Kashmir Diary-I

Writing On the Wall In Pampore...Ghazwa-e-Hind.

PAMPORE is where south Kashmir begins - the nerve centre of Jamaat’s might that has seen majority of encounters between security forces and terrorists in the last two months. The Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) building is targeted for being a symbol of Kashmiri youth’s escape from the clutches of trans-border Jihad. As Army engages the militants, and local police provides back up support, a third ring is thrown around the operation by the paramilitary forces. Over an arch of two kilometers, the commandoes stand guard with their backs towards the encounter site. I ask the commandant about the queer placement. The boys from the villages pelt stones at forces to distract them from the operation. The third ring is to merely prevent that, he explains. A bunch of students with public school appearance in blazers and ties stops a few meters away, shouts Nara-e-taqbir Allah-hu-Akbar, and leaves as if nothing else needs done.

ASHRAF owns and drives a cab through the tourist circuit of Kashmir. He has a 9-yr old daughter with an ailment that needs a complex procedure in her head every year or so if she has to keep living. Two summers ago as she lay dying, a doctor couple came honeymooning from Delhi. A bond emerged as Ashraf took them around the snow clad meadows of Gulmarg and Pahalgam made famous by score and more of Bollywood flicks from Bobby to Haider. The doctors realized they could help. Since then, Ashraf has driven twice to Delhi, and got her treated for free. How does this affect his thinking? My unit engineer is headed for a guest live in the evening on the outskirts of Srinagar. As the car passes Batmaloo, he asks Ashraf wasn’t this the spot of an encounter a week ago where two terrorists were gunned down? An agitated Ashraf corrects him that they were not terrorists but Mujahids. Over next four days he betrays emotions for Azadi, and speaks the language of victimhood nevertheless.

MILLENIA before the British were born, Pandavas left no mountain range from Himalayas in the north to Vindhyas in the south, where they did not spend some time of their exile, thus marking out lose boundaries of India that is Bharat. So while following a trail of signages for a Pandava hideout in Tangmarg, I bump into Ahmed Bhat, a small time contractor with the state forest department. He invites home for tea. Perched atop a cliff overlooking the scenic Drung valley famous among anglers for its trout, the wooden Bhat home is straight out of a picture postcard. Making us comfortable in the carpeted warmth of his guest room, he vanishes for a while. Just as I start wondering if something is amiss, apprehension melts as Ahmed reappears with tea and biscuits in a tray. His teenage son is studying computers in Ludhiana, and daughter goes to village school. “Have you seen a terrorist?” I ask a cub reporter question on first assignment to Kashmir. "So many of course. They come and stay in any home in the village they want. Who can stop them?" It's a melange of emotions ranging from fear of the gun to camaraderie of a cause, from motivation of Islam to memories of those dead that connects the terrorist and the Kashmiri. Often its the sheer triteness of a situation that hangs as a cloud over the valley most times of the year, year after year. “Who in right mind would want this uncertainty around life? But its beyond commoners like us now. Only thing I could do was to send my son out of this ecosystem and hope for the best,” Ahmed says, pouring more tea.

MUDASIR is a quintessential Kashmiri: passionate, emotional, hewn of the Kashmiri literary tradition. Once, in his youth, he might have been a stone-pelter, shouting Azadi. Now he is a cop. As a sub-inspector heading the Janglatmandi chowki in Anantnag – at the centre of the post-Burhan Wani unrest – Mudasir stands at the other end of the stones, proof of which he carries all over his bruised body.

I meet him the day a blog-post by a young Kashmiri IAS officer has gone viral. The harangue is how alienated the officer feels in the valley because of jingoistic national media in Delhi. While the articulate babu only has to choose on which channels his profile should get aired, Mudasir is more of a nuts-and-bolts man on the ground. “What the terrorist indulges in is visual spectacle,” he borrows from Aristotle. And then adds: “We need a tough body controlled by a calm mind to handle the situation.” Between Newton and Gandhi, the latter is the obvious choice for him. “India won its freedom through Gandhi. We can’t fall in the trap of equal and opposite reaction.” Would this end? He says it won’t. Aristotle concluded in Rhetoric that spectacle was the least artistic form of tragedy. Kashmir’s present is a tragedy wrapped in a spectacle indeed.

