Geelani's 'Quit Kashmir' 'Join Pakistan' Movement

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Hurriyat Policy

• Geelani knows full well that unlike Sheikh Abdullah his popularity is due to his straight talk and usage of most popular jargon
  
  
• Geelani is the most popular Kashmiri leader today and he espouses “Ilhaq he Pakistan”–merger with Pakistan.
  
  
• The legitimacy to this line of thought is being provided by the history of repression in Kashmir
  
  
• The symbol of Hurriyat’s social acceptance has been established beyond doubt.
  
  

Let Geelani, Mirwaiz and others forge a consensus on modes of resistance – calendar-popping is a short-term plan
Syed Ali Geelani has taken upon himself a gigantic mission. He wants to take the ongoing ‘quit J&K’ campaign to its logical end.

The legitimacy to this line of thought is being provided by the history of repression in Kashmir. Two realities run parallel in Kashmir’s political discourse.

One, the state authorities have played brute authoritarians in the name of democracy, subjugating a whole nation.
Two, India seems in no visible pressure or compulsion to quit J&K that borders not just Pakistan but China as well. Given this geo-political backdrop, Geelani’s ‘quit J&K’ movement requires a long-term strategy rather than a weekly protest chart.

Following his release from a prolonged detention, Geelani has already described his mission as a ‘long drawn battle’ and displayed courage to oppose some forms of resistance including arson and pulling down of public utilities. But he has not been able to restructure the policy of continued shutdowns. Protest demonstrations, it must be understood, are the practical forms of resistance. On the contrary, shutdown is symbolic, not a practical form of resistance.

Had Omar Abdullah been running the Rs 8000 Crore Corporation rather than a government and the whole population been his workers, the continued shutdown was all the more needed. It would have got him on his feet, begging for withdrawal of the strike. But the fact is that the practical cost of continued lockout is inflicted not on the state but the already oppressed people. Shutdown, therefore, is a symbolic form of resistance just like a hunger strike. It is a sort of moral appeal, which should be occasional rather than frequent. In certain situations, repetition kills the sting. For past few weeks, whole world has witnessed whose writ runs in J&K. Hurriyat’s programs have been followed religiously not just by people but the state authorities too.

The chief minister has been forced to travel few kilometers by the state helicopter. This shows that the symbol of Hurriyat’s social acceptance has been established beyond doubt.

Geelani knows full well that unlike Sheikh Abdullah his popularity is due to his straight talk and usage of most popular jargon. Sheikh was an unquestionable icon who ruled people’s hearts and minds through his personal charisma and heroism; Geelani is not a hero, he symbolises a cause.

He is a hope, very much subject to mass trials. Also, his repeated refusal to engage with New Delhi without any pre-dialogue concession has also made him stand out from the rest. Before his group pops out yet another prescription of a weeklong halt.

He should take on board his erstwhile colleagues such as Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik, and Professor A G Bhat etc and of course those leading the street campaigns. Traders, industrialists, academicians and representatives of employees, transporters and other small businesses too must be consulted. Let it take few weeks, but it is inevitable.
Indeed Geelani has assumed enough mass appeal to forge a consensus for a long drawn struggle.  Let’s expect a creative calendar from Hurriyat factions. . Cross-posted from Rising Kashmir

Source: http:/ /thedawn.com.pk/2010/08/14/geelanis-quit-kashmir-join-pakistan-movement/