[Reader-list] Amarnath row reignites Azadi sentiments

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear Shivam,

Thank you for your reports from the valley. They help us get a  
clearer image of the situation and what people are thinking and saying.

best

Shuddha
On 03-Jul-08, at 8:33 PM, Shivam Vij शिवम् विज् wrote:

> [As published this morning]
>
>
> Amarnath row reignites azadi sentiment
>
> Shivam Vij / Srinagar
> Sakaal Times / 3 July
> http://epaper.sakaaltimes.com
>
>
> The writing on the wall is clear: The Kashmiri demand for independence
> from India is not over yet. Separatist leaders and commoners alike
> have hailed the withdrawal of the land transfer order as the victory
> of the Kashmiri people and called to revitalise the azadi movement.
>
> This is clearly a turning point in the 20-year-old militant struggle.
> There is also talk of boycotting the coming assembly polls and
> reunification of the two factions of the Hurriyat Conference. The mood
> was reflected in every local daily's frontpage headlines. PEOPLE WIN,
> said Greater Kashmir. Kashmir Savours Victory, said the Kashmir
> Observer. Kashmir win, said Amroze Kashmir. VICTORY! said Etalaat.
> People win, Order revoked, said Kashmir Monitor.
>
> The emphasis that it was a people's agitation rather than one of
> leaders is shared by everyone. The sentiment is shared by every taxi
> driver, shopkeeper, houseboat-owner, journalist — too widespread  
> to be
> brushed away as anybody's political gimmick. The agitation was lead by
> the ACALT committee which had, apart from Hurriyat leaders, apolitical
> religious leaders, representatives from trade and transporters'
> organisation's, the Kashmir Chambers of Commerce and the Bar Council.
>
> Vehement support was given by the Valley's Sikhs and most Kashmiri
> Pandit organisations as well. The biggest winner is Hurriyat leader
> Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who was the first to begin mobilising the
> public with a signature campaign. In a press conference on Wednesday,
> he emphasised: "This punctures New Delhi's theory that our movement is
> standing on Pakistani support," he said, adding, "did you see a single
> agitator using violence?" "The movement lives on in the hearts and
> minds of the people," he told Sakaal Times.
>
> The relatively smooth rule of the PDP-Congress coalition and the
> decline in militancy had led observers to believe that people's
> participation in polls could increase. "Nobody will vote now," said
> Etalaat editor Zahiruddin. In fact NC's Omar Abdullah is believed to
> have said as much to the NSA in his meeting with him in Delhi.
>
> "Mainstream politicians in the Valley who believed the movement was on
> its deathbed have got a rude jolt," he said. "This is very unpleasant
> for the Indian government and intelligence agencies who were already
> talking of a postconflict scenario," says human rights activist Parvez
> Imroz.
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net