HIS name needs to be protected. So let’s call him K. As the Kashmir crisis broke in 1989, K crossed over to Pakistan and spent a year training as a terrorist across the region from Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistani Punjab to Khosht and Jalalabad in Afghanistan. From 1991 to mid-1990s, he remained a militant in the valley carrying jihad against India. That was the time when the foreign elements free from Afghan theatre started gaining upper hand, leaving the local boys disillusioned. They could not connect with the Kashmir that was being introduced to them from across the border. Assisted by the establishment, some of them turned against Pakistan and came to be identified as Ikhwans. K lives a quiet life somewhere in south Kashmir now, and admitted to feeling both suffocated and threatened. His suffocation has led him to social media activism against the Hurriyat narrative, which in turn has brought him under the radar of separatist forces that would want him “sorted-out” as he says, by which he means he might be eliminated. With their hands full post Burhan Wani, security apparatus too can’t offer him anything beyond neglect, thus making him wonder if he chose the right path. His facebook posts however show he still has hopes from Delhi, which in turn should give Delhi some hope.

MY guide for the Makhdoom Sahib dargah perched atop Hari Parbat in downtown Srinagar is in his early-20s. He is clean shaven and wears denim. As I get in, he stops at the entrance. Says he does not believe in dargah worship. Inside, the shrine has equal number of men and women partaking spirituality without segregation. Haji Ali, take note. Makhdoom Sahib in many ways represents the original instrument of accession of Kashmir with India. A contemporary of Akbar, and a seventh generation convert from a Chandravanshi Rajput family of landlords, the saint had invited the great Mughal to take control of the valley and contain the spread of Shia influence of the waning Safavids to the west. By the mere act of refusing to enter the shrine, the young boy disowns the very Kashmiriyat for which the stone pelters are ostensibly fighting. Till about a decade ago, Asiya Andrabi would orchestrate acid attacks to intimidate young Kashmiri women into wearing hijab. Now, sisters Atiya and Nafsia Rizwi have opened an Abaya shop in Hawal area, selling designs they call a fusion of Arabic and Iranian cultures. Arabic? Iranian? Kashmiriyat?

(Should there be part-II to this Paradise Lost?)

Whom Does Balochistan Hurt?

CONCERNS have been raised in some quarters that Prime Minister’s Balochistan outreach (as also sharp focus on Gilgit-Baltistan) with emphasis on Pakistan’s human rights record in these territories might backfire.

The specific fear is that mirroring Pakistan’s stance is a false equivalence which might bring unnecessary global attention to Kashmir. Also, it can potentially rile the extended neighbourhood, and bring down India’s moral standing in the comity of nations.

Let’s take these arguments one by one. In the fluttering-twittering times that we live, should we fear internationalization or losing the plot to the enemy? To be provocative, has Kashmir not had international resonance earlier? If yes, to what consequences?

From the UNCIP/UNMOGIP days in the immediate aftermath of partition, to JK Galbraith’s soft borders solution, to the Robin Raphel nadir in mid-1990, Kashmir has shown atavistically on global radar through much of its troubled history. While those might have been engaging, even tense periods for diplomats, subsequent history proves that it did not waiver India’s resolve to hold on to Kashmir in any manner. In fact as the post-Kargil United States’ pressure on Pakistan proves, it was in India’s favor as well.

There are a couple of reasons why international focus in changed circumstances might even be to India’s advantage. First is connected with the growth dynamics of India. When Kennedy sought to push his plans with Nehru, India was also begging for PL480 wheat. Cut to George ‘Dubya’ Bush, when his Af-Pak emissary Richard Armitage, bluntly told the Pakistanis that he was no interlocutor on Kashmir. This was when India was close to becoming a trillion dollar economy. Now we are close to 2.5 trillion with clear markers of it touching 10 trillion in a decade or so.

