Dialectics of struggle

SO obvious is the patronage and protection extended to the Shiv Sainiks and Bajrang Dal elements by the authorities in J&K that it is astonishing that otherwise sensitive people don’t speak of it. They can hold weapon training camps in a Disturbed Area, probably with the sanction of authorities. They can publicly display weapons during their rallies including in Jammu city. But ‘good ‘people chose to look the other way. They can go and disrupt press conferences at will anywhere in Jammu region. But no harm ever comes to them. All because such remarkable specimens of Indian ‘nationalism’ and champions of Hindu ‘cultural nationalism’ have to be mollycoddled. They have to be nursed, nourished and nurtured because they are the beloved of the authorities, the security forces and the agencies. They will never be beaten black and blue as they do with Muslims or killed or mowed down by the commonly available weapon of mass destruction, assault rifles.  If they are stopped they are gently reprimanded and transported back home.  Jails are generally not meant for them. If by chance they are detained they are treated like ‘honoured guests’. And as for prosecution, well how can one expect the authorities to prosecute one of their own?  Thus rule of law does not apply for such lawless worthies. And as for ‘law and order’ has one come across the security forces, otherwise trigger happy, become coy confronted with the uncouth behaviour of the Hindu communal fascist groups. Indeed it seems that authorities are charmed by the chauvinism displayed by of these ‘fringe’ groups.  
Such mollycoddling of fanatics goon squads is the flip side of the ideologically tuned manufacturing of history which constantly harps on the Hinduness of history and culture of J&K. While devotion to historical facts and processes are necessary. So is respect for the lived culture of people today. To manufacture under State patronage a type of history and culture which denies people their right to construct and understand their own history in light of their own lived experience is a project of occupation which wants assimilation. Such manufacturing, ironically,   amounts to a subversion of the officially held position of India as a pluralist constitutional democracy.  But it does not seem to bother anyone. In a way rightly so because where J&K is concerned India’s constitutional democracy stops at Lakhanpur if not Banihal. Again its just as well because occupation then manifests itself in all its glory and the difference stands out starkly. After all where else in India does one have one armed soldier for 14-18 persons? With such extraordinary powers and with such huge mass of land.  
But downside of this polarization is that the rot runs deep from the highest to the lowly jawan. The trishul of Hindu fanaticism is not just evident even when it masquerades under the garb of Indian ‘nationalism’ but presumably being promoted as part of Indian’s State policy. Look at how the tourism department markets J&K and one can see that what is promoted is Kashmir’s Hindu past as though the contemporary reality and the present is of no consequence. Ponder over how the high and mighty on frequent visits speak of  syncretic culture and then end up lecturing on Hindu this and Hindu that. Of course in between a Sufi concert a la Junoon is thrown in. But recall how they preach to Muslims to be secular to promote syncretism but lack the courage to preach to Hindus to be tolerant and respectful of others and mindful of sensibilities of those who have different understanding of history and politics. Reflect also over how those who vent hatred and call for bloodletting in the name of crushing the movement for self-determination, which is a democratic and just articulation, are glorified by the authorities and Indian media.
Why go far the new Governor spoke the other day of Jammu’s people as being patriotic and belonging to “martial race”. One thought this description belonged to 19th century’s racial theories and certainly unbecoming in 21st century for a supposedly modern progressive India. Not once did he find the courage to admonish the Hindu fanatics. Verily, when a State occupies a people and maintains its hold with the help of the military force, cooption and lure of lucre then even its language, just as its conduct regresses. No wonder the world is turned upside down. Might is right. Lies are facts.  And truth becomes passé. Mass upsurge of people in Kashmir is characterized as manifestation of Muslim fundamentalism. Fact that people came out from village, towns in such large numbers in tens of thousands gets ridiculed and is equated with Hindu fanatic gang’s state patronized and protected display of simulated Hindu anger. NO wonder they could get away by even inconveniencing the pilgrims. And these goons were supposed to represent Hindus? Few liberal Hindus gathered courage, especially in Jammu, to even make this point, let alone demand that authorities arrest and prosecute them for hooliganism.
I hold no brief for any kind of religious fanaticism. But, its outrageous when truth is distorted. The truth that those who participated in the upsurge in Kashmir, time and again, made it clear that they were not against Hindu pilgrims or the pilgrimage. The leadership of the struggle requested people to provide succor to the stranded pilgrims. In contrast the Hindu fanatic gangs attacked, burnt, looted and singled out Muslims and all those whom they accused of being against Hindu interests and thus did not spare Hindus even. This contrasting style of politics and political articulation was sought to be obfuscated by authorities. It is this that clearly brings out where the Indian state tilts and whose interests it protects and promotes in J&K. And how unmindful it is of the long term repercussions of this seeping communalizing of the Indian state apparatus. It is like a re-incarnation of the hated days of the Maharaja. At least the language of conversation, if not discourse among Indian authorities, is reminiscent of this.  
Therefore, it is not only the presence and perception of Indian military as hostile but its articulation also that has become a huge issue of concern because it is taking an overtly religious garb and sowing the seeds of a religious conflagration. IT is as though Indian state is deliberately provoking a religious response... A kind of a trap. Something which will enable it to project the movement in demonic terms.  Just to cite an example.
After reams of paper have been filled in self-congratulations at the virtual demise of armed resistance the Indian authorities still carry on, every now and then, about the threat of cross border infiltration. It is common sense that  the even the most exaggerated stories about infiltration cannot help magnify it as a threat; officially in 2001 it was said to be 2417  and was said to have declined to 311 in 2007. And up to May 2008 it was said to be 120. The former Governor boasted that in 2002 there were 10 casualties per day which came down to below 2 per day when he departed. Whereas number of militants operating varies from between 150 (yes hundred and fifty)-1200. Obviously, all this suggests that Indian military no longer faces a magnitude of threat which calls for year round obtrusive presence by seven lakhs armed personnel. Yet they go on expanding and occupying land.
The sophisticated arguments of the Indian elite and its representatives in power or their non-official defenders notwithstanding the ugliness of the street level articulation or drawing room conversation cannot be hidden. No wonder when an ordinary CRPF jawan mouths abuse, as they did during the upsurge, it is because that is how authorities have briefed him. That is how he is asked to perceive people and situations. And that is precisely how he is trained to see people as enemies. Because this is how authorities themselves perceive their own role.
Namely as defenders of Hinduised Indian state fighting enemies of India. Look at how the Indian security forces saw those protesting Amarnath land transfer.  As Pakistan and Saudi Arab inspired and financed struggle.  This is a damn serious issue. But if there is even an iota of honesty left amongst the officers and officials from India deployed in J&K then self-reflection will show up the truth to be along the lines I have presented here. Unless Indians face facts and have the courage to express and present them courageously India will not just be an occupation force, but worse, an occupier with a bigoted mindset.