[Reader-list] A Just Peace in Kashmir? Reflections on Dynamicsof Change By Richard Shapiro

[taraprakash]

Sometimes it appears from this list that only Muslims are being denied the 
ideals of equality, liberty and basic human rights. The list flares up when 
such a violation happens. We see a rally of passionate back and forth of 
mails. How many mails did we read on today's situation in Manipur? Just 1 
...


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A.K. Malik" <akmalik45 at yahoo.com>
To: "Inder Salim" <indersalim at gmail.com>
Cc: "Sarai List" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Saturday, August 08, 2009 2:35 PM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] A Just Peace in Kashmir? Reflections on 
Dynamicsof Change By Richard Shapiro


>
> Dear Mr Salim,
>                 Since we are keeping some other places also under guns and 
> those people also don't have two square meals for their families,what do 
> you suggest should be done there.IN India two brothers can't co-exist and 
> you are talking  for an open society, where all kinds of
> people can coexist. There is never any harm in dreaming of an ideal 
> situation.
> (Sorry, I have read only a small part and had not been interested in the 
> Kashmir chain)
> Regards,
>
> (A.K.MALIK)
>
>
> --- On Sat, 8/8/09, Inder Salim <indersalim at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Inder Salim <indersalim at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] A Just Peace in Kashmir? Reflections on 
>> Dynamics of Change By Richard Shapiro
>> To: "reader-list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Date: Saturday, August 8, 2009, 5:39 PM
>> Dear Kshmendra
>>
>> thanks
>>
>> Between Kashmir and Kashmir what is this term LOC.
>> Why India and
>> Pakistan are official about it, and if they are, why
>> the average
>> Indians are hesitant to utter it. And how are
>> Kashmiris on both side
>> not free to talk about the meaning of this term. with LoC ,
>> the terms
>> like IAK and PAK become automatic in discussions which
>> yearn to talk
>> freely a bit.
>>
>> Please tell me, why India had to occupy Kashmir in 1947.
>> They should
>> have been left alone. Sheikh was all against merger of
>> Kashmir with
>> Pakistan which was stragecially in the interest of
>> India. But india
>> was content wth some Bakshis and Sadiqs who were interested
>> in money
>> and muscle power. And how to celebrate the sheikh Indira
>> accord when
>> not a single kashmiri supported it.
>>
>>
>> Now, of course, things are markedly different, but where is
>> need to be
>> loud about Nationalism. Imagine how much we spend on
>> Siachen and other
>> weaponery to maintain the boarders with Pakistan. It is a
>> shame that
>> when millions in India are suffering for want of food and
>> other basic
>> facilities we have billions for buying arms. for
>> what, and what is
>> the gain ?
>>
>> Pakistan is not in a position to annex (our) part of
>> Kashmir, but is
>> ready for an independat kashmir, which should be worked
>> out, through
>> negotiations.
>>
>> It is not a secret that Kashmiris have never accepted
>> Indian flag in
>> Kashmir. Let us be realistic, I am Indian as much as you
>> are, and I
>> am unikely to live in a kashmir which is run be intolerant
>> fundamentalits, if islamists take over a free kashmir. But
>> let them
>> be, why to listen each and every day about the security
>> excess and all
>> that, which i beleive is totally unncessary.
>>
>> India should consolidate what they have posibitvely with
>> them. I know
>> lot of lies have gone into the making of Kashmir issue, but
>> history is
>> like that, We need to get rid of our sentimental attachment
>> with
>> Kashmir. Our liasons with a territory based past is
>> vanishable, our
>> past based on profound understandings of the other is
>> lasting.
>>
>> Beleive me, if i was a kashmiri muslim, i would have
>> criticized each
>> and every violent move that supports azadi, but that does
>> not mean the
>> issue is irrelavant. I am for an open
>> society, where all kinds of
>> people can coexisit, yes, the ground reality is that
>> Kashmiris are not
>> so condusive to guarantee an idealistic state ( as Richad
>> demanded in
>> his article ) for all the shades of people to live
>> harmonously, but
>> let us accept the facts, and leave them to their own fate.
>> At some
>> point of time, we have to cease to become teachers.
>>
>> let us see, how much free and less prejudiced we are
>> towards the other
>> in Delhi and elsewhere.
