Omar Abdullah and Umar Farooq have decided to nudge into each other’s ribs in public interest. One has accused the other that “separatist leadership was putting poor people before the bullets to safeguard their own vested interests”, and the other has blamed the first for being “unaware of Kashmir’s ground reality as he was busy making his career outside the state when Kashmiris were being maimed and killed”. Mir Waiz Umar has further added that “Economic development isn’t possible without political stability and it won’t come till Kashmir issue is resolved according to the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir”.
Both are wrong in their blame game and their respective political disciplines have nothing satisfactory to offer to the real man and woman living far remote from the two habitats of Nagin and Gupkar. Neither of the two remains in fact fully knowledgeable about the ground realities that have continued to exist in the broad spread of the State of Jammu and Kashmir since 1846. Ground reality in fact includes death of a generation, unemployment, hunger, disease, living below poverty line, life in villages, farmer and his school going children, the scare health care, the rugged travel facilities and scant opportunities for the majority (except an elite class that surfaced after 1990) and common minimum programme to abuse the trust of people by the ‘separatist’ leaders and the ‘ruling’ party alike are the real ground realities.
The disturbing ground reality in fact is that the first generation of separatist leaders have returned to their private businesses, sought perks and privileges in India and Pakistan and some have decided to settle down in foreign countries. If Mirwaiz Umar cares to look at the early register of Hurriyat leaders domiciled in Islamabad, Pakistan a majority of them decided to pack up their politics and are very comfortably either back in their towns in Kashmir or have used the Kashmir slogan to seek settlement in Saudia, US, UK, Germany, Greece, Switzerland and many other countries around the world. Other noble and pious leaders of the early days ‘appointed’ to run the first Kashmir Embassy in Delhi (Kashmir Awareness Bureau) have also decided to return to their old government jobs. It has been all about careering making so far. Poor people need to be there to be put before the bullets during a march to Martyrs’ Graveyard and Eidgah and for long queues to form the life line of the electoral process to put Omar Abdullah into power.
In fact the poor people for whom Omar Abdullah has expressed his concern and the massacred and other violated for whom Umar Farooq is so concerned do not fit in the political jigsaw puzzle of either of the two. Politics of the two has no relation with the real life and habitat of Kashmir.
Umar Farooq is wrong at core to begrudge the common man an ‘economic development’, if at all Omar Abdullah would ever dedicate his time and politics to achieve it. One needs to bear in mind that the present government of Omar Abdullah has been voted into a responsibility by the free will of real people. There has been an expression of political stability. As a start to appear credible in his claim Umar Farooq should induct a democratic regime in his factions of Hurriyat and dare to surrender the protection of security forces and police who have otherwise remained involved in “killing people, raping women and destroying residential places”. The role of these security forces in protecting a class of leaders and going mad after the life, liberty, honour and property of the ‘poor people’ presents a serious moral dilemma. Rewards and consequences of death are different for Umar Farooq and Omar Abdullah as compared to the ones faced by the poor people in general.
Omar Abdullah has used the concern of poor people for his self serving cause. If separatist leadership “was putting poor people “ in the harm’s way”, “to safeguard their own vested interests” it is his duty as elected representative of these people to ensure that bullets are not released on the chests and backs of these people. He is there to protect life and other interests of the ‘poor’ and ‘rich’ alike. It is a reality that neither of the two (Omar and Umar) have ever experienced the life of a ‘poor’ Kashmir and it is unfortunate that the poor is the enduring fodder of their political strategy.
Umar Farooq should understand that economic development is much more important than the political stability. Economics touches every household in every part of Kashmir and politics at the end of the day is the luxury of a special class. The poor people have a right to move from a routine process of life to enjoy a quality of life.
Unless we endeavour to empower the common man and woman in Kashmir there is every risk that Omar and Umar may trade us off to India or Pakistan in the same manner in which we were sold off by the British to Maharajah in March 1846. It took Kashmiris 31 years when in October 1877 they raved courage to present a memorandum of demands to the Viceroy.
