Why are Kashmiris taking up arms again?

When oppression touches extremes, people prefer an honourable death over suffering

Kashmir is still reeling from the violence as skirmish between angry bur revengeful mobs and huge contingents of Indian army go unabated. Burhan Wani is the second local militant hero for Kashmiris after Ashfaq Majeed whose assassination triggered one of the worst uprisings in Occupied Kashmir in the early 90s

There seems no respite in the torment and suffering of the people of Indian Occupied Kashmir where violence is a norm since 1947 when the Indian occupation forces unleashed a reign of fright which continues till this day.

Burhan Wani, 22, along with two young fellows was killed on 8 July by special Indian forces in Bumdoora village of Kokernag in Anantnag district. The assassination of young Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, has added a new chapter of Indian atrocities against the unarmed Kashmiris.

Kashmir is still reeling from the violence as skirmish between angry bur revengeful mobs and huge contingents of Indian army go unabated. Burhan Wani is the second local militant hero for Kashmiris after Ashfaq Majeed whose assassination triggered one of the worst uprisings in Occupied Kashmir in the early 90s.

Media reports suggest that Wani’s assassination orders came from New Delhi but the killing was specially halted to allow Occupied Kashmir’s puppet Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti win in by-polls.

The news of Wani’s death was confirmed Friday evening after police released pictures of his corpse on social media at around 9pm, which took Kashmir valley by storm.

These double standards are a drag to international efforts on global peace. Leonardo Boff has rightly said, “The eternal destiny of human beings will be measured by how much or how little solidarity we have displayed with the hungry, the thirsty, the naked and the oppressed. In the end we will be judged in terms of love”

Local mosques were used to spread the word while freedom songs were played and slogans raised after all mobile and internet services were blocked by the regime.

Thousands of people arrived to Tral town by 11pm to catch the last glimpse of Burhan. Rains pounded Tral town for hours Friday night and electricity was snapped but the mourners did not move an inch throughout the night.

To suppress the protestors, Indian Occupational Forces resorted to violence. Till date, official figures put death toll above 40 with hundreds injured. The bloodletting still continues and God knows the lives of how many Kashmiris will be claimed by the Indian forces just to please the New Delhi regime.

Most of the injured have are feared to have lost lost eyesight due to pellet guns used by Indian army and police officials. In five days, over 100 eye surgeries have been conducted by medics while a special request has been made to New Delhi eye surgeons to visit and help treat victims of police torture.

Unparalleled scenes were witnessed in Tral town of South Kashmir where over 40 funeral prayers were held for late Wani. According to Rising Kashmir, around 1.5 lakh Kashmiris attended the funeral held at 50-kanal-long Eidgah Tral. Locals brought free-of-cost food for visitors assembled at various places particularly Burhan’s village, Shareef Abad.

Since the regime forces had blocked roads and disallowed traffic, emotionally charged people walked miles on foot to offer the funeral prayers. Those attending the funeral included young and old, women and men, who later in the day managed to travel on motorbikes, cycles, trucks, tractors and mini-buses. Bus stand Tral had more than 500 bikes parked inside.

Media reports also claimed that unarmed militants appeared at the funerals in turns to pay their tributes to their slain commander. People, in an already charged atmosphere, surrounded every militant to try and get a glimpse or to touch him. The emotional Kashmiris kissed the militants and made human chains around them for security.

Those attended the funeral also included other minority groups. Hundreds of members from the minority Sikh community made a beeline at Eidgah to pay tributes to Wani.

At around 2.45 pm, amid pro-freedom slogans and wails and shrieks of women, the Hizb commander was finally laid to rest. He was buried at the martyr’s graveyard near Eidgah.

Following the funeral, the security forces triggered clashes with the charged Kashmiris which continued till the filing of this article.

The terrible and heinous massacre of Muslim populace of Indian Occupied Kashmir is continuing since seven decades. The catastrophe is big enough to move any conscious human being. Unfortunately, the callous insensitivity of the international community is encouraging the Indian regime led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to cross all limits of gross human rights violations.

Modi, who still has blood on his hands of around 3,000 Muslims massacred in Gujarat, is hell bent to silence the freedom-loving Kashmiri people.

The moving scenes in Kashmir following Wani’s death suggest that the Kashmiris have overtaken the freedom struggle from the Hurriyat leadership. Kashmiris believe that most of Hurriyat leaders have ‘sold-out’ the Kashmir cause to the Indian establishment and the emergence of a new wave of love for local militants is due to the same reason.

