If Amarnath is Non Issue, then Is it a Battle For Azadi?

Ishfaq Tantry

Srinagar, September 01:

“800 Kanals of land has been set aside for exclusive use of Shrine Board  during the yatra period.”

This is the crux of the  so called “Amarnath Compromise Formula” agreed upon by Amarnath Sangharsh Simiti and the four member Boleria  panel appointed by J&K Governor N.N.Vohra. The Agreement was signed after four rounds of talks at around 4am on 31st  August  in  a Jammu guest house, when the whole Kashmir was forced  to sleep under the barrel of a gun. Jammuites have called it a victory formula, but the agreement has been out rightly rejected in Kashmir from separatists to mainstream parties except National Conference.

Cynics and those whose oppose the transfer of land to Amarnath Shrine Board have their reservations about this agreement too. They call it unilateral and say that the phrase “ for the exclusive use of shrine board”  is too much loaded  in favour of the Shrine Board, which would give leverage to Shrine Board and Hindutva forces to  set their claims for the ownership of the land in future under the law of tenants. Kashmiris also contend that why the land has been exclusively set aside for the use of Shrine board when for centuries now Yatra has been going on without any hurdle and without the transfer of land. Majority  Kashmiris opine that there is no need of having agreement  when the vast stretches of land at Batlal and Pahalgam had been used for the Yatra over decades.  

Separatist Delima:

Among the separatists, there is also a growing sense now that Amarnath land controversy is limiting their struggle just  to land and thus keeping their struggle confined  within the Indian domain. That is why they simultaneously voice two contradicting stances. Geelani on 23rd August , just  one day before his arrest said  in a press statement that Amarnath  Land controversy is  a ploy of the Indian Government to  divert the  attention from the core issue of Kashmir dispute. But in the same breath Geelani added, “Any amendment to order  pertaining to Amarnath land  transfer issue  would be unacceptable to the people of Kashmir.”

On the same day, United Jihad Council Chairman claimed in his interview  to a local news agency in Kashmir ,“By portraying the ongoing peaceful  movement in Kashmir  as just Amarnath Land controversy , India is actually misleading the World opinion  over Kashmir  dispute”. Salahuddin added that India is also trying to portray the current movement as just a fight for  economics  and opening of Muzaffarabad road. Salahuddin suggested:”To counter this malicious  propaganda of India, the collective  Huriyat leadership should instead try  to arrive at  a single  point agenda of passing out a resolution for freedom from India  when they  meet for a freedom march at historic Lal Chowk on 25th Augus”t. This suggestion was put forward by HM chief just two days before the entire Hurriyat leadership was rounded up by the Indian security forces in a major crackdown.

By  resorting to crackdown on the Hurriyat leadership, it is clear now that the Government of India clearly understood the ramifications  of allowing the  proposed freedom march to  Lal chowk.. It is clear that the separatists- for whom Amarnath controversy and the subsequent economic blockade  originally became the rallying points for garnering mass support –are  now clearly trying to  move away from the Amarnath land controversy. That became also clear when Geelani  during his speech on the 18th August  in the UN march crowds made it amply clear that the Amarnath  is no longer  an issue for Kashmiris, but Azadi is the core issue which reverberates across J&K.

Role of Mainstream Parties:

National conference patron Dr.  Farooq Abdullah  has already accepted the unilaterally reached  “Amarnath Compromise Formula”. He told Indian National News Channels in New Delhi on 29th August after emerging out of the meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “The Proposal is acceptable to me”. He further added” I believe such an agreement  has been worked out  which I think is an ideal solution.” He claimed that this would end  the hatred  between the two people on Jammu and Kashmir.

On the other hand PDP rejected the formula terming it unilateral the moment it was shown to  the party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in New Delhi during a luncheon meeting  with Manmohan Singh on 28th  August. And on 31^st  August , when this  proposal was finally signed  between Amarnath Sangharsh Simiti and  four member Boleria panel in a Jammu Guest house, the reaction from Mehbooba Mufti was obvious  but at the same time sharp. She said in reaction to this agreement “It is obvious now. A decision on Kashmiris has been  imposed unilaterally  under the barrel of gun”. She further added, “Just  for a piece of paper, so much of force has been  used. 48 people who have so for died in Kashmir have not been taken into account when the decision on Amarnath was taken”. She said that the decision would further alienate Kashmiris.

Centre’s Strategy:

Government of India has now many tasks to perform. Try to cut  the separatists  to size. They won’t tolerate a Huriyat rallying with a million people any more now. And India has already demonstrated  it by cracking down on separatists  and the rallyists. Secondly, to portray the   mass movement of Kashmir  as just the fallout of  the divide between Jammu Hindus and Kashmiris Muslims. This was exactly in the mind of M.K.Narayanan, National Security Advisor,  when he returned from Kashmir  just before the proposed Lal Ckowk march. He later  made it clear when talking to  Karan Thapar on Devil’s Advocate programme(CNN-IBN) on Sunday the 31^st August 2008. But this argument was rejected the same day when the  Kashmir Co-ordination Committee (KCC)announced in a press conference in Srinagar their programme.  The spokesman of Co-ordination Committee said, ”For us land  transfer is  no issue at present as we want to achieve a bigger goal of freedom. However, we out rightly reject  the agreement reached out between the Government and Simiti.”But also centre may be knowing it  that  any concession given out to  Simiti would ignite passions  in Kashmir.

Fallout In Kashmir:

Although there is  relief now that finally Jammu has returned to normal now after Sangharsh Simiti called off its strike and  the communal and Hindutva forces are now basking in the glory of getting  800 kanals of land for Amarnath Board in Kashmir, the joy  may prove short lived. Analysts and the people who have studied  the events in Kashmir keenly term the Amarnath Compromise formula as just a recipie for a bigger  disaster. One analyst put it like this, “No doubt   BJP and Simiti have won, but India in Kashmir has lost”. There is now a growing sense in Kashmir  that  India is treating them ‘as their colony’. There seems to be a new found resolve now that the Amarnath Land Controversy needs to be transformed into a full fledged  ‘peaceful  Azadi movement”.In this whole game,  Amarnath Controversy   may just prove to be the additional petrol  for the Azadi Vehicle. Moreover, more and more Kashmiris now believe  the dangerous notion that’’ India is up for a demographic change in Kashmir”, though this charge has been off  and on rejected by the Indian Government as just vicious thinking. On the other hand, National Conference patron Farooq Abdullah’s credibility has been further eroded among Kashmiris  masses after he became the only Muslim Kashmiri politician to support the controversial Amarnath Compromise Formula.

E-mail:ishfaqtantry@gmail.com