>>
>> There is a mountain of mess we are stuck in. The
>> frightening items in
>> list are many . Holding kashmir at gun point and declaring
>> mera bharat
>> mahan hai is something which a poor average Indian fails to
>> understand
>> if there are no two square meals for his family in the
>> evening.
>>
>>
>> with love
>> is
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Aug 8, 2009 at 4:37 PM, Kshmendra Kaul<kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>
>> wrote:
>> > Dear Inder
>> >
>> > A citizen of India (which I presume you are) using the
>> phrase "Indian
>> > occupation of Kashmir"; Interesting. Doubly
>> interesting since you use the
>> > phrase "Pakistan Administered Kashmir" for that part
>> of J&K which is under
>> > Pakistan's control.
>> >
>> > That is just a reiteration of my often stated
>> "Nationalist" position.
>> >
>> > That said, may I thank you for pointing out some of
>> the critical flaws and
>> > half-truths in Richard Shapiro's essay.
>> >
>> > Kshmendra
>> >
>> > --- On Thu, 8/6/09, Inder Salim <indersalim at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> > From: Inder Salim <indersalim at gmail.com>
>> > Subject: Re: [Reader-list] A Just Peace in Kashmir?
>> Reflections on Dynamics
>> > of Change By Richard Shapiro
>> > To: "reader-list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> > Date: Thursday, August 6, 2009, 2:34 PM
>> >
>> > Thanks Dear Khurram for forward, wonderful essay.
>> >
>> > I quote from the article.
>> >
>> > “Will the differences integral to Kashmir be
>> respected, affirmed,
>> > heard and engaged? Will 'the other' be the call to
>> 'the self' to
>> > practice hospitality? Will the
>> > Gujur, the village woman who buried loved ones and
>> waits in silence for
>> > words of/from other loved ones, the atheist, the
>> ardent believer, the
>> > Shia, the Sufi, the pundit, the Buddhist, the
>> differently abled, the
>> > homosexual, the beggar, the prostitute, be welcomed as
>> participants in
>> > constructing a nation that will be 'a light unto other
>> nations'”
>> >
>> > It reminds me of the article written by Arundhati Roy
>> some time back,
>> > which created a huge storm in Delhi and around, but
>> not because of the
>> > above questions which she too raised, but by saying
>> ‘Kashmir needs
>> > freedom as much as India needs from Kashmir’.
>> >
>> > So we have two points, one for the Indian
>> Administration in Kashmir ,
>> > one for those who want freedom in Kashmir. Both the
>> parties somehow
>> > escape the critical part of it. The article has
>> not asked a single
>> > question to Pakistan Administered Kashmir. Kashmiris
>> need to ask
>> > questions to all.
>> >
>> > The article has exonerated the entire diplomatic
>> legacy of
>> > Anglo-American policies which cleverly divided
>> Kashmir in 1947 and
>> > continued to support that divided legacy, which
>> ensures their sale of
>> > Arms in this subcontinent. It is not difficult to
>> guess how much of
>> > both Indian and Pakistani budget contributes in
>> maintaining their
>> > defence industry. So why on earth they will let the
>> Kashmir issue be
>> > resolved. Needless to mention about what they did in
>> Iraq ,
>> > Afghanistan or elsewhere in the past. It is a large
>> mess. Blaming
>> > India alone will be a short cut to the problem.
>> >
>> > So how to read the incomplete essay which is
>> nevertheless seriously
>> > written and deserves a debate.
>> >
>> > We all know how WITH DISSENT COMES RESPONSIBILTY, and
>> if in the
>> > present we are searching a non-violent solution to
>> the pending issues
>> > based on Ethics then we need to create a situation
>> which gives no
>> > excuse to the Indian Army to be there. Let there be no
>> violence, not
>> > even a six inch pebble throwing catapult. Let there be
>> creative ways
>> > to make the Indian presence irrelevant. One of them
>> is, don’t use the
>> > Indian goods, as Gandhi did to British. But it is not
>> easy, there must
>> > be other effective ways too, if there is a will.
>> >
>> > So, again there are two methodologies which are
>> working in Kashmir.
>> > One is Armed Struggle and the other is non-violent
>> strategy. We have
>> > no mechanism to talk about the armed part of it,
>> because either we
>> > approve that methodology or demand its abandonment.
