Burhan Wani- Overground Face of Underground

In response to a question whether, Kashmir remains with India or not, a top Indian bureaucrat responded it will simmer but will remain with India in an important meeting held by AIKS almost a decade back. We therefore are back to the same argument as it has become a familiar scenario much like witnessed in 2008, in the wake of Amarnath land agitation. It is an uninterrupted continuity of brute display of hate India which started many summers ago as a campaign but continued as a toxic militarized jihad sharpening the boundaries between India and Kashmir. Violence as such in the Valley is an act of utter hatred, where a man finds religion and imagined injustice to be good enough cause to kill innocent people. Present disruption therefore has become a potent force which is expanding at a rapid pace. The critical intervention and resistance to its growing ascendancy and the threat posed by it to the whole social fabric of the society should be a matter of concern. The situation thus created has left its foot print and ideological sway which makes one thing clear that it is becoming a decisive force in the politics of Kashmir.

There is a strange perfidy to the politics of Kashmir that when militants gun down innocent people and attack security forces they are glorified as brave mujahids but when they get killed while performing inhuman acts they are described as victims of barbaric act. The psychology of a Kashmiri terrorist unravels at two levels. The first is at the level of invoking religious sentiments and channeling them into politico-combatant propaganda which result into larger acts of lawlessness and violence. The society as a natural corollary is increasingly being coerced into conforming to an intolerant and hate filled activities. This militantism fits into the narrative of separatists as it uses all violent activities to flaunt its growing influence. Roads and open streets become the best places to demonstrate the acquired strength. All this is done in the name of will and power of the people. It is this phenomenon which is behind the huge surge in anti India crimes. The combativeness of separatist commentriat towards this mayhem and the pace with which it covers is on display for all. At their heart is the assertion to dominate the politics which would deliver Kashmir to them. If one were to dig a little deeper, the bitter truth will come out and that is they have become defacto rulers who have kept the society in their grip.

Another layer is that India has often been perceived as an enemy of Kashmir and Kashmiris. To understand it properly there is an uninterrupted campaign to radicalize the Kashmir separatist movement to carve out a fresh path of political action and the present wave of demonstrations brought a new emphasis on this sustained effort. The religious fervor as such helps in accumulating various issues to develop into an explosive situation. The belligerence in Kashmir therefore continues because of soft and weakened politics in practice and that is their strength. Not only that it also is a struggle to control Kashmir and its politics. This by no means is a simple violent protest but it reveals much deeper about the malady that has permeated the place. A significant part of this battle is a reassertion of new generation of terrorists to the so called Kashmir issue but if one were to identify an ideological thread, it is to quickly seize the initiative to build a fresh aggressive momentum based on secessionism and separatism and that should dominate the politics of the State even though Jammu and Ladakh don’t subscribe to it but it has caused a long shadow on the entire narrative and the State politics as a whole.

In this age of twitter and Face book a new generation of angrier and radicalized youth arrived where Burhan phenomenon surfaced in its most brutal and toxic form. For him India was enemy number one and social media became a new tool of mobilisation for him. By defying the State and flaunting of Guns, he injected a new momentum to cultivate and influence domestic youth fan base through social media. He therefore apart from being a new age terrorist became a motivator and a recruiter of the terrorists. Behind this lies his utter hatred for anything that is India or Indian. He used the sentimental advantage to gain social legitimacy which played its part to the perfection in the post Burhan violence. Thus the present wave of terrorism has a hidden agenda to change the political geography of Kashmir and severely impact the mainstream politics. That will propel the fresh wave of anti India street protests and demonstrations. What makes the present phase so unacceptable is that there exists a common thread between 2008 and now, there is a pattern to all this which is cyclic, persistent and consistent. It is often preceded by an incident which provides an emotive platform to the motivated people and encourages them to come on the streets. This makes Burhan and his ilk look stronger before increasingly sympathetic youth through his online macho image which magnified his larger than life portrayal.

Social media as such has become such a tool where power of rumor overrides reality. This power has been effectively used to demonize India, Indian Security Forces and Para Military Forces to the extent that their mere presence is blown up as a symbol of oppression. This is the sponsored story by external elements driving the present protests which does not have a momentum of its own. Taking note of this new online militancy world has been forced to think and take remedial measures to stop its misuse. Israel moved swiftly in this direction. According to its Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Public Security Minister Gelad Erdan Anti Face book legislation is being brought to Knesset which would empower its Courts to order social media providers to remove terrorism promoting content.

