Among the section of the people in Kashmir, who are vocal about the “right to self determination”, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbas’ recent statement that independent Kashmir is not a viable option has invoked marked resentment.
Reacting on Abbas’ statements, a senior professor in Kashmir University’s Department of Media Education and Research Center (MERC) told this newspaper that Pakistan cannot decide all by itself what the Kashmiris want. “To tell you the truth, Pakistan PM Abbas’ statements aroused anger and disapproval among the journalism students here, and also some other students of other departments. Most of the students we spoke to said they would rather support independence as an option than merger with Pakistan. According to them, Pakistan PM Abbas’ bewildering statement might weaken the struggle for independence,” a senior faculty member of MERC said on the condition of anonymity.
Professor Syeda Afshana, another Professor at MERC said, “Are they (Pakistan) trying to validate the two nation theory by making such statements?” She dismissed Abbas’ statements saying, “If religion could be a binding factor among different populations with distinct culture, why is there sectarian violence of such frightening proportions within Pakistan which is predominantly Muslim? In the age of the internet, people have successfully come out of their ghettos and we live in a multicultural society where religion has taken the backseat.”
Prof Muslim Jaan of Kashmir University added: “Those who regularly protest against India and chant ‘azadi’ obviously have anger and disillusionment with India. But that should not be misconstrued as love for Pakistan.” Most people this reporter talked to in Srinagar were dismissive of Abbas’ statements and said that they have always batted for independent Kashmir as a viable option, contrary to what Pakistan is saying, which is a country that is “culturally alien” to them. However, in the villages in South Kashmir, which has seen the maximum protests and civilian casualties since the killing of Burhan Wani, anti-India protesters said they endorsed the Pakistan PM’s position with respect to the future of Kashmir.
“We have always had a soft corner for Pakistan and you should come here on a day when Indian and Pakistan teams are battling it out over a match of cricket. You will get all your answers,” said Zahoor (name changed), at a village at High Ground, Fatehgarh, Anantnag. The boy in his early 20s, who has several FIRs registered at Police Station Anantnag, added: “The very constituency for independence has been manufactured by the Indian agencies to divide the ‘movement’. Even the UN Resolution in 1948 had only two options—India and Pakistan. The pro-independence lobby is nothing but an extended arm of the Indian state’s PR machinery in the valley.”
He was seconded by Hamid (name changed), a cab driver who hails from South Kashmir. “The pro-independence activism is a recent phenomenon. Throughout, Kashmiris have identified themselves with Pakistan,” he explained.
But the more well-offs and the more educated ones in South Kashmir, as in other parts of the valley, in particular in capital Srinagar, strongly disapproved of such sentiments. “I am surprised and shocked to hear such pro-Pakistan sentiment among the villagers who come from the South,” exclaimed noted film-maker and theatre personality Mustaque Ali Ahmed Khan. “This is news to me. You wouldn’t find such overwhelming sentiment for Pakistan in the cities,” Khan told this reporter.
Noted journalist and prime time commentator on TV, Gowhar Geelani explained: “The pro-Pakistan utterances in South Kashmir could also be a reactionary attitude due to the marked civilian crackdown there since July 2016. These people know that what would hurt India the most is the expression of love and support for Pakistan and may be that is the reason for such outpour in recent times.” Another senior journalist working with a noted English daily in Kashmir, who did not wish to be named, said: “The Kashmiris are an emotional race. After Burhan Wani’s killing, then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made overwhelming statements eulogising the slain militant. This seems to have worked successfully with anti-India protesters. But such sentiments are not permanent.”
Abbas had said on 5 November, while speaking at a conference “Future of Pakistan 2017” at the London School of Economics’ South Asia Centre, “I have not seen support for that concept (independent Kashmir). This is something that is floated often but it really has no basis in reality.”