[Reader-list] Invitation for Discussion on Civil Society Concerns about Dialogue

[Inder Salim]

1.

 A little working parody to understand Kashmir: ‘I went to terrorism,
as to the liberation as to the light’

I quote, Jean Genet. “ I went to Theft, as to the Liberation, as to the Light “
J.P.Sartre saw a saint in Genet, and I guess he  indeed was.  Genet
supported Palestinian Armed struggled, but declared with clarity that
his support is not for another bureaucracy, another Army, another
state with another boarder for other humanity to stop from entering
into it. He supported Black Panthers in America for their underground
struggle against the White Racist Politics. His own grave is somewhere
in Morocco. He had no address, no home, no relatives, but too much of
love in his heart. Love of higher order indeed.

This way, Genet’s Palestine was not limited to Palestine only, but it
spilled like fragrance beyond that piece of land.  So, can we see
Kashmir issue too turning into another Palestine issue beyond  mere
physical volume of Kashmir Issue. Can we see Kashmir issue beyond
history even, beyond written references and paper work,  accessions,
and endless debates emerging out of that. can we have some alternative
approach to this...

Genet himself was the product of ‘ghettoized’ life in France: a
liberated, egalitarian, democratic and free France. He was
illegitimate and had no place to go, but lived in a French social
reform-centre which was a factory to make thieves, pimps etc from
homeless children in France.  In his book, Miracle of the Rose, Genet
praised his friend  who killed a guard in the Prison.  The convict was
guillotined later, but he saw him fainting like a woman, on the day
his hair was cut before execution.  Genet saw a prophet in him. A
martyr in other sense, for whom we can not have a shrine in any system
of committed worshipers, but Genet seemed to elevate characters like
him to the status of a Saint. He, himself saw very ordinary ‘planner’,
in comparison to a ‘ crasher’ ,until Sartre wrote a 600 page book on
him: Saint Genet.

Kashmir, Palestine, and now Afghanistan and Swat like areas too are
perhaps products of a ‘ghettoized’ life forced on them by superior
powers.  Kashmir may be not a ghettoized place if ,we search literal
meaning in it,  but politically, yes.   Kashmir  too looked for an
identity of its own which was denied by Afghans, by Mughals by Dogras,
by British, and then finally by the state of India. The entire
kashmiri population ( minus a miniscule minority )  questioned the
merger of valley with rest of India.

One such was, for example,  Ghulam Nabi Gilkar . I read on him in a
essay from book BOUQUET: a tribute to unsung heroes of kashmir, by
JKCCS) which becomes a case in the point to understand how such a
‘ghettoized’ life  can gift an identity  crises to a normal human
being, who was jailed by both Pakistanis in POK and by Indians in IOK.
The essay rightly deconstructs some heroic sheen from Sheikh Abdullah,
who perhaps ditiched him, but it is too quickly written piece on a
hero called GN Gilkar.  One can see, some Rosy Fragrance coming out of
his grave in POK, which is similar to one coming out of dead
Mujaheedeen homes who died fighting Americans in Afganistan, as we
read in Landscapes of Jihad by Faizal Devi Ji’s book.

Recently, Yasin Malik rightly pointed out in Delhi that Kashmir has no
beggers , but why all Kashmiris dislike India, in spite of the fact
that so much money is being pumped in the valley. Is it somehow
similar to  France which  once maintained reform centres for orphans,
which only produced criminals. The criminals who were proud of their
violent activities, murder, rape and what not.   Has ‘ ghettoization
of Kashmir,too,  here, in  political sense, produced freedom fighters
called terrorists who justify killing, of not only Indian security
forces, but anybody whom they feel are an impediment to their cause.
Islamisation is a term invented by the west, like we have terms for
criminals, and nothing for those who loot oil, land and other
resources from the others....

While reading Genet, one comes across stories which narrate the
changing pattern of thieves, pimps and other such elements. Some of
them indeed want to settle down and live an domestic life ( so called
normal ), which becomes a challenge for them.  For their second half
time of life, they produce different set of rules to fit in a society
as well as identifying themselves with their first half of life, which
was explicitly criminal once.  A differnet imbalance sets in, as i
have recently posted about two friends ( one hindu and other muslim )
who met after a while and victimized a woman, unwittingly.

So we hear, amazing stories from French Reform centres and how
characters develop into full fledged criminals, and also stories from
Kashmir about how these ghettoized people narrate their pasts and
betrayls even. In Delhi, Teen Murti, no one could answer Yasin Malik
that why he was arrested in pre 90 election when elections were openly
rigged by Indian State in collaboration with local partiies there.  He
openly blamed the civil society for his surrendering of armed
struggle. He used the word ‘ cheat’.  He is a character from Genet, if
seen politically.

Reading Genet one can see how characters use all the systems of
thought to overcome  their past, but cant get rid of their  ghettoized
tag. A Kashmiri is a Kashmiri, a muslim is a muslim etc. Yasin Malik
rightly pointed out that how power struggle guided Kashmiri Pandits to
look towards Delhi, when Muslims in the valley started getting
educated. It is not about religion then, he pointed out.


2.

‘Global’ is a handy term which is not limited to commerce only but
also to other spheres of life.  All the political conflicts  are in
fact global in nature, although they tend to concern few of that
region  in the first place,  but a deeper understanding on how
realities are interconnected  which marks every soul on this earth in
a single unique way.

Perhaps, things are moving at a very different pace than we realize in
actuality. For example, internet itself has mingled with our banking,
media, and even marriages are fixed or unfixed  through net. ‘
Internet is not a spectacle’ I quote Jacques Ranciere, and to say so,
he perhaps, meant that a huge civil society and its operative
mechanisms have merged its genetic fibre with the digital wave. So
take it more seriously.

