perhaps,one day we will have more words to frame and blame a person than words of praise, everyone will be labeled, not because of any crime or hate speech or any irrelevant actions,but rather for holding different opinions which doesn't fit in to our opinion.

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  6. Anonymus,

    Thanks for laying out the laundry list of labels. As FV would testify, I do not have much use for most of them. Since you lack an identity, I won't label you!
    ---
    I would not counter your opinion ("foolish") of my views, since it adds little to the debate. Counter my statements if you really consider yourself a serious participant. If not, allow me to be content in my foolishness..!
    ---
    QUOTE: "..Firstly, you write articles to state your opinions.."

    Umm, ahem.. are we talking length of the comments here, Anonymus Sir....??
    ---
    QUOTE: "..this is the view you hold of your audience"

    Er.. I thought I was a mere guest commentator here..!
    ---
    QUOTE: "... you hold a prejudiced view for nationalists... in what way you are any better than those whom you labelled as Indian nationalists.."

    Smiley. Smiley. FV, please step in and clear the confusion..! About time you made your opinion of me public once again! You can choose from the laundry list above.

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  7. Rizwan:

    Sitting afar, we have just a little glimpse, so it's easy to talk about junking Art 370 & joining the Indian Republic.

    You contradict yourself when you say, "every bit is wasted in false nationalism and ideology"

    Creation of jobs applies to all of India...

    Anyhow, you might want to respond to F&F. He likes gestures...

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  8. F&F:

    There are bound to be more comments on a news portal. I was accustomed to 500 replies on web portals. It does not convey where I stand, but where they stand. My position is stated. Theirs is a response.

    A sidelight is that my Bollywood piece remained the most viewed for over 48 hrs. This one less so. So, these yardsticks don't mean much.

    You can be blithely "even-handed" here because Indian nationalists are not like Jehadis and will probably not call on your home with a butcher's knife!

    Well, you assume too much & you don't know...let's leave it at that for now.

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  9. You contradict yourself when you say, "every bit is wasted in false nationalism and ideology"

    I don't contradict, but let me make it clear what I meant by it , here nationalism is implied as total kashmiri independence from India and ideology as a state which would not be democratic rather an autocratic/pseudo-theocratic state, and the kashmiri politicians have failed in both fronts. Therefore they should give up and join the republic , and I don't say they should give up their kashmiriyat but article 370 and invite international and domestic investors in their state . Btw I may be afar but not insolvent of truth and ground reality, however sometime it becomes quite reasonable to reason when you are not angry :) I hope you would publish this reply - I reckon you did not the last one!

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  10. Rizwan:

    You did contradict yourself.

    "A country may own a piece of land, but their people should be able to utilize the resources and then alone their would be prosperity but ... every bit is wasted in false nationalism and ideology."

    Your response tries to suggest that false nationalism is total Kashmiri independence.

    1. Kashmir is not a country and its people do not own the land. Art 370 restricts outside purchase of land, similar to Himachal Pradesh.

    2. It is very kind of you to allow them to keep their Kashmiriyat, which is what every region retains - a specific flavour. I am sure they have these little varieties in Canada too.

    3. Omar Abdullah has said he is not opposed to FDI. The state govt. has invited investments, which is mentioned in the piece.

    And now regarding your last bit, I said "we" sit afar. Obviously, you got defensive and typically found the only way to deal with it is to go on the offensive by implying that you can be reasonable when you are not angry.

    I suppose the many years I have spent in the profession, not just pontificating but on the field, is the result of anger. This is the sort of swipe that passes for debate. And I see you bringing in the theme of 'anger' often.

    Desist, because you have no right to reach such generalised conclusions. You have only recently discovered my work. It is also a sexist way of dealing with things.

    Regarding comments published or not, it clearly mentions in the box. It is my call. I posted it and deleted it because I don;t see why personal comments should be permitted.

    I hope you get the point once and for all and stop reducing arguments.

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  11. You started a war on Tribune. Was expecting that! I missed this one on Tribune. Just saw it from link here.


    HP

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  12. No war...just the usual anon animosity.

    Keep a lookout there.

    Rgds

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