[Reader-list] Panun Kashmir--Logic and Relevance

[Pawan Durani]

Panun Kashmir--Logic and Relevance

By Dr. Ajay Chrungoo



Introduction :

Panun Kashmir was born as a comprehensive response to the challenges
faced by the  nation in Kashmir. An in-depth understanding of the
reasons which lead to the forced displacement of Kashmiri Hindus
formed the substratum of its political perspective. This understanding
did not trivilise the religious cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus by
considering it as a mere aberration in the local political expression.

Panun Kashmir realised the linkage of the religious cleansing in Jammu
and Kashmir to the civilisational and political challenges to the
nation-building process in the state.

The organisation has been acutely conscious of the grave implications
of the process which sought to insulate the national discourse on
secularism and human rights from the happenings in Kashmir.

Panun Kashmir developed a firm opinion that the causes of displacement
of Kashmiri Hindus underlined issues which were of fundamental
importance to the nation. The efforts, particularly from within aimed
at ensuring that the internal displacement of Kashmiri Hindus becomes
a non-event constitutes one of the crucial elements of the subversive
war to balkanise India and cripple the Nation state.



Political Approach :

While formulating its political approach Panun Kashmir took into
account following realities :

*Kashmir has contributed substantially to the fund of Indian
civilization in almost all fields. Kashmiri Hindus pioneered the
movement for Sanskritisation of Himalayas, which ultimately paved the
way for the evolution and consolidation of Northern Frontier of India.
Kashmiri Hindus therefore Constitute the Indian Civilisational
Frontline in Kashmir.

Religious cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus is one more concerted attempt
to snap the civilisation link of Kashmir with India. Its wider
implication is to prepare the platform for dismantling the Northern
Frontier of India by destroying its cultural content.

*Kashmiri Hindus also constituted the Political Frontline for the
geopolitics  which aims to undermine Indian position in Kashmir. This
social group acted as a symbol of Indian nationalism a vital component
of the pluralistic identity of Kashmir and the powerful impetus for
democratization of Kashmir polity.

Kashmiri Hindus contested all the variants of Muslim communalism and
separatism in the Valley. Their destabilisation was always visualised
by the anti-Indian forces in Kashmir as a crucial step towards
breaking down of the indigenous political resistance to the separatist
politics.

*Muslim separatism in Jammu and Kashmir has three genres which include
demand for accession to Pakistan, carving out an Independent State of
Jammu and Kashmir and seeking greater autonomy on the basis of Muslim
subnationalism.



Relevance :

*The political demand of Panun Kashmir seeks to decisively change the
paradigm of politics paractised by Kashmiris. This politics was
primarily determined by the Muslim religious identity. It had same
ideological connotations as that of Muslim League before partition of
India.

*The Panun Kashmir demand links the return of Kashmiri Hindus to the
free flow of Indian Constitution. By seeking such a dispensation Panun
Kashmir declares the compatibility of Kashmiri identity with the
constitutional process governing India. It also proclaims that the
communal separatism in Kashmir is an inherent consequence of the
constitutional fortification of Muslim identity rather than erosion of
the constitutional right.

The demand brings to fore the historical and secular imperatives
confronting the Kashmir identity.



Panun Kashmir as Corrective :

*Panun Kashmir seeks to act as a decisive corrective so far as the
National discourse on Human Rights and secularism is concerned.

*The discourse on Human Rights at the national level has been
primarily driven by a subversive drive to undermine and cripple the
state responses to the challenges confronting national integrity and
sovereignty.

This discourse has selectively focussed on state action in a situation
where terrorism has established sway on the social milieu.

It has sought to insulate the individual and the organs of the
Kashmiri society from the responsibility of upholding human rights. By
implication it has provided space and immunity to the terrorist
operatives.

*Panun Kashmir through its campaign has sought to focus attention on
the individual and group responsibility in upholding the Human Rights.

Panun Kashmir has stressed the role of state action rather than
inaction in fighting terrorism. It has tried to widen the moral space
for the actions of a democratically-elected government to curb
terrorist violence. Panun Kashmir has sought to delegitimise terrorism
in all forms and with all justifications.

*Through its campaigns of focussing national and international
attention on religious cleansing and terrorism Panun Kashmir has
stripped off the terrorist movement in Kashmir of its pretensions of
being a freedom struggle.

Secular discourse in the country particularly vis-a-vis Kashmir has
suffered from a serious drawback. It recognises any accession of Jammu
and Kashmir to India as the only yardstick which should determine
judgement on the secular behaviour of the polity in the state. The
communal content of the local politics has always been ignored or
rationalised. This attitude helped in strengthening the Muslim
communal stridency in the state. It has also accorded respectability
to Muslim subnationalism in the state.

Over the years the Muslim subnationalism in Jammu and Kashmir and the
fissiparous tendencies in many parts of India have developed a
symbiotic relationship. Dilution of Indian sovereignty in Kashmir is
being visualised as a decisive in put to redefine principles of Indian
federalism along divisive subnational denominators for its eventual
balkanisation.

*Panun Kashmir demand essentially brings to surface this contradiction
of the secular discourse. It exposes the linkages of Muslim separatism
in the state with the separatist tendencies elsewhere in the country.
It seeks to sensitise the nation to the dangers of flirting with
religious subnationalism.

Last but not the least, Panun Kashmir deals a decisive blow to the
Dixon proposal or its variants. These seek the solution for the crisis
in Jammu and Kashmir by advocating division of the state along the
flow of Chenab river which roughly divides the state into Hindu and
Muslim areas.

The demand for rehabilitating 700,000 Kashmiri Hindus north and east
of river Jhelum in Kashmir valley brings a new perspective into play.
It shifts the emphasis from communal division of state to the
fractured political cravings of the Kashmiri population. Panun Kashmir
demand renders separatist politics full of stakes for the future.

*The author is a founder member of Panun Kashmir.



Source: Kashmir Sentinel