>> The blind support
>> > to Armed Struggle would automatically tantamount to
>> ‘ bad faith’. Yes,
>> > they wont listen to us, because there are mechanisms
>> which legitimizes
>> > the others ( American ) intervention simply because
>> there is
>> > violence/war on the ground. And Americans like
>> Violence, which suits
>> > both Indian and Pakistani position on Kashmir. We are
>> certainly
>> > waiting for a simple Sufi Kashmiri version of freedom
>> based on ethics
>> > and tolerance for the other. Where is cultural
>> expressioin of freedom,
>> > why it is inferior to a gun shot.
>> >
>> > If we were wise enough in the first place to resolve
>> the issue at our
>> > own then we ( Indian and Pakistani) should gift
>> > The entire nuclear weaponry to USA. It is because we
>> are unwise that
>> > we approve violence that gives shape to a politics,
>> and we ( writing
>> > and reflecting the written ) become end users of their
>> actions. We
>> > need to support a change that renders the Violence
>> impotent.
>> >
>> > Mr. Richard also writes about ‘Cultural
>> Annihilation’ ( of Kashmiris
>> > by Indians ) . To club cultural annihilation with
>> Indian Security
>> > excesses is again slippery and contrived. Kashmiris
>> themselves are
>> > indifferent to their cultural moorings. But there is a
>> reason for
>> > that, which is again because of Indian position with
>> regard to
>> > Kashmir.
>> >
>> > No one can deny that Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims have
>> a shared past
>> > in Kashmir but since Kashmiri Pandits are Hindus too,
>> who happen to be
>> > Indians too, and therefore, supporters of Indian
>> policy on Kashmir.
>> > So, unfortunately, Kashmiri Muslims had to chisel out
>> any similarity
>> > that make them resemble Indians. Here, again, we can
>> blame Indian
>> > occupation of Kashmir, but at some point of time,
>> Kashmiris need to
>> > protect their heritage, culture and language. No
>> excuses, whatsoever.
>> >
>> > Recently, I happened to visit amazing ruins of
>> Parihaspur of great
>> > Lalitaditya of 700 AD. Wahabi radical sect of Islam
>> disapproves
>> > presence of such ruins around the place they live. The
>> fear of
>> > contamination in fatih leads them to motivate the
>> young to deface the
>> > figures in any ruins they discover , which is ‘
>> swaab’ ( work in the
>> > name of god ).
>> >
>> > Language: I saw many younger generation Kashmiris
>> speaking Urdu (
>> > kashmiri-urdu) to each other even in normal
>> conversation. One of the
>> > students said frankly that only Villagers speak now
>> Kashmiri. The
>> > modern fast changing life style is the other main
>> reason for Cultural
>> > Annihilation which the intellectuals of Kashmir should
>> take note of,
>> > if there is a need for a free and independent Kashmir.
>> Or, if the
>> > modern ways of living approve every change we
>> experience then to talk
>> > about ETHICS engages the entire changing global
>> scenario on the earth.
>> > Then again, we may include ENVIRONMENT to ethics as
>> well.
>> >
>> > With love
>> > is
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Thu, Aug 6, 2009 at 11:23 AM, Khurram Parvez 
>> > <khurramparvez at yahoo.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> A Just Peace in Kashmir? Reflections on Dynamics
>> of Change
>> >>
>> >> By Richard Shapiro
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> August 04, 2009
>> >>
>> >> http://www.sacw.net/article1090.html
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> What
>> >> are the various roles that diverse constituencies
>> must play to
>> >> facilitate political processes that undo
>> militarization and subjugation
>> >> in Indian administered Kashmir? How can systemic
>> structures that
>> >> institutionalize violence, cultural annihilation,
>> economic
>> >> impoverishment, and political disempowerment be
>> countered through
>> >> non-violent, ethical resistance? What alliances
>> are necessary to allow
>> >> hope for overcoming cycles of oppression and
>> breaking with histories of
>> >> domination? How can international, national, and
>> local actors and
>> >> institutions work together to disrupt socially
>> unnecessary suffering
>> >> and ameliorate the conditions of existence? What
>> forces must cohere to
>> >> enable a just peace to emerge in a democratic
>> Kashmir in the
>> >> foreseeable future?
