A lot more to do

 

THAT the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly passes a unanimous resolution to condemn the Pahalgam terror attack and commits itself to protecting the integrity and sovereignty of India and the lives of Indian people in the face of terrorism, is certainly good news by any standard. However, a lot more needs to be done particularly on the political front in Kashmir if genuine integration of Kashmir has to take place with the rest of the country and if terrorism and separatism have to be crushed once and for all. This is the calling of the hour. The legislative resolution does certainly communicate a changing political situation in Kashmir, all right. But it is senseless to deny the reality of separatism still existing in Kashmir in a big way. In fact, even as the Pahalgam terror strike’s terrible details came to fore, Kashmir did have quite a few elements that favoured separatism (which is actually the breeding ground for terrorism). Until those forces are conclusively defeated, the Kashmir problem will keep raising its ugly head time and again. Therefore, the effort to crush separatism in Kashmir will have to go on until the final goal is achieved.

 

No matter the shifting stands politicians in Kashmir may take as per the expediency of the moment, the reality is that a high percentage of people in politics there have strong links with undesirable elements -- on both sides of the border. They are often known to shape their political moves as per the larger separatist agenda of the moment -- which often runs counter to genuine national interest. The final aim in Kashmir, thus, is to defeat those elements. In that direction, much more has to be done -- which the nation can ill-afford to forget in any condition. A clear word must be said about the current dispensation in power in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

 

Though Chief Minister Mr. Omar Abdullah has shown some nationalistic strands in his public persona occasionally, his original personality has a separatist tilt -- having come down from at least two previous generations represented by his father Dr. Farooq Abdullah and his late grand-father Sheikh Abdullah. No matter the fact that the Abdullah family has often been accommodated in mainstream politics by almost all national parties (including the Bharatiya Janata Party - BJP), its original inclination has questionable attributes, which keep surfacing time and again. The actual fight, thus, in Kashmir is against such tendencies that lean in favour of India or against it as per political convenience of multiple masters.

 

Seen in this light, one recalls the words of Dr. Farooq Abdullah immediately after Special Status to Kashmir was abrogated, in effect, that Kashmir would better be ruled by the Chinese rather than ... without Articles 35A and 370 of the Constitution of India. This sentiment cannot be forgotten easily -- no matter how short public memory may be. Uttered just five years ago (after the abrogation of Special Status to Kashmir), these words show the real colours of the people occupying critical positions in Kashmir politics. If true nationalistic atmosphere is to be created in Kashmir, separatism represented by such elements needs to be defeated once and for all as an urgent national goal -- which cannot be hidden behind the smoke-screen of the recent legislative resolution. Even as the India prepares itself to give detailed response to the mastermind of Pahalgam terror strike -- that is Pakistan -- appropriate care needs to be taken to finish separatism, no matter the cost and price of the endeavour. The common people, too, should not be swayed by the resolution in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly. True, the resolution is going to strengthen the national resolve, all right. But that needs to be treated only as a starting point of more resolute action.