The second factor is connected with global currents. Ignoring Islamist radicalization much through 1990’s, demarches would be issued to Indian diplomats in Washington, Geneva, and Oslo on our human rights record in Kashmir. Statements would ritually add that the problem should be solved “taking into account the wishes of Kashmiri people.” But 9/11 made western capitals realize that the Frankenstein could turn towards them too. The sermons got muted. And post-ISIS world is going to be even more receptive to India’s viewpoint on Kashmir. This year has seen nights spent by foreign tourists in France down by 8.5% due to terror risks. It has started hurting.

Now let’s come to the other two issues raised. That Modi’s picking up Balochistan could alarm neighbours has partly come undone with Afghanistan making noises of approval. Does it rile China? May be yes, but why should it be a cause for worry? That the 40-billion US dollars China-Pakistan Economic (CPEC) corridor creates security challenges for India is an accepted fact. Iran opting to give Chabahar to India is indication enough that Gwadar is a concern for them as well.

Lastly, the argument that India’s moral stature could stand diminished sounds a little antediluvian. Is it not a redundant Nehruvian argument, a relic which most of the times failed Nehru himself? Are China and Russia members of the Security Council because of their moral standing? Has our moral posturing all these years since 1947 restrained Pakistan in any manner?

There is no gainsaying that the Modi government’s handling of its Pakistan policy has ranged from clueless to confused despite Prime Minister’s restlessness to engage with the truculent neighbour. But that should not stop from a calculated innovation to be brought in. It is up to the MEA mandarins now to fine tune the initiative.

The Jantar Mantar Of Democrazy

COVERING protests is elementary journalism. But when the protests are made for the camera the reporter can take a back seat and observe instead. This one is about the barricaded stretch between Ashoka Road and Parliament Street that acts as the pulse of nation’s ailments. And fanciful solutions too.

On any good day Jantar Mantar provides a patchwork quilt of subaltern sub-nationalisms. From tribals of Narmada valley to a rape victim from Punjab; from veterans unhappy with pensions to left-liberals questioning Army’s copyright on patriotism. Anger and accommodation go together.

In a corner a man sits spinning Charkha in just the padmasana pose Bapu would have, selling books on Gandhi thought, lamenting how the Mahatma has gone from our lives. Bang opposite him a group of white robed men carry out a Havan for a contemporary Bapu – Asaram – praying for his acquittal in a rape case.

Then there is the curious case of Professor Bhim Singh, self styled supremo of J&K based Panthers Party. He wants complete integration of the State with India, but protests here for a more mundane stuff. He wants his MP’s flat at VP House – taken away by the Modi government as he is no more an MP – back, so that he can continue his struggle against the infiltrators in Kashmir from Rafi Marg!

But then things get more curious. There is a protest by the All India Guard’s Council against injustice to them in the seventh pay commission award. Yogi Adityanath is the chief guest. Pray, what on earth is the connection of the firebrand BJP MP from Gorakhpur with those guarding rear of trains in India? That too against his own government? To paraphrase Deng Xiaoping, it does not matter what color the cat is so long as it catches votes.

A group of students affiliated to Congress want Parliament to enact a law in memory of Rohith Vemula. An association for paramilitary forces wants a law removed that disfavors their pensions. A famished woman in tatters comes to me and wants to know which channel I am from. In good English with a southern accent. Am told she is a former nurse who lost the narrative of her life under the crush of circumstances and can now be seen giving stump speeches to whoever cares to listen on all ailments India has, and their solutions.

And just in case one thought that the protests confirm to prevailing ideological cleavage, there comes a group of Hindu Sena complete with saffron scarves shouting “Rajnath Singh Hosh Mein Aayo.” If for a day the wishes of all those sloganeering Halla-Bol and Goli-Maro were granted, half the cabinet of the country would have to be shot dead, as also scores of bureaucrats, cops, judges, politicians, industrialists, and businessmen. Revolution would have arrived.

In the Book of Genesis of the Old Testament there is the story of Tower of Babel. In it, a united humanity, speaking the same language, decides to build a tower that would touch the heaven. The act of defiance and enterprise is clearly not liked by a concerned God, who confounds their speech, confuses them, and scatters them around the world.

Perhaps an ingenuous Raisina God took reverse inspiration from the story and created a Tower of Babel at the Jantar Mantar, to act as a safety valve for all angst that the nation generates daily. In the bargain keeping the heat from reaching the Hill, where mandarins can keep their cool while fixing India’s tryst with destiny. For better or worse can be dealt separately.

