By Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, New Age Islam
08 May 2018
Since last one decade
gun culture has gained new currency as a tool of resistance in Kashmir.
Gun as an active mode of resistance has been part of the different anti
colonial and anti imperialist struggles. Violence is an indispensable
part of the human history. Violence is a basic tool of change in the
different ideologies including Marxism. History on the other hand is a
witness to the limited success of violence too. Further the nature of
state, military and combatants too have changed and state now has
assumed the ultimate legitimacy of using violence. Without going into
the legal debates of state and non state actors legitimacy about the use
of violence this fact needs to be acknowledged that violence has now
gained an ultimate upper hand as a mode of resistance in Kashmir against
Indian militarization.
The gun culture in
state of Jammu and Kashmir is not something new. Groups and
organizations have been using it to achieve their ends including the
state and government. Since 1931, armed insurgent groups were a part of
political spectrum of Kashmir. The armed groups of Dogras massacred
nearly three hundred thousand Muslims in Jammu during the months of 1947
when the whole Indian subcontinent was burning. Since 1947 many armed
groups tried to overthrow the government and achieve their political
goals by using violence. Till 1990s these groups were limited to few
youth and their each attempt failed to yield the desired results. But
since 1990s with the active involvement of Pakistan a generation of
youth actively participated in the armed insurgency. The mass armed
insurgency was met with brutal repression that led Kashmir to be
converted in the highest militarized zone in the world.
The armed insurgency
though actively supported by Pakistan materially and monetarily suffered
from ideological confusion in the first phase only. The confusion among
the insurgent ranks related to the vision of independent Kashmir or
being a part of Islamic Pakistan. This confusion resulted in the
internecine battles among the insurgents ranks. The insurgency prolonged
and state armed renegades (irregulars) to do the dirty work. It
resulted in massive human rights violations that further alienated
Kashmiris from the state (read India).
The year 2008 proved
to be a watershed in contemporary history of Kashmir. Hundreds and
thousands of civilians were protesting on the streets against the
alleged demographic change and attack on their peculiar and distinct
identity as land was transferred to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board (SASB).
This agitation brought to the fore the communal and regional fault lines
between the Kashmir and Jammu region. The aftermath of this mass
agitation later led to communal flare and economic blockade of Kashmir
valley by the fringe Hindutva elements of Jammu. It was much hyped
during the 2008 Amarnath land row agitation that the Kashmiri resistance
has now transited to non violent one. I surmised, wrote and spoke that
there was no transaction because even during the height of militancy,
mass non violent civilian protests were carried out that did not mean
insurgency and violence has transformed to a non violent struggle. For
violence and non violence ideology, training and discourse are needed
that can sustain it and render it pragmatic to achieve its sustainable
goals.
The rise of Burhan
Wani in the aftermath of 2010 agitation that resulted in the killing of
130 youth proved my prediction and surmise factual and correct. But this
new spate of armed insurgency that I term as “Post militancy” is
different in some aspects because it is indigenous, with little or no
role of Pakistan and quite lethal than its predecessors. But the
ideological confusion is still prevalent and quite manifest. It can be
witnessed from the fact that two factions of militants are fighting for
antagonistic ends. Unlike their predecessors when the tussle was between
those who were vouching for accession to Pakistan and Independent
Kashmir, today the battle of ideas is between those who want accession
to Pakistan whereas the other group intends to establish an Islamic
State.
The romanticism and
tryst for the Islamic state is not new. In 1990s most pro Pakistan
militant organizations declared their aim as establishment of Islamic
state, once the accession with Pakistan is complete. But the 9/11 events
changed the discourse for these organizations and also the official
Pakistan policy was responsible for the U turn. The discourse in Kashmir
for establishing an Islamic state became vibrant once again with the
rise of Pan Islamist insurgent movements like ISIS and Al Qaeda. This
discourse is being represented by Ansar Ghazawatul Hind organization
headed by Zakir Moosa. It holds Pakistan on the same plank as India when
it comes to declaring them as citadels of Kufr (disbelief). They
espouse violence against the Indian state as well as the other insurgent
groups that are fighting on the behest of Pakistan, though there are no
reports of internecine battles against each other except for the press
releases demeaning and condemning each other.
The use of social
media has been a potent force in inspiring and radicalizing the new
generation of youth. Violence, death, martyrdom has been valorised,
celebrated and romanticized by the insurgents and their sympathizers,
despite the fact that violence as a tool of resistance has achieved very
limited success. This celebration and romanticism has to be analyzed
factually and pragmatically. Most of the youth have become too emotional
to understand the realities. The hyper emotional empathy towards
violence has its own causes related to over militarization of public
spaces, intolerance towards dissent and armed response to every
grievance. To add insult to injury Islamophobia and Othering of Muslims
fuels the rage.
The vicious cycle of
death and violence needs to be broken and fractured. It starts with the
state, which needs to rein in their armed forces that are sometimes
responsible for pushing youth towards insurgency. Then resistance
leaders and civil society too have a job to make youth understand that
besides violence there are hundreds of ways, methods and campaigns
through which they can make their voices heard all over the world. These
non violent methods are a part of civil resistance that has proved to
be successful in variegated contexts and numerous struggles ranging from
social to political. But for reaching out to youth with these methods
is a process that needs a lot of sweat and double the patience.
Civil resistance is a
slow process but it saves the human capital and in the long run proves
successful. It starts with the individual transformation and inculcating
the spirit of non violence through a constant discipline and training.
This discipline starts with reading, then imbibing the principles and
later on implementing them on ground. If we as a society are not ready
to pay the price of patience, work our fingers to the bone and train
hard then surely the path that our youth have chosen will lead us
towards collective suicide and annihilation.
M.H.A Sikander is Writer-Activist based in Srinagar,
New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism
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