So, what about political debates being settled on the Net Itself,
similar to  the one which was held at Teen Murti ( Nehru Memorial New
Delhi )  couple of days back: POLITICAL FUTURE OF KASHMIR, or even now
organized by  Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) in
Sringar Kashmir itself. Not that face to face things consume lot of
time and energy and deliver very little, ( to become tamasha in the
end, as Yasin Malik pointed out ) but other means of communication at
the same time have become too, but some of them cost  effective in the
least,  and so need to be considered as vital tools to settle
conflicts.  So both things do exist.

3.

Khurram Parvez’s invite on the List for the debate on Kashmir issue
was followed by Sonia Jabbar’s forward on Govt Report: Land Reform. In
a deeper way I find both these post interconnected.  This blend of
thought is happening now, and which if taken seriously can  lead us to
actual sustainability on the earth.

Both the issues are about land. Kashmir was a piece of land for Hari
Singh’s grandfather who bought it for 7.5 million rupees, which has
snowballed into this Kashmir issue with LoC between two Nuclear
States. On the other hand, Corporate Networking is hell bent to own
the land which belongs to poor and indigenous people of this earth and
the partners in their fight against the very poor is the State.  Dont
we know how land lords are always been critical with polticial
struggles. They like stats quoes, They like fencing, walls and
laws....

In Kashmir it has taken the shape of a political ‘tamasha’ (
spectacle)  between those who want just settlement of the issue and
those who think Satus Quo is the last word.  In North Eastern Regions,
we have State’s Salwa Judam+security forces and Maoists+people for
just solution of the land problem which the state thinks is right in
dealing with so called menace.   The state has no mechanism  but sheer
power to deal with these issues.

So another ‘ ghettoized’ life is emerging with vengeance. Genet was
right, but now it looks violence is helping the State to crush the
dissent more ruthlessly. sad .

Sad, no solution  are in sight

With love and regards
Inder salim


On Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 5:46 PM, Khurram Parvez <khurramparvez at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Dear Friends,
>
>
> Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) cordially invites you to participate in a discussion, “Civil Society Concerns about Dialogue”.
>
> The programme will be held at:
> Hotel Grand Mumtaz
> 11 Maulana Azad Road , Srinagar
> Phone: 2450281/2452548
>
> The programme will be convened on:
> Sunday 15th November 2009 at 01:00 p.m.
>
> The aim of the
> program is to discuss civil society concerns about the expected
> dialogue between what the Indian state calls “all stakeholders” in
> Jammu and Kashmir and New Delhi . It is of paramount importance that
> the content of this dialogue is clearly understood among the civil
> society, the primary stakeholders in any such process that embarks upon
> determining the political status of a people.             Dialogue by its
> very nature is between two equal stakeholders. The stakeholders as far
> as the Indian pronouncements are concerned are not clearly defined at
> all. Indian Prime Minister has already made government of India ’s
> agenda about the Kashmir dialogue clear. New Delhi is entering the
> dialogue for “final reconciliation so that peace can be achieved for
> development and reconstruction” in Jammu and Kashmir .
> In this program
> we would like to facilitate a discussion on the below mentioned
> concerns about the objectives and possible directions of this fresh
> engagement with New Delhi that is most likely to begin soon.
>
> Clear acknowledgement of people’s liberation
> struggle in its true historical perspective should be the basis of
> initiating any kind of talks/dialogue.Indian state is talking in contradictory terms.
> Its army commanders are labeling street protests as terrorism and
> vowing not to leave the civilian areas, while its home minister is
> talking about a “unique political solution for Jammu and Kashmir .”
> Besides India has not reviewed its arbitrary constitutional position on
> Kashmir .Who is going to talk to whom? If the stakeholders
> include pro-India participatory parties like the PDP and NC, who are
> already wedded to accession of J&K to India , then what is there to
> negotiate about? Should leaders who represent resistance to Indian rule
> in J&K agree to be equals in a dialogue with those who have carried
> forward Indian policies in the disputed region since its existence? If
> so, then the dialogue is about administrative matters, transfer/sharing
> of power, Indian security concerns and not about determining the
> political status/sovereignty of Jammu and Kashmir . What is the negotiating position that a section
> of Kashmir resistance leaders are taking to the table? Will the
> dialogue be guided by the principle of right to self determination? The political struggle in Jammu & Kashmir has
> been against Indian rule. Are those who would enter a dialogue with New
> Delhi going to talk about disengagement with India in any other form
> than the right of self determination? The Indian Home Minister does not have the
> authority to discuss sovereignty. Can he be accepted as New Delhi ’s
> interlocutor in any dialogue for the final status of Jammu &
> Kashmir? The agenda and format of the dialogue for political rights must be transparent and made public.If and when any conclusions are agreed upon
> between the parties, how is the agreement proposed to be put to public
> vote in order for it to be democratically endorsed by the people – the
> primary stakeholders? And, how would the condition on ground be made conducive for that endorsement to materialize?Will this talks/dialogue process dilute the international character of the Kashmir issue.
>
> It is also
> proposed that at the end of this discussion we would reach a consensus
> about civil society questions to and demands from those leaders who may
> go to the negotiating table with New Delhi representing us.
>
> Please don’t hesitate to contact us for any clarification or further information.
>
> We are looking forward to your participation.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Program Coordinator
> Khurram Parvez
> Mobile : 9419013553
> Email: kparvez at kashmirprocess.org
>
>
>
>
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