Shiban Khaibri
In 2008 , when stone pelting had started taking the ugly form and was gradually turning into a lucrative paying enterprise , a leading National English Daily, the Hindu, severely criticized the Central government led by Manmohan Singh and the state government led by Omar Abdullah by saying “inexplicable inertia and a curious passivity in their response to the events as they have been building up these last two months…” In this connexion, in a press conference at New Delhi , Omar Abdullah made it clear that the “cycle of violence would have to be broken and law breakers would have to face the consequences…….” Right from 2008 to 2015 , the “secular and holy alliance” in the state could do nothing resulting in the unprecedentedly emboldened behavior of this daily wager based enterprise.
The term “Daily Wager” denotes payments made on daily basis to the ones engaged in unloading truck loads of boulders ; arming, equipping, masking and “posting” the “fighters” (read hired stone throwers) on designated sites motivated by indoctrination of (unattainable) “rewards. Add to it, fundamentalist and extremist religious bigotry, in the absence of which Sangbaz Industry cannot hold ground , not even for a day.
Right from 2015 till date , the government of “unholy alliance” in the state failed in the same way to put an end to “sangbazi” as the earlier state governments. The difference is that unlike in the UPA regime to put the worn out and obsolete antidote of doling out more aids, grants and “funds” as an ad-hoc measure or as patch work repairs, the current NDA government does not do that. That is the perceptible difference which besides many other reasons, makes it distinct from the UPA regime.
This writer in 2008 itself, had, in a write up, captioned “Phool aur Pathar” taking the “caption (al)” cue from O. P. Rehlan’s block buster starring Dharmendra and Meena Kumari etc, attempted to argue as to how the central government had reciprocated “pathar” with “phool” (by sending lavish financial package) and that the evil of pelting should stop or else it would destroy Kashmir in the long run. The latter part , unfortunately , has been chosen by those indulging in the gory game at the behest of Pakistan and her agent saboteurs in Kashmir. Like this, spilling all around blood , these misled and misguided young people are fulfilling the wish and the evil design of Pakistani President Zia -ul- Haq, who was killed in a mysterious air crash in August 1988 , a year before his larger design of “fighting a war in enemy’s territory, with enemy’s men and enemy’s material ” was implemented in Kashmir .
Recently, a stone aimed at a young tourist from Tamil Nadu who was a tourist, pathetically cut short his life in Srinagar. Another shameful and black worded chapter was written in the ongoing senseless violence in Kashmir.
The pelting brigade is turning out to be the worst enemies of Kashmir and Kashmiris but while they continuously wreck havoc with whatever still is left of Kashmir, they are led to believe that India was “pressurized” and subdued. Chronic dearth of saner elements that could revolt against this absolute dance of death and destruction and the lack of courage in the people there to fight out enemies of Kashmir is the real irony, rather the tragedy. The clergy which ought to preach peace, compassion and sanity are contrarian in their expected role. Instead, they use places of prayers to give calls to people in the name of religion to converge at sites of operations and thus confirming to the proverbial truth of ” inviting a bull to gore me” or motivating for “thrusting chins out asking to be hit” and then pitch loudly “Indian army is killing innocents”.
The desire of the CM of having a “cease fire” during the month of Ramzan is strangely pointed out and made applicable to the security forces only and not to these elements which are the cause, purpose, basis and the justification of the security forces to be present there. Can these security forces be asked, while providing security to top political and governmental authorities, not to “fire” even when instantaneously required to do so? Thus, cease fire cannot be anything beyond a flash in the pan especially looking to the platform from where it was pronounced. The effusive nod, if any, from the coalition partner is conspicuous of precariousness of a genuine moral stand .
No political leader is indulging in the required brand of, spur of the moment politics, by openly abhorring and berating diabolical acts of stone throwing , chasing a trapped in crowd armed security person, then pinning him down , thrashing , grievously injuring and trying to snatching his weapon. They should gather courage to call such acts as no acts of bravery but of self destruction. These leaders having opportunistic double standards must stir their conscience and feel increasingly inclined to praise such victim security forces for their demonstration of the highest regard for human beings , the fellow citizens even for the attackers, who otherwise can shoot to kill . That the victim security forces person is not shooting despite gravest provocation and immediate threat to his life does not make him any coward but a real brave guy . It is the other way round. Since this all is not said with conviction but resorting to opportunist political mudslinging against one another only was taking Kashmir to deeper gorges and darker depths of unrest and violence. Besides, such an approach is tantamount to squandering of even remote opportunity to give Pakistan and its agents in Kashmir, a befitting sneck posset.
Mounting an army vehicle and to hit it and its armed inmates with boulders is no bravery on the part of the pelting attackers but the extreme tolerance and endurance displayed by the targeted victims since in self defence and defending the equipment , they do not shoot to kill. A Chinese, a Japanese, an Iranian, a British or an American soldier in such circumstances cannot demonstrate Indian levels of tolerance but open fire to kill as a soldier is supposed to kill rather than get killed in any circumstances.
Sangbazi or throwing stones was fast becoming an ugliest scar on the face of even those who were not associated with this scourge directly in Kashmir and that was suicidal. It is imperative to bring home to perpetrators of this uncivilized and mediaeval act that even worst of worst of it was not going to alter any political or geographical existing position of Kashmir. No quantum of violence was going to get illusive Aazadi to those who chant it without knowing which grain of Aazadi they were bereft of under the democratic system of a progressive, powerful , liberal and secular India. Writers, journalists, orators, social activists, well wishers of the state in particular of Kashmiris, have a greater role to perform or else no one can save Kashmir from turning it into another Afghanistan, Syria or other hotbeds of irretrievable levels of violence.
The only solution to Kashmir is reverting to what a great Kashmiri, whose ancestors had to leave Kashmir in 19th century, Pandit Brij Narayan Chakbast, a top leading 20th century Urdu poet of the sub- continent had said , “Zarra zarra hai meray Kashmir kaa mehmaan nawaz; Rah main pathar kay tukdoon nay diya penaay ko paani mujhay.” Attempting to translate it …”In every little piece of my Kashmir, there is hospitality towards guests and visitors and when travelling through my Kashmir, even pieces of stone lying on the road gave me water to quench my thirst.”
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