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Numerous obstacles present tremendous
>> >> challenges to movements for social justice. The
>> current world order is
>> >> predicated on systems of inequality that
>> hierarchically divide
>> >> countries, peoples, cultures, classes, genders,
>> sexualities,
>> >> ethnicities, and faith traditions to the benefit
>> of the few and the
>> >> detriment of the many. Dominant powers prescribe
>> the rules of the game
>> >> to their advantage and utilize knowledge,
>> technology, and markets to
>> >> structure social relations in their interests. The
>> new global order
>> >> presents itself as the best of all possible worlds
>> in which sovereign
>> >> nation-states organized through representative
>> democracy, rule of law,
>> >> free markets with government regulation,
>> Enlightenment rationality, and
>> >> human rights are promised as the solution to the
>> problems of poverty,
>> >> war, ecological devastation, genocide, and
>> terrorism.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> This
>> >> dominant narrative of progress through the spread
>> of capitalism
>> >> organized in nation-states and guided by knowledge
>> has attained
>> >> hegemony as it has captured the imagination of
>> postcolonial nations
>> >> like India. Postcolonial nations have largely
>> reproduced the structures
>> >> of colonial oppression and organized themselves to
>> become players in
>> >> the existing global order as militarized,
>> hyper-masculinized, nuclear
>> >> powers measuring their worth on the basis of GDP
>> (Gross Domestic
>> >> Product). Emerging middle-classes of massive
>> proportion in postcolonial
>> >> nations like India buttress this process of nation
>> building that
>> >> mirrors and enforces dynamics of globalization
>> through the production
>> >> of unparalleled poverty, massive and multiple
>> dislocations, genocide of
>> >> indigenous peoples, ecological disaster, and
>> abundant psychological
>> >> malaise. India is embraced by the international
>> community, meaning
>> >> largely the United States and Western Europe,
>> precisely because it
>> >> marches in step with the new world order. India
>> amasses great cultural
>> >> capital as “the world's largest democracy” in
>> spite of the fact that it
>> >> is home to 40% of the worlds most economically
>> destitute, and seeks to
>> >> constitute itself as a nation through policies
>> that disregard the needs
>> >> of the vast majority of its population.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> India is inventing
>> >> nothing new in its self-constitution as a powerful
>> nation-state.
>> >> National identity is being fabricated through the
>> equation of India
>> >> with Hindus, in blatant form in entities like the
>> RSS and BJP, and in
>> >> more subtle form in the Congress and progressive
>> Indian citizens for
>> >> whom nationalism linked to 'Hindu cultural
>> reassertion' is an
>> >> unreflective response to a colonial past. The
>> equation of Hinduism
>> >> (unity in diversity) and Christianity with
>> tolerance for difference,
>> >> and Islam with terrorism, backwardness, and
>> fanaticism, functions as a
>> >> global trope supportive of unleashing
>> disproportionate violence on
>> >> Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Palestine, as
>> well as within the
>> >> territory of India in Gujurat, Orissa, and in the
>> 'disputed territory'
>> >> of Kashmir. India forms itself as nation with
>> unexamined Hindu
>> >> majoritarianism at its base, just as unexamined
>> Christian cultural
>> >> dominance organizes the United States, rendering
>> explorations of the
>> >> links between religionization, nationalism and
>> particular secularisms
>> >> close to impossible. India is also typical in its
>> self-formation as
>> >> nation in fashioning internal and external enemies
>> as crucial to
>> >> defining itself, and super-exploiting its most
>> proximate 'others' to
>> >> fuel its prosperity. European nations had the Jew
>> as internal enemy.
