[Reader-list] Why Kashmir has no case for self-determination

[Junaid]

Kashmir is a case of a nation fighting for its liberation. National
liberation struggles work on the democratic principle of
self-determination. This principle of self-determination does not
emerge from the charter of the UN or any other multinational document.
But on the contrary what is enshrined in the UN Charter emerged from
an ethical realisation that self-determination is the foundational
principle to achieve justice-which in turn is the bed rock for peace.

Two world wars later this principle was widely accepted. And it proved
to be a shot in the arm for the decolonization movement, which
resulted in the victory for the anti-colonial struggles in the Indian
subcontinent and in other places. (On the betrayal of anti-colonial
struggle though, I might add quickly what Faiz said "Yeh woh seher to
nahin jis ki aarizu lekar.." or what Mehjoor spoke when he lamented
the "Freedom, you knocked only on a few doors...").

Anti-colonial strugglers had been arguing for the same for ever, but
colonizers almost ended up annihilating each other before realising
colonialism couldn't continue. It took a lot of struggle and sacrifice
from the colonised people to make it happen. Colonisers tried every
trick up their sleeve to defer the eventuality.

It is not important if Kashmir has "a case for" self-determination or
not. There is no court that can decide that. At least it is not
important for Kashmiris to know if "Indian nationalists" think they
have a case. It would be naive to believe that Indian nationalists for
whom "the idea of India" is like a religious faith--and in fact is a
religious faith--would come around and change their opinion on it--
least through discussion. What is important is that Kashmiris think
that they have the case, and a need for freedom and independence. It
is clear that over the last 80 years of struggle--first against Dogra
rulers and then against the Indian rule--the case in the eyes of
Kashmiris has grown stronger than ever.

National liberation struggles start like pebbles rolling down the
hill, and end up like avalanches. More and more people, young people,
even small kids, (more strongly than generations before them) feel
that being Kashmiri has a meaning to them. More and more they
understand this idea of being Kashmiri as running counter to any
individual or group affliation with the idea of India. The idea of
India is understood as something that stops them from being
Kashmiri--a condition which is utterly unacceptable to them. The idea
of independence has grown exponentially since Sheikh Abdullah's Naya
Kashmir document. The desire for independence when it couples itself
with the need for it, is unstoppable.

Nationalism in Kashmir acts more like a national solidarity based on
principles of justice and freedom, instead of feeding on the notions
of "a glorious past" or the chauvinist idea of "the chosen people".
Within the current global discourse of "Islam", however, Kashmiris too
get a bad name for being Muslims, which in the long-run does not have
drastic consequences though. It will wane. Islamophobia cannot hold.
There are more than 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world which
otherwise the world have to contend with as enemies. Anti-Hindu
sentiment in some sections of Kashmiris is not only a result of the
past experiences of the Dogra rule but also of how the Indian
occupation and the neo-Hinduism get entwined. For Kashmiris, 80 years
of struggle against an overtly Hindu Dogra rule, and then the transfer
of rule to an increasingly Hindu India, makes the imperial-territorial
discourse of neo-Hinduism a symbolic foe. There are no doctrinal
issues in the sense where Hindus and Muslims can't sit and live
together. In Kashmir, and in India, they have. No one in Srinagar
would say they want to put Islam's green flag on the red fort.

This is the nationalism of the Fourth World. A world which is utterly
betrayed by the promises of the Third World--which by mimicking the
First World, in rhetoric and substance looks and behaves like former
colonial countries.

And Kashmiris don't expect that "Azadi" will be given on a platter. It
will be taken through everyday anti-occupation struggle by Kashmiris.
It will take time. Kashmiris have suffered much but there is very
little fatigue. As the struggle intensifies, so will oppression. But
that will be the undoing og the occupation. India will leave Kashmir
because there is no other way. I only hope it doesn't happen at the
end of a catastrophe that engufls the entire subcontinent.