Understanding Kashmiri and Afghan similarities
Arjimand Hussain Talib
President Barack Obama’s sacking of the top American commander for Afghanistan, General McChrystal, last week was preceded by an interesting drama. American commanders banned the use of Microsoft PowerPoint (PP) presentations for all kinds of meetings and briefings in that country.
International Herald Tribune produced an article on the issue, titled “The enemy has been found, and it is PowerPoint.” The article analyzed why America, in its opinion, was losing the war in Afghanistan. It reasoned that the US Army commanders and the civilian leaders, responsible for the Afghanistan mission, were ill-informed about the country. It said that the reason carrot and stick strategies were not working in stabilizing the country was that PP presentations formed the backbone of the administration’s information analysis!
In Afghanistan, a big developmental effort is on in the country, which includes building of roads, schools, hospitals, drinking water facilities and so on. Yet, in spite of the enormous US investment to win over the hearts and minds of the Afghan people, the country is taking its own course. Nobody knows where it is heading. That may mean anything - even a NATO deal with the Taliban to take over Kabul, based on certain conditions!
Afghanistan and Kashmir plots have a few interesting similarities – both the US-led coalition and New Delhi believe that economic and social bounties targeted at local populations will win the war for them. But is that so?
This June was the bloodiest month for the NATO forces in Afghanistan since they started the military campaign in the country in 2001. This June also happens to be the bloodiest so far in Kashmir since Omar Abdullah took over. Look at the mayhem being unleashed by India’s security agencies on Kashmir’s streets. Look at the people’s anger. Look at the Internet Intifada. And see the political assertiveness of Kashmiri teenagers - our Millennium Generation!
Clearly, New Delhi’s efforts to “win the Kashmiri hearts and minds”, begun in 1947, remain as haywire as ever before. The writings on the wall today convey the same as what they conveyed in 1947. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s Friday statement symbolizes that very realization – that how carrots and sticks have failed in subduing Kashmiri quest for political sovereignty.
Interestingly, lately, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has himself taken to PP to present the state’s political and economic situation before New Delhi’s leadership. Army commanders and police officers are said to be doing the same.
PowerPoint is arguably good in displaying statistics. It is also good in selling an idea effectively. It is just awesome in highlighting one’s achievements in a bullet form. But it is miserably bad in presenting an effective analysis of a complex political situation like the one prevalent in J&K, or even Afghanistan, today. Despite its pleasing eloquence, PP easily hides more than what it reveals.
Now look at the conclusion drawn at the Kashmir situation review meeting in New Delhi on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired: the Lashkar-i-Tayiba (LeT) was behind the ongoing protests in Kashmir! Could anything be as bizarre as this?
People who see conspiracy theories to spontaneous street protests in Kashmir miss the point altogether. See first hand and you will realize that it is the jeans-clad boys next door who organize these protests. There are no ghosts or invisible hands behind. The reason they are doing it is that Kashmiri political movement has simply transferred to their generation. These boys do not act on behalf of – or are members of – any party. They are individual parties, who go by their political instincts; feel hurt by the bullying and humiliation by at the hands of security forces, love to vent that anger through slogans and stones whenever they can, and do not bother about repercussions.
Quite often – like when Omar Abdullah was voted to power – India’s political and media establishments write off Jammu & Kashmir’s movement for political sovereignty. Every time tourists swell this place, or there is an election, or a dance and song competition is held at the SKICC, people in New Delhi see the end of the possibility of its rule being challenged again. But every time this premise is proved wrong.
The strategy of doling out economic benefits to an alienated population does not necessarily win political loyalty. The participation of Kashmiris in state-sponsored development programs does create a sense of ‘normalcy.’ And even a political statement. But every time that sense is proved wrong. The “peace time”, when New Delhi and Srinagar governments tend to see ‘all is well’, often proves an anger accumulation period. A lot of emotions are suppressed during that period, which finally blow up when there is a bigger trigger.
Omar Abdullah’s perception that all trouble in the state basically emanates from, and is confined to, a few pockets in Srinagar has a sub text too. The reason there is a greater expression of anger and frustration in Srinagar is because its protesters have a sense of security by virtue of the city’s landscape. People in the countryside do not often throng the streets because they are vulnerable to persecution. A strong military grip ensures every protester is called to a military or police camp in the night if a demonstration happens.
The current spate of protests basically marks a transition of Kashmir’s movement for political sovereignty from the 90s’ generation to the Millennium Generation. This generation is different than its predecessors. Their movement will not die down because this generation is dynamic – stretches across the globe. It has technology at its hand – Internet, mobiles phones, digital cameras, You Tube, Facebook, etc. They are archiving Kashmir’s current happenings for the next generation. And are disseminating that to the world beyond to catch attention. And if you tell them they are being engaged in a ‘battle of ideology’, they are going to be damn rabid about their stand. That is, at least, what their Internet activism is saying.
There is another angle involved. Over the years, Kashmiris’ greater interaction with the Indian mainland has had a political spin off too. That interaction has, ironically, deepened the gulf between a common Kashmiri and the Indian state. Reason: A common Kashmiri in India has been intensely made to perceive himself or herself as the ‘other’ and ‘an enemy.’ Some acts of violence in India, and the state’s security reaction, have created an extraordinary situation for a Kashmiri youngster in India. A hyper vigilante culture of Kashmiri witch hunt has aggravated their feeling of being the ‘other.’ Talk to a student, a trader, or a fruit seller, they will tell you what the experiences of police and public humiliation and suspicion mean to them.
The intense pulls for cultural and political assimilation of Kashmir’s Millennium Generation with India, courtesy satellite TV, Bollywood and Internet, etc. should have ideally bridged that gap. But that has not happened. A PowerPoint presentation cannot explain that. The day that is acknowledged in PP presentations, Kashmir will be on a real road to peace and stability.