Kashmiris believe there is no utility of a political struggle as the Delhi regime has been squeezing them in by each day passing. Kashmiris are being denied of their basic rights from landholdings to education opportunities.

The hanging of Afzal Guru has been a major cause for the new wave of uprising in Held Kashmir. Even highly educated Kashmiris look disenchanted from the Delhi and Srinagar governments due to the maltreatment and discrimination being meted out towards them.

Especially the unholy alliance between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been a reason for Kashmiris’ disappointment.

During election canvassing, PDP had campaigned against BJP but later formed a coalition government with Modi’s government. This led to total disenchantment among Kashmiris who have lost trust in politicians. Now they prefer militancy over political struggle.

Even slain Wani himself comes from a highly educated family. His elder brother Khalid was a highly educated youth who had been brutally killed by police. In a separate torture incident, Burhan Wani was severely injured too. This all led Wani to take up arms.

Soon Wani not only moved up to the mountains along with his other young colleagues, he also started using social media to urge his fellow Kashmiri students to join the struggle. Soon Wani became a hero among the Kashmiri youth. While Indian media tags Wani as ‘poster boy of Kashmir’ Wani is highly regarded as a hero among his fellow youth.

While funerals of militants like Wani get heroic sendoff in Kashmir, the funerals of politicians are a total disappointment. Just take example of late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, the chief minister of IOK, whose funeral was attended by only a few hundred Kashmiris in January this year.

Local militant movement Hizbul Mujahideen has now made a huge comeback as youth in a huge numbers are joining the militant group. In the recent past, the stage was dominated by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

While Kashmiri and Pakistani media claims over 90,000 Kashmiris have been killed by occupation forces, Indian army admits killing of over 47,000 Kashmiris as of 2009. According to official figures released in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly, there were 3,400 disappearance cases. While Pakistan claims over 700,000 Indian military and paramilitary forces have made life hell in Kashmir, Indian officials put the number of security personnel at around 650,000.

Out of those, Indian officials admit around 17,000 military men have died in insurgency related incidents. Besides, India claims of having killed 21,000 militants and capturing 3,000.

But even this huge number couldn’t deter Kashmiri youth from fighting for their freedom as by each day passing love for militants across Occupied Kashmir is growing. Perhaps, militants carry along the souls of Kashmiri people who support and pray for their militant sons despite threats.

As far as recent violence in Kashmir is concerned, I believe that the havoc turned by pellet guns among young victims would trigger more rage among youth than the killing of Wani and his comrades. The blind kids, youth and women would keep reminding their families and friends of the brutal torture by the Indian forces.

This would lead more youth to take arms and fight against the oppressive forces as they would have to carry their wounds forever. New Delhi needs to understand that when oppression touches extremes, people prefer an honourable death over suffering.

Another reason for youth turning towards militancy is the sick-minded approach by the BJP regime. Rather than accepting the existing realities and engaging Kashmiris for dialogue, the BJP government resorts to implicating Pakistan for Kashmiri uprising. Indian allegations against Pakistan are a ploy to hoodwink the international community on Kashmir issue and a blanket to hide state sponsored atrocities on innocent people of IOK.

The international community must realise the plight of Kashmiri people who have been under unlawful Indian occupation since October, 1947. The people of Jammu and Kashmir have been granted the right of self-determination under the UN Charter, and under several UN Security Council resolutions, more specifically under UN (UNCIP) resolution of August 13, 1948, and January 5, 1949.

These along with subsequent UN resolutions have affirmed that the question of accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through the political democratic method of free and impartial plebiscite.

Unfortunately, stalwart supporter of human equality and advocates of preservation of human rights have done little to resolve the decades-long Kashmir dispute. It is sad to admit that death of few animals aired by international media can bring tears in the eyes of people but no heart moves on genocide of innocent Kashmiris.

These double standards are a drag to international efforts on global peace. Leonardo Boff has rightly said, “The eternal destiny of human beings will be measured by how much or how little solidarity we have displayed with the hungry, the thirsty, the naked and the oppressed. In the end we will be judged in terms of love”.

A peaceful, negotiated settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN resolutions should rank top on UN’s agenda. In order to find a swift and legal solution of Kashmir dispute, international community must stand with people of IOK. India should also realise that no freedom movement has ever been suppressed with force and Kashmir is no exception.