Umar Farooq has said that “economic development won’t come till Kashmir issue is resolved according to the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir”. One would like to lavish all praise and all support to this opinion if he were a Kashmiri of ‘common circumstances’. He does not represent in any manner the common reflex of general poverty and trauma that has hit Kashmir from 1846. Unfortunately the two families have continued to remain beneficiaries of all tragedies of our history.
It goes without an iota of dispute that separatist leaders have never taken on board the aspirations of the people in their routine politics, dialogue with India, travel to Pakistan or for their alleged yes vote to ‘Secret Deal’ done on Kashmir which is lying in the drawers of the foreign office of Pakistan. If Umar Farooq has the case of “killing people, raping women and destroying residential places” dear to his political discipline the best way out remains to challenge the chief minister in a court of law for criminal responsibility and abetment in the violation of human rights. Involvement in human rights violation makes him (Omar) and other members of his cabinet (party members and administration) amenable to international jurisdiction for arrest in any country of the world including India and Pakistan.
Umar farooq has thrown the caution out of the window when he has accused Omar Abdullah of “organising Grameen Mela by getting people who are on the payrolls of the government”. Every Kashmiri has a right to work for a living and it entails that he will be on a payroll. Our judiciary, bureaucracy, teachers, doctors, civil servants and many others all remain on payroll. It is a fact that some politicians in the separatist camp continue to remain on the payroll of their parent departments in the government. Wife of a leading separatist leader based in Islamabad used to travel after every 6 months to Kashmir and receive her accrued salary from the education department in her district. Government of India and the government of Kashmir would encourage the greed by turning a deaf ear to such cases. Common Kashmiri has no choice but to wait for occasions when one or the other cahlo or mela brings him a daily wage. Let us not begrudge the poor a morsel of bread in the evening.
The government, separatists and the poor man all have to be on a payroll of their respective kind. More so, common citizen’s payroll is duly guaranteed under article 19 of J & K Constitution and separatists should force the government to honour it.
Author is London based Secretary General of JKCHR – NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations. Email dr-nazirgilani@jkchr.com
Both are wrong in their blame game and their respective political disciplines have nothing satisfactory to offer to the real man and woman living far remote from the two habitats of Nagin and Gupkar. Neither of the two remains in fact fully knowledgeable about the ground realities that have continued to exist in the broad spread of the State of Jammu and Kashmir since 1846. Ground reality in fact includes death of a generation, unemployment, hunger, disease, living below poverty line, life in villages, farmer and his school going children, the scare health care, the rugged travel facilities and scant opportunities for the majority (except an elite class that surfaced after 1990) and common minimum programme to abuse the trust of people by the ‘separatist’ leaders and the ‘ruling’ party alike are the real ground realities.
The disturbing ground reality in fact is that the first generation of separatist leaders have returned to their private businesses, sought perks and privileges in India and Pakistan and some have decided to settle down in foreign countries. If Mirwaiz Umar cares to look at the early register of Hurriyat leaders domiciled in Islamabad, Pakistan a majority of them decided to pack up their politics and are very comfortably either back in their towns in Kashmir or have used the Kashmir slogan to seek settlement in Saudia, US, UK, Germany, Greece, Switzerland and many other countries around the world. Other noble and pious leaders of the early days ‘appointed’ to run the first Kashmir Embassy in Delhi (Kashmir Awareness Bureau) have also decided to return to their old government jobs. It has been all about careering making so far. Poor people need to be there to be put before the bullets during a march to Martyrs’ Graveyard and Eidgah and for long queues to form the life line of the electoral process to put Omar Abdullah into power.
In fact the poor people for whom Omar Abdullah has expressed his concern and the massacred and other violated for whom Umar Farooq is so concerned do not fit in the political jigsaw puzzle of either of the two. Politics of the two has no relation with the real life and habitat of Kashmir.