Meanwhile, in the mêlée I spot a young capitalist boy hawking tea. He has improvised by bringing in green tea in the bucket, spotting business opportunity in the English-speaking health-conscious segment of the protesters. I would wager that ten years down the line he would have more freedom in his life than the Bolshie boy shouting Le Ke Rahenge Azadi.

The Nehru in JNU

CAN a Valentine’s Day get sadder? A beautiful girl walks up to you, looks in your eyes, searchingly, and shoots, “Shame on you.” Taken aback, I ask if I know her. She again hisses, “Does not matter, you low life,” before stomping off with an equally well turned up possible date. This took place while covering student protests at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus Sunday. The girl’s centre of ire was the boom mike in my hand in fact.

A traditional left bastion, JNU is in the eye of a media storm following a chain of events that started with slogans in support of convicted and hanged terrorist Afzal Guru, and slapping of sedition charges against eight students, including the students union president.

One would say protests, and the reason behind them, are par for the course for JNU. The protestors, which included faculty, shouted Lal-Salaam, and behaved as if they owned the campus to the exclusion of every other ideology. It has been long known that JNU is a left bastion. Do we wonder why?

Story goes back to the freedom struggle and its leadership. The Indian National Congress then was an amalgam of varied ideologies of all hues from left to right. The troika of Nehru, Gandhi, and Patel itself so beautifully represented left, centre, and right, respectively. It was the kind of movement where a Lenin acolyte MN Roy could co-exist with a Hindu chauvinist KM Munshi, as could socialist Jayaprakash Narayan, and a capitalist GD Birla in between.

But post the Meerut conspiracy case of 1935 and acceptance of the Dutt-Bradley thesis, the communist element increasingly gained prominence within the Congress. This got further strengthened with the success of Soviet experiment in Russia giving hope to many freedom fighters that it could be a post-independence model to follow in India as well. The fear of a left takeover of the Congress and the possibility of a revolution must have been so real that even Gandhi calibrated his views towards more radical positions on economic and class issues. Land would be taken over by farmers, and compensation of landlords would not be fiscally possible, he would tell journalist Louis Fischer.

Given the scenario, Nehru in one of his most understudied masterstrokes, made an arrangement in which, while the political power stayed with the Congress, the intellectual space through India’s universities was tactically ceded to the left. By giving the campus to the left, Nehru shot many birds with a single stone.

For one, with all the intellectual steam-letting that a campus allows, the probability of a revolution, or a left takeover of the Congress party receded into oblivion.

Two, the left leaning campuses flooded all echelons of government under Nehru, himself an admirer of the Soviet experiment. If the Planning Commission gave commanding heights to the State, the left leaning foreign policy establishment made sure India found itself in the Soviet bloc, and the larger bureaucracy that formed the steel frame, whether from St. Stephens, or JNU, or Delhi School of Economics, only represented various hues of Marxism.

A purge followed that left all institutions across the country bereft of any counter ideology. Ask economist Jagdish Bhagwati why he could not flourish at D-school, and it would be clear what I mean by purge.

Third, and so far as politics go, the most crucial bargain for the secular-romantic Nehru was that this made sure the Hindu right would not get any toe hold among the universities of the country, thus depriving it of young talent. It would not be before half century and the Ram temple movement that the right would attract masses towards it. On hindsight, it seems even the RSS saw into this. For, it might not just be a coincidence that the student wing of the Sangh, ABVP was set up in 1948, years before the VHP in 1964, or the BJP in 1980!

The first NDA government under BJP was headed by Vajpayee, who for all his Sangh upbringing remained a politician of Nehruvian fold. But NDA under Narendra Modi is a different animal. Remember what Guardian wrote in May 2014? That with the victory of Modi, the British have finally left India. Possibly this is the first time that the tap of benign indulgence from the establishment has run dry for the JNU.

So it seems what we are seeing on it’s campus is the beginning of a keenly contested turf war between the left and the right that would be replicated over many more campuses across the country. For now what I can say is that Nehru did succeed in saving India the pains of a revolution. His screwing up my Valentine’s Day is perhaps a small price to pay!