BL Saraf
Clock strikes 8 PM and we are ushered in the theatre of absurd. TV Channels vie one another in flashing misleading slogans like “Breaking News” and start of a debate “Never before heard or seen on any other Channel “. Though the same story is on every other Channel, running simultaneously. Familiar scene unfolds where we have the same old and jaded actors (nationalist warriors and their opponents) in the stereotype roles with their predictable and worn out arguments, ready to dance to the tunes of the director – read Anchor. Then starts a mock battle where everything goes in a predetermined (fixed) direction. In between, we are transported to the fish market bewildered and confused, not knowing why we are there. In the din we somehow manage to salvage a convoluted definition of ‘nationalism’ where some are hailed ‘nationalists’ and others denounced as the ‘anti-nationalists’.
It is not for us to go in for a hair splitting definition of the nationalism. The job is better left to the sociologists and political scientists. To us, nationalism in simple terms means strict adherence to the good citizenry qualities, regard for the laws of the land and respect for life, dignity and the belief of fellow countryman.
It is really saddening to note that some people, in the T V Studios, lay claim to represent, in wholesale, the agency of ‘ love of the nation ‘ and move fast to monopolize the ‘ trade ‘. They arrogate to themselves power to denounce anyone as anti -nationalist and refuse him a share in agency of ‘nationalism’. It is time to de- monopolize the trade and unshackle nationalism. In the context of what is happening in Kashmir it is imperative to open up the agency of ‘nationalism ‘for others also who have shown enough credentials to invest in it.
DSP Muhammad Ayub Pandith’s brutal lynching may not have pricked the collective conscience of most of the Kashmiris. But we get clear signs that the barbaric act has evoked strong sense of indignation in number of influential public intellectuals and respected opinion makers among the Kashmir Muslim society. They have described it as an act of ‘ savagery and called upon Kashmiris to rise against the barbarism no matter who the victim is. To them silence on the occasion will mean endorsement of the crime.
It should be a lesson of sorts for us the “nationalists “to read what a Kashmiri Muslim IPS Officer of senior rank has said on the brutal lynching of DSP Muhammad Ayub. He writes in a national daily of 27th instant “Public response in the Valley, including that the so-called Kashmir intelligentsia, has been on expected lines. It is response crystallized over last 30 years. Denial usually comes first : the killings are attributed to pro -Government security forces ………Where denials don’t work self-gratifying justifications follow facts are distorted to justify the crime.” He goes on to say “While most people question the wrong doings of the Indian State – and rightly so – it is equally important that murders and violence sanctioned by Pakistan and fundamentalists be challenged. Then he concludes ” Kashmiris have a choice to continue to shed crocodile tears on the death of Kashmiriyat or acknowledge and admit where we have gone wrong.”
This is far cry from the days when no one would dare condemn a terrorist act where in a security personal fell victim. These public intellectuals have raised voice against the phenomenon which glorifies violence in the name of faith or Azadi. Some of them have questioned silence of the Mirwaiz, under whose nose the dastardly act took place.
These rather unprecedented outpouring of the ‘ native ‘ Kashmiris should compel us to rethink, tone down the hyper- nationalistic rhetoric and free it from the contrived emotions. As the news that has come from America on the fate of Salahuddin may help in enlarging the tribe of peace investors in the Valley.
Syed Salahuddin’s designation as a global terrorist by the US Administration may not result in immediate cessation of the terrorist activities in Kashmir. But, the move has a message that India has been able to affirm the narrative that Kashmir’s current unrest is Pak- sponsored terrorism. What India could not convey in emphatic terms in the past this development has put international seal on the argument. For the reason that Salahudin is a Kashmiri fugitive living in safe haven provided by Pakistan. That Haqqanis and Hizbul-Mujahidin have been put on par by the US must be quite damaging to the morale of Pakistan and its foot soldiers in Kashmir.
This message cannot be lost on so many Kashmiri who have invested in India. The outright condemnation of the DSP’s lynching by the men of influence in the Valley may help their resolve. It is our National duty to strengthen these forces. Playing to the false ‘gods’ will prove fatal in the long run.
Post displacement, most of us has acquired a “god inventing” disease. We have created so many of them only to come to the grief when none of them could come to our rescue when needed most. Certainly, TV Anchors can’t be our ‘gods ‘ whose belief in ‘ shrill nationalism ‘ is driven only by an urge to have more eye-balls at the prime time. It is time to tell those who claim to represent us before those TV ‘gods that they can’t be our sole representatives, as their job seems only to aid and abet latter to achieve their commercial interest. They need to be told in no uncertain terms that no one can speak for all the Indians (certainly for not for all the displaced persons) on all the issues facing them.
(The author is a former Principal District & Sessions Judge )
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