Umar Farooq is wrong at core to begrudge the common man an ‘economic development’, if at all Omar Abdullah would ever dedicate his time and politics to achieve it. One needs to bear in mind that the present government of Omar Abdullah has been voted into a responsibility by the free will of real people. There has been an expression of political stability. As a start to appear credible in his claim Umar Farooq should induct a democratic regime in his factions of Hurriyat and dare to surrender the protection of security forces and police who have otherwise remained involved in “killing people, raping women and destroying residential places”. The role of these security forces in protecting a class of leaders and going mad after the life, liberty, honour and property of the ‘poor people’ presents a serious moral dilemma. Rewards and consequences of death are different for Umar Farooq and Omar Abdullah as compared to the ones faced by the poor people in general.
Omar Abdullah has used the concern of poor people for his self serving cause. If separatist leadership “was putting poor people “ in the harm’s way”, “to safeguard their own vested interests” it is his duty as elected representative of these people to ensure that bullets are not released on the chests and backs of these people. He is there to protect life and other interests of the ‘poor’ and ‘rich’ alike. It is a reality that neither of the two (Omar and Umar) have ever experienced the life of a ‘poor’ Kashmir and it is unfortunate that the poor is the enduring fodder of their political strategy.
Umar Farooq should understand that economic development is much more important than the political stability. Economics touches every household in every part of Kashmir and politics at the end of the day is the luxury of a special class. The poor people have a right to move from a routine process of life to enjoy a quality of life.
Unless we endeavour to empower the common man and woman in Kashmir there is every risk that Omar and Umar may trade us off to India or Pakistan in the same manner in which we were sold off by the British to Maharajah in March 1846. It took Kashmiris 31 years when in October 1877 they raved courage to present a memorandum of demands to the Viceroy.
Umar Farooq has said that “economic development won’t come till Kashmir issue is resolved according to the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir”. One would like to lavish all praise and all support to this opinion if he were a Kashmiri of ‘common circumstances’. He does not represent in any manner the common reflex of general poverty and trauma that has hit Kashmir from 1846. Unfortunately the two families have continued to remain beneficiaries of all tragedies of our history.
It goes without an iota of dispute that separatist leaders have never taken on board the aspirations of the people in their routine politics, dialogue with India, travel to Pakistan or for their alleged yes vote to ‘Secret Deal’ done on Kashmir which is lying in the drawers of the foreign office of Pakistan. If Umar Farooq has the case of “killing people, raping women and destroying residential places” dear to his political discipline the best way out remains to challenge the chief minister in a court of law for criminal responsibility and abetment in the violation of human rights. Involvement in human rights violation makes him (Omar) and other members of his cabinet (party members and administration) amenable to international jurisdiction for arrest in any country of the world including India and Pakistan.
Umar farooq has thrown the caution out of the window when he has accused Omar Abdullah of “organising Grameen Mela by getting people who are on the payrolls of the government”. Every Kashmiri has a right to work for a living and it entails that he will be on a payroll. Our judiciary, bureaucracy, teachers, doctors, civil servants and many others all remain on payroll. It is a fact that some politicians in the separatist camp continue to remain on the payroll of their parent departments in the government. Wife of a leading separatist leader based in Islamabad used to travel after every 6 months to Kashmir and receive her accrued salary from the education department in her district. Government of India and the government of Kashmir would encourage the greed by turning a deaf ear to such cases. Common Kashmiri has no choice but to wait for occasions when one or the other cahlo or mela brings him a daily wage. Let us not begrudge the poor a morsel of bread in the evening.
The government, separatists and the poor man all have to be on a payroll of their respective kind. More so, common citizen’s payroll is duly guaranteed under article 19 of J & K Constitution and separatists should force the government to honour it.
Author is London based Secretary General of JKCHR – NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations. Email dr-nazirgilani@jkchr.com
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