Ignoring the signs

Someone had to make the blunder of revoking Articles 370 and 35-A. It was long overdue, given the fact that the sham 'accession' of Kashmir to India was not working from day one both for India and Pakistan for different reasons. It was orchestrated on betrayal of an entire community and sustained by brute force. The world, surprisingly, seems to have been taken by surprise by Modi's abrupt decision to virtually deprive Kashmiris of their face and fate.

This stunning display of arrogance and narcissism, however, has not come out of the blue. There were many early warning signs. But the world at large was too busy with economic issues to take note of human sufferings caused by despots cloaked in democratic shawls. Modi’s India is undoubtedly a big market but it has yet to adhere to the principles espoused by its founding leaders.

Modi's Gujarat massacre of Muslims should have been a clarion call for the international community to help prevent another fascist from taking the reins of India. But the so-called international community preferred to be dumb, deaf, and blind. So the first sign was ignored and forgotten.

This pandering to Hindu zealots earned Modi the position he might have only envisioned in dreams. Some people, including Shashi Tharoor, had warned of the rise of Hindutva in India which would cause irreparable damage to its secular character and democratic credentials but Modi had mastered the art of populism to push sane voices to the peripheries. The lynching of Muslims became a norm in Modi’s first term as prime minister. The international community, led by the US which prides itself in protecting and promoting human rights, turned a blind eye to fascism taking roots in India.

Kashmir, the bone of contention between India and Pakistan and a pestering issue for seventy years, happened to become the cornerstone of Modi’s second-term election campaign. He vowed to punish Pakistan for harbouring Hafiz Saeed who, India claimed, had a role in Mumbai, Pulwama, and other saboteur activities. February 26 and 27 could have been the beginning of the end for both India and Pakistan if Russia and a couple of other countries had not stopped further escalation of tit-for-tat air strikes. This brinkmanship of two nuclear armed countries also failed to awaken the conscience of international community to help resolve Kashmir once and for all.

India’s failure to contain an indigenous struggle for freedom has not worked in the past and will not make much difference in the future. Some tactical gains against Pakistan and Kashmiris may boost the morale of his soldiers for a while but the pot will always keep simmering. Guerrilla warfare fuelled by a yearning for liberation should not be construed as an ordinary war; it is complex, protracted, and most often illusive. Killing a few individuals here and there and making changes to the constitution might bring smile and solace on some faces in India but it is nothing more than a self-defeating strategy.

The world needs to come forward and condemn Modi for his blatant violation of UNSC resolutions, the Simla Agreement, and above all for turning all of Kashmir into an open prison by forcing it to give Kashmiris the right to determine their future. It should be remembered that the BJP as the political organ of the RSS is another Nazi party in the making. No minority be it Muslims, Sikhs or Christians are safe from Modi's wrath and ideology of ethnic cleansing. Leniency with Modi would mean another Palestine in Asia and another threat to global peace.

The writer teaches at SZABIST, Islamabad.

Email: dr.zeb@szabist-isb. edu.pk