>> >> The United States is founded on the backs of its
>> twin others - enslaved
>> >> Africans and massacred Native Americans.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> India has as its main
>> >> 'internal other' the Muslim, who can take no
>> solace in also occupying
>> >> the role as external enemy in India's dominant
>> narrative. This double
>> >> site is what the state uses to legitimate the
>> brutalization of the
>> >> Kashmiri people. Firstly, there is India's need
>> for a majority Muslim
>> >> state within its borders to legitimate itself as a
>> progressive,
>> >> pluralistic, secular nation. Without a Muslim
>> majority state within
>> >> India, India cannot as easily legitimate itself as
>> a progressive member
>> >> of the new global order. Secondly there is India's
>> need to establish
>> >> national identities that take precedence over
>> regional, local,
>> >> traditional identities. As a nation, India is in
>> the process of
>> >> seeking: (1) to establish territorial dominion
>> over the current
>> >> boundaries of the nation, (2) attain a monopoly on
>> the means of
>> >> violence, and (3) organize human and natural
>> resources to enhance the
>> >> productivity and power of the nation. Every nation
>> that has achieved
>> >> the normative status of modern democracy has
>> utilized sustained and
>> >> prolific violence to realize these three
>> imperatives and in the process
>> >> establish its identity. India is in a very
>> vulnerable moment in this
>> >> process as is evident from an examination of the
>> myriad territories and
>> >> forces fighting for autonomy in some form from the
>> Indian state. Part
>> >> of the strategy to foster national identity,
>> simultaneous to providing
>> >> very little to the vast majority of its
>> population, and in fact
>> >> fostering mal-development that impoverishes and
>> displaces poor, rural
>> >> 'citizens', is to fabricate an 'us' that must
>> protect itself from
>> >> 'them'. Without internal enemies India cannot
>> unify itself as a nation.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> This
>> >> internal enemy is also resolutely claimed as
>> integral to India. The
>> >> state and its loyal subjects repeat the same
>> refrain: 'Kashmir is an
>> >> integral part of India.' 'Kashmir is integral to
>> India.' Kashmir is the
>> >> other that is integral to the self, a difference
>> that is integral to
>> >> the identity of India. How then does India treat
>> this other, this
>> >> integral difference? To debase, devalue,
>> disrespect, destroy the
>> >> people, culture, history, land, waters,
>> aspirations, imaginations,
>> >> passions, thoughts, of this other that is claimed
>> as integral to self
>> >> reveals much about India's current state of
>> existence. What other
>> >> measure is available to us to assess ourselves as
>> ethical entities than
>> >> how we treat the other, how we engage the
>> differences to which we are
>> >> ethically obliged to respond? What nation has
>> satisfactorily answered
>> >> to this call? If a day arrives when Kashmir is 'a
>> nation unto itself',
>> >> independent and sovereign, an equal to all other
>> nations, will Kashmir
>> >> point the nation-state in a new direction? Will
>> the differences
>> >> integral to Kashmir be respected, affirmed, heard
>> and engaged? Will
>> >> 'the other' be the call to 'the self' to practice
>> hospitality? Will the
>> >> Gujur, the village woman who buried loved ones and
>> waits in silence for
>> >> words of/from other loved ones, the atheist, the
>> ardent believer, the
>> >> Shia, the Sufi, the pundit, the Buddhist, the
>> differently abled, the
>> >> homosexual, the beggar, the prostitute, be
>> welcomed as participants in
>> >> constructing a nation that will be 'a light unto
>> other nations'? Will
>> >> the other be welcomed without the demand or
>> structural incentive to
>> >> assimilate, to mirror/mimic dominance to be
>> recognized as human? These
>> >> questions are too much, perhaps even unfair. Yet,
>> is it not necessary
>> >> to raise them?
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Kashmir occupies a literal and imaginary border
>> >> as inside and outside of India in ways that
>> structure an impossible
>> >> predicament. The state (and its elites and
>> middle-classes) does not
>> >> trust Kashmiris whose allegiance is always
>> presumed to lie with
>> >> Pakistan as an Islamic Republic, thus denying
>> Kashmiris the rights of
>> >> citizens of India, while asserting the
>> inviolability of its sovereignty
>> >> over Kashmir as a secular, democratic nation
>> governed by equality under
>> >> rule of law. The distrust legitimates military
>> rule organized through
>> >> special laws as necessary to provide law and order
>> as a matter of
>> >> internal security. Thus, on the basis of being
>> part of a democratic
>> >> state, the rights granted citizens of such a state
>> are denied to
>> >> Kashmiris. Inclusion in nation is coupled with
>> dispossession from
>> >> historical memory, rights, and life. India
>> legitimates its mistreatment
>> >> through a logic originating with European
>> nation-states. This denial of
>> >> civil and human rights, rule of law, and the
>> freedoms of citizenship to
>> >> Kashmiris is because the state must protect itself
>> from forces within
>> >> itself that threaten its character as a lawful,
>> democratic nation.
