[Reader-list] Geelani announced one Article of the Constitutionof Free Kashmir - its "Liquor Policy"

[Pheeta Ram]

Dear Sonia

Pheeta Ram is not such a bad name that it should grate on your ears in such
a jarring manner as to seem un-real. Its a different matter that the notes
of the music i like are in contrapuntal disagreement with the notes of your
favorite melodies. They needn't match, they won't and they shouldn't!

Now, something about your harangue about Revolutions: "But there are lessons
to be learned in history." I agree. And once you have learnt your lessons,
you are given an A+ and you automatically graduate to the next level. Hip!
Hip! Hurrah! How i wish things were so simple, straightforward and clear in
a 'reovlution'. Chaos, confusion and hooliganism under many names rules the
roost during 'revolutions'. Many things happen that shouldn't. The 'public
property' shouldn't get damaged and destroyed and yet it do. Young careers
shouldn't get ruined and yet they do. People must not sleep on empty
stomachs and yet they have to under curfew. People shouldn't get killed and
yet they do. Ab kya karen? Aazaadi ka mol chukaana padega.

Bastille down>>monarchy gone>>anarchy>>dictatorship>>war>>monarchy
again>>dictatorship again>>more wars>>two short-lived republics and "It took
100 years before France settled down to being a republic-- so much for the
speed and efficacy of revolutions," you write. And who told you dear Sonia
that 'revolutions' happen over night and end when a country "settles down to
being a republic"? Who was it who said "Boy, its a long revolution!" ? The
template shall run long, through endless cycles and spirals...who knows how
long...
But those who are for Revolution shall keep working for it through
confusions, through chaos, through anarchy...

What matters is that you are clear on which side you are; other things come
afterwards.

Kashmiris need first to be clear about what they want. And let me tell you,
people who can't throw a stone in the name of freedom, can't sleep empty
stomach, can't bear the chaos and confusion of this onward march towards
mere political freedom don't deserve it! Revolution is another country Sonia
ji.

Now, let us come to the long piece that you have taken the trouble to post
again on the Sarai List. I t-read each and every line and lo and behold! it
turns out to be a PP(propaganda piece)! I pity the guy who wrote it. This
guy is not for the freedom of Kashmiri people, not to speak of revolution.
He hasn't been able to make up his mind yet. I am pretty sure. However, the
narration did one thing for me: it reminded me of India's march towards
political freedom. There were so many factions, violent, non-violent,
moderate, militant; so many things were going on simultaneously. So lets not
believe that Gandhi marched India towards political freedom and all the
people followed him in a single file. Many a bitter struggle were fought
over leadership of Congress, there were times when there seemed no leader in
charge, and anarchy ruled the hydra-headed freedom movement if there was
(only) one. And then the happening of many things simultaneously, the
pressure for which was building all along, resulted in India's political
freedom. India gained its independence and yet lost its revolution which
hadn't even properly begun. The idea of independence is the most potent tool
in the hands of ruling class to put the idea of revolution to sleep. The
people are made to believe that 'independence' and 'revolution' are
coterminus and the hegemony of elites begins. It takes some time and effort
before the people rise up from this amnesiac sleep in revolt.

Revolutions are inbuilt in the social fabric, its like nature: floods and
storms and cyclones, their algorithms are hardwired into nature's mother
board. And yet, there is something in the nature of 'electron' - the basic
agent of 'revolution' - its uncertainty, seeming anarchy, which dares
remould the circuits of 'revolutions' should they be boobytrapped, viruses
hardcoded . So the Revolution (R) is when r is raised to the power of
infinity. And infinity doesn't take my breath away.

Blessed [pardon the vocabulary] are the Kashmiri youth whose lives have got
entangled in the cross-hair of revolution. Blessed are they who are born
under a star in turmoil for they shall have their options clear-cut before
them. Blessed are the youth who have a stone to throw for they shall find
their lives worth living and dying for.

If they think they deserve freedom they shall get it. I know i am with them,
through chaos, through confusion, through leaderless anarchy. (BTW, anarchy
is not such a bad thing. Its anarchy that keeps hopes alive.)

We are with them in their struggle, and we know they are with us in our
struggle. The message was loud and clear in the recently held meeting: OUR
STRUGGLES ARE ONE!  And in this regard it was a historic meeting.

Kuch baaten bahut seedhi, saaf aur moti hoti hai, unke liye humain Kant,
Hegel aur Marx nahin padhna padta. Its the oxy-moronic 'philosophy of the
gross'. Humari aankhen isi liye bani hain aur microscope isi liye. Both have
their uses. So while looking through the microscope we shouldn't forget that
we have eyes too, and a mind, and to top it all, a heart that perpetually
longs for freedom.

Yours sincerely

PHEETA RAM