Understanding that the roots of present fury lie in the liberal and unchecked use of social media, he had succeeded in promoting anger and defiance especially in youth which is visible in increasing wahabisation on display there. As a natural corollary changing dress codes, mannerisms and attitudes reflect it adequately. Targeting Asthans by burning them is demonstrative of its fast spread. This psyche has succeeded in providing a psychological space to an ideology that is amply visible in inflamed public anger. It indeed is a destructive path and a consequence of self inflicted wounds. This sponsored destruction is creating a situation largely seen as Kashmiri Muslims versus India. At the heart of it lies creation of an Islamic State. Wajahat Habibullah writes (A Season of Loss in Kashmir in Hindu) that “Today masked hoodlums roam in rural Kashmir seeking recruits to their cause”. Propagandisation of the jehadi elements are trying to weaken the political ability of the mainstream politics to steer Indian perspective on Kashmir which is no different than rest of India.

Post Burhan Kashmir continues to be rocked by naked dance of destruction. It has a loud and clear message of hardening the rediscovered ideological anti India platform. It is in continuation of Pakistan’s realization of erosion of its influence in Kashmir if it remains incident and event free for a long time. This also serves the cause of Pro-Pakistan lobby in Kashmir and their mentors across the border as their agenda is gradually getting factored in by accommodating their political desires in the narrative by the commentariat and that is to force the centrality of Kashmir in the discourse between India and Pakistan. Needless to mention that terrorism has been imposed on Kashmir in one form or the other since 1947 till date otherwise Hizbul Mujahidin is designated a terrorist organization by India, EU and USA, gunning down therefore its chief should not have been a surprise and open appeasement of the jihad infused stone pelting crowd is beyond comprehension.

Another dimension of this high voltage militancy is Pakistan’s active involvement which is an inescapable reality. Present day Kashmir uprising is responding to its engineered violence in an effort to maximize from fanning the flames of discontent. There is a clear design on which its civil and military establishment is working and that is to use all the elements of jihad to unleash a continued cycle of violence against India. Making a martyr out of Burhan Wani constitutes a foundational text for its aggressive stand which apart from serving its domestic compulsions also impacts the psychology of local people. For Pakistan Burhan is a freedom fighter and the spike in terrorism following his death is to exploit the situation arising out of aggressive streak which under such circumstances flows from public funerals of slain militants killed in encounters. In an atmosphere characterized by large scale destruction, Pakistan fired yet another salvo of organizing a black day to protest his killing. It is a different matter that it did not deem it fit to observe black day when more than one hundred fifty innocent students were killed in the recent past in a terrorist attack or in a terrorist attack in Balochistan which engulfed about seventy people.

This Pak generated unrest is not lost on Indian public opinion which is weighed against its continued provocative obsession for Kashmir and the most important being to invite separatist leaders to the Pakistan High Commission. Latest statement by its PM that “Kashmir will become Pakistan one day” has left a bitter taste in India. Its myopic and self destructive policies have created hydra headed monsters who are now directing their guns towards Pakistan itself and Balochistan carnage exemplifies it. Pakistani paper Daily Times in its editorial commented “What can Pakistan offer to Kashmiris when it is still coping with numerous challenges that are posing a threat to its own stability?”

As things stand an increasingly assertive Kashmiri terrorist of today has emerged as a potent and a deadly force. He has succeeded in fracturing politics into many pieces by scoring a psychological victory. A big factor in this anger and frustration is the prevailing febrile climate which is providing a fodder for its sustenance. This is because he represents a Political ideology sold to the people of Kashmir about seventy years back and that is azadi. This generation is swept by the desire of Azadi as the core emotion of their Political view. So it is natural for them to challenge the status quo. The only difference between then and now is that it has been made look like achievable this time. The role of civil society assumes significance to turn down the volume in order to bring down the temperature. In an ideological battlefield creation of a fresh space for the practitioners of liberal Sufi Islam to contest this growing trend can help to tide the situation and the onus largely lies on the Kashmiri Civil Society.

Taking note of all these developments our Hon’ble Prime Minister has reiterated the Kashmir policy in his recent address which is essentially rooted in Democracy and Dialogue. It derives its strength from the joint Parliamentary resolution adopted in Ninety’s which says Kashmir is an integral part of India and that represents will of the country. It unequivocally conveys that under no circumstances shall Kashmir be allowed to secede and that is the basic premise of integration of Kashmir with India. The same sentiment was echoed by Sh. Rajnath Singh, honourable Home Minister in the parliament. The pith and marrow of the blue print should be to connect Kashmiri’s with the war on terror and that means the isolation of separatists and killing the sentiment of azadi from the minds of the people. On a long term basis creation of a democratic climate to convert the military gains into Political opportunity will lay a foundation to delegitimise the growing Wahhabism which gets its inspiration from the conservative Muslim world. But it is a long road and the results will take its own time.

DISCLAIMER:

The views expressed in the Article above are Dr Ramesh Raina’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article.

Courtesy: Dr Ramesh Raina:  February, 2020