>> >> India must violate what is most inviolable,
>> through a state of
>> >> exception (the use of law to suspend law as
>> definitive of sovereignty),
>> >> to protect itself. The discourse requires the
>> allegiance of the
>> >> Kashmiri people to India, as proof that Kashmiris
>> are not what the
>> >> nation suspects - traitors and terrorists, as
>> precondition to access to
>> >> the rights of citizenship. These same rights of
>> citizenship provided by
>> >> the nation, while denied to Kashmiris, are used by
>> India to justify its
>> >> claims to being a legitimate state entitled to act
>> as it does in
>> >> Kashmir. As a legitimate state, India is
>> predicated on civil rights and
>> >> rule of law that it may legitimately suspend in
>> the name of national
>> >> security. Kashmiris must align with India given
>> this legitimacy, while
>> >> living as subjects without rights in so far as the
>> state defines them
>> >> as a threat to its sovereignty. India must violate
>> what gives it
>> >> legitimacy in order to protect itself from the
>> internal enemy integral
>> >> to it. India must destroy itself to protect
>> itself. The state of
>> >> exception produces a state of autoimmunity. India
>> is also asserting
>> >> itself as superior to other regional
>> nation-states, and an emerging
>> >> player in relation to Western Europe and the
>> United States. Like other
>> >> powerful democracies, India is entitled to do
>> whatever is necessary to
>> >> fight terrorism and strengthen itself as a
>> powerful, sovereign,
>> >> capitalist nation, aligned with the movement of
>> progress (dominance).
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Kashmiris
>> >> are placed in a situation where allegiance to
>> India as prerequisite to
>> >> participation in a lawful democracy involves
>> allegiance to a state that
>> >> has no rational basis to demand or expect
>> allegiance from the people of
>> >> Kashmir. India needs to exaggerate the degree of
>> cross-border
>> >> infiltration and armed Islamist militancy to
>> rationalize 500,000+
>> >> troops, blurred boundaries between police and
>> army, and massive
>> >> intervention in daily life through systematic
>> surveillance, land
>> >> seizures, checkpoints, torture, disappearances,
>> gendered and sexualized
>> >> violence, fake encounter deaths and countless
>> daily humiliations
>> >> calculated to break the spirit of the Kashmiri
>> people. This reality is
>> >> currently resisted through mass demonstrations,
>> regular protests,
>> >> strategic use of elections, strategic boycott of
>> elections, navigating
>> >> restrictions on 'free press', civil society
>> mobilizations, legal cases,
>> >> an International Tribunal, and regular acts of
>> dignity, courage, and
>> >> faith that characterize the present in Kashmir.
>> India demonstrates the
>> >> persona all too common in the 'league of nations'
>> - to act with
>> >> impunity and disregard for international law and
>> local demands for
>> >> justice. India uses this fiction of the Kashmiri
>> as existing in the
>> >> shadowy space of inside/outside the nation to
>> legitimate an occupation
>> >> that ignores the historical particularity of
>> Kashmir and the promises
>> >> made to the people of Kashmir to determine its own
>> future. The plight
>> >> of Kashmiri pundits also becomes an opportunity
>> for the state to
>> >> legitimate regularized violence and systematic
>> oppression of Kashmiris.
>> >> Were all Kashmiris, whether currently residing in
>> the state of
>> >> Jammu/Kashmir or elsewhere, to be given voice to
>> express their will,
>> >> free from coercion, retribution, and manipulation,
>> the outcome would
>> >> not be in doubt.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Kashmir is the longest standing disputed area
>> >> in the United Nations, the most militarized spot
>> on earth, and a drain
>> >> on the hopes for prosperity, peace and freedom for
>> people throughout
>> >> the subcontinent, and the world. There is no
>> moving toward peaceful
>> >> coexistence between India and Pakistan, no
>> stabilization of the region,
>> >> no possibility for global nuclear disarmament, no
>> hope for forms of
>> >> development that prioritize sustainability and
>> cultural survival over
>> >> militarization, urbanization, and middle-class
>> consumerism, no space
>> >> for the impossible healing through
>> mourning/memorializing the trauma of
>> >> Partition, without granting self-determination to
>> the people of Kashmir.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> The
>> >> realization of that which is demanded by
>> rationality in service of
>> >> justice and emancipation is always against the
>> odds. In relation to
>> >> Kashmir, a more peaceful future requires at least
>> four interrelated
>> >> movements: (1) Massive, non-violent, ethical
>> dissent within Kashmiri
>> >> civil society must continue and expand, attentive
>> to alliances that
>> >> build stronger relations between men and women,
>> youth and adults,
>> >> various faith communities, urban and rural, rich
>> and poor, facilitative
>> >> of inclusive forms of polity that enable a
>> diverse, pluralistic
>> >> movement for freedom. (2) Leadership must form a
>> unified coalition that
>> >> activates and learns from the multiple
>> constituencies that make up
>> >> Kashmiri society. Divergent desires and
>> imaginations regarding the
>> >> future of Kashmir should be encouraged and
>> discussed, outside the
>> >> search for homogeneity or conformity. A Kashmir
>> free of subjugation
>> >> should enable multiple forms of life through
>> participatory democracy,
>> >> just governance, and economic practice promoting
>> health, education, and
>> >> individual and collective prosperity. Natural
>> resources, like water,
>> >> should be both safeguarded, and utilized for
>> sustainable development.
