Kundan Kashmiri
It was right from 1947 that the so-called Kashmiri Muslim leadership has been accusing New Delhi of diluting the Valley's distinct identity, eroding the State's special status and surreptitiously bringing the State under the ambit of the Indian Constitution. On the other hand it is visible that the same so-called Kashmiri leadership is divided into six groups variously demanding self-rule, greater autonomy, independence, merger with Pakistan, implementation of the 1975 Indira Gandhi-Sheikh Abdullah Accord and implementation of Pervez Musharraf's four-point formula as a first step.
The ruling Peoples Democratic Party vouches for self-rule: Limited accession with India, India-Pakistan joint-control over Jammu and Kashmir, demilitarisation, porous borders and irrelevant Line of Control, Islamic banking and dual currency.
The National Conference has been demanding greater autonomy, bordering on virtual sovereignty. It wants restoration of the system as was in effect in the State under the Jammu and Kashmir Constitutional Act of 1939. Under this archaic act, the ruling elite exercised unbridled and absolute judicial, legislative and executive powers, including the power to interpret the Constitution. It, in addition, openly supports Hurriyat Conference, defends stone-throwers and their attacks on the Army and paramilitary forces and says they are not sacrificing their lives for becoming MPs or MLAs, but for their nation.
The Congress has been insisting on the implementation of the 1975 accord that empowers the valley's ruling elite to review Central laws and seek withdrawal of laws considered injurious to Kashmir. The Congress' insistence on the 1975 Indira Gandhi-Sheikh Abdullah Accord despite the fact that it was implemented in 1975 itself and Sheikh Abdullah became Chief Minister under this very accord. When he became Chief Minister, his party didn't have a single lawmaker either in the Legislative Assembly or in the Legislative Council. He himself was not an MLA. The Congress, which had absolute majority in both the Houses, abdicated power in favour of Sheikh Abdullah.
Separatists like Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Shabir Shah want the merger of the entire State of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan, saying the State is an unfinished agenda of Partition, and being a Muslim-majority State, its fate has to be linked with the Islamic State of Pakistan. Separatists like Yasin Malik want independence of the State from both India and Pakistan and, at the same time, consider Islamabad a stakeholder in Jammu and Kashmir. Another group of secessionists, led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, head priest of Jamia Masjid, Srinagar, is all for Pakistan, but says that it would be desirable of New Delhi and Islamabad to adopt the Musharraf formula - India-Pakistan joint-control, self-governance, demilitarisation and soft borders - as the starting point, These roads, though divergent, lead to the same destination: Separation of Jammu and Kashmir from India and its conversion into a theocratic State.
All the Kashmir-based six groups, which are led by the Sunni leadership, do not consider Jammu and Kashmir a settled issue. The upshot of arguments has been that they could not have any truck with Hindu India and have no faith in the Indian constitutional and political structure. They believe there is only one way in which the unrest in the Valley can be ended and that is by empowering Kashmiri Muslims to