Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Hurriyat8217;s visit to Pakistan underlines the fact that it is entering unchartered territory as far as Kashmir politics is concerned. It had, during recent months, been marginalised twice over. First, in the Jammu and Kashmir elections 8212; at the state and local levels. That these polls were a success even though the Hurriyat did not participate in them, raises serious questions about the extent to which the Hurriyat can be regarded as representatives of the Kashmiri people. Second, in the India-Pakistan peace process. It was not clear to anyone how the Hurriyat was going to fit in this new equation.
The Hurriyat now has to contend with the altered geo-political realities of the region or risk being sidelined. Its trip to Pakistan suggests that it is still trying to define a role for itself. The first challenge it faces concerns its own identity, which is in disarray. There always were tensions between hardliners and moderates within the Conference, but today they are very much in the open. Leaders like Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Yasin Malik are still caught up in an old paradigm of thinking about Kashmir. They have not quite accepted the fact that terrorism is not acceptable to the global community. Malik unwittingly did India a favour by exposing the complicity of Pakistan8217;s information minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, in running terrorist camps. It does not seem to have occurred to him though that, at this juncture, any evidence of Pakistan having supported armed groups would be a source of embarrassment to it, rather than a sign of its commitment to Kashmir. As for Geelani, he continues to sing the old tune. The crucial query for India is the extent to which forces like this can be marginalised.