>> >> Cultural heritage should be understood as an
>> inheritance of all
>> >> Kashmiris to fashion a unique society nurturing
>> hospitality,
>> >> innovation, and multicultural polity. (3)
>> Education and mobilization to
>> >> shift public opinion in India must be undertaken
>> throughout civil
>> >> society to expand pressure on the Indian state.
>> Citizen delegations
>> >> from the various states and communities of India
>> must visit Kashmir to
>> >> learn first hand about the atrocities,
>> resistances, hopes, and concerns
>> >> prevalent in Kashmir. Such delegations must bring
>> their new
>> >> understandings to their neighborhoods, schools,
>> workplaces, and places
>> >> of worship to facilitate discussion and reflection
>> that expand the
>> >> voices of those who demand that illegal and
>> immoral action in Kashmir
>> >> done in their name immediately cease. Institutions
>> in India must
>> >> sponsor delegations from Kashmir, composed of
>> diverse peoples who
>> >> constitute Kashmiri society, to share the
>> realities they have suffered
>> >> and the need for alliance toward justice. Hindu
>> faith communities must
>> >> forge relationships with social justice movements
>> in civil society in
>> >> Kashmir to oppose Hindu majoritarian dominance and
>> insist that the
>> >> Indian state demilitarize the state of Jammu &
>> Kashmir, become
>> >> accountable to international agreements, rule of
>> law, and human rights
>> >> as the first step on the road to affirming the
>> right of Kashmir to
>> >> self-determination. Universities and the press
>> must play a strong role
>> >> in addressing the history and present of Kashmir
>> to empower students
>> >> and the citizenry of India to participate as
>> informed members of a
>> >> democratic republic, whose resources and
>> conscience are systematically
>> >> misused and violated by their government. (4)
>> International
>> >> solidarities from citizens, governmental and
>> non-governmental
>> >> organizations, students, workers, professionals,
>> public intellectuals,
>> >> faith communities, and all interested parties must
>> be organized to
>> >> educate, inform, advocate, and mobilize for the
>> liberation of Kashmir.
>> >> International institutions must be both utilized
>> and strengthened as
>> >> legitimate sites able to hold nation-states
>> legally accountable for
>> >> their actions. Research, education, and
>> publication on the reality of
>> >> present-day Kashmir and its modern history must be
>> supported by and
>> >> within universities, think tanks, and civil
>> society forums. Campuses
>> >> must become sites where students mobilize
>> themselves to exert public
>> >> pressure to ethically resolve the situation in
>> Kashmir. Resistance in
>> >> all four 'sites' must struggle to establish
>> alliances, clarify goals,
>> >> mobilize resources, deconstruct desires, and carve
>> out space where
>> >> different forms of polity and community, promoting
>> ethical dissent, may
>> >> live.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> To commit to these practices secures no
>> guarantees. The
>> >> process must draw from the resolve of Kashmiris to
>> struggle for justice
>> >> and strengthen this resolve through principled
>> alliance that breaks the
>> >> isolation and despair that accompanies any people
>> subjected to brutal
>> >> mistreatment. The multiple legacies that inspire
>> and haunt us must
>> >> become the very sustenance that, through sharing,
>> nurtures our
>> >> struggle. Allow me to conclude by drawing from a
>> source common to the
>> >> three Abrahamic traditions, and of universal
>> relevance in the present,
>> >> Deuteronomy 16:20, Justice, Justice, You Shall
>> Pursue.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> Richard
>> >> Shapiro is Chair and Associate Professor,
>> Department of Social and
>> >> Cultural Anthropology, California Institute of
>> Integral Studies in San
>> >> Francisco.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> _________________________________________
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>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> >
>> > http://indersalim.livejournal.com
>> > _________________________________________
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>>
>>
>> -- 
>>
>> http://indersalim.livejournal.com
>> _________________________________________
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