Farzana Versey December 3, 2000

Tags: Minorities , Nuclear , Government , Politics , Kashmir , India , Pakistan

Politicians cannot survive without making puppets of others.

href="/tag/Kashmir">Kashmir. It has all the makings of a ‘feel good factor’. You have Hero No. 1, Atal Behari Vajpayee, waving his wand, and declaring that in the holy month of Ramazan there will be no ‘dishum-dishum’. What a perfect mask, and what a coup! That wand is a most potent sword, which he can brandish at will when the time is right for a self-righteous fight between good and evil.

This is a regular ‘masala’ potboiler. By giving the villains the opportunity for retribution, the hero has managed with one “Khul ja sim-sim” to have a number of genies at his command, each wanting to do his bidding.

Everyone is feeling relaxed. Arun Shourie is giving Faiz a rest, having just visited a local feudal lord to convince him that this was good stuff. And if the Saheb went along he would immediately be catapulted from the lowly status of rebellious henchman to supportive brother. The government can rest and take all the credit for the honourable move, while politicians get their ‘khaansamas’ to prepare ‘kakori kababs’ for our latter-day ‘nawabs’ who want to bite but have no teeth. This is politics in the pits being hailed as depth. If the idea was to catch the militants off-guard and take away from the attention that would otherwise have been given to the coming together of the Hurriyat and JKLF groups, then is has not business to be hailed as a civilised move.

It is ridiculous to imagine that this offer is going to make the Kashmiris “yearn for peace”; they have wanted that all along. I think the timing is devious, and the suggestion by a former intelligence chief that the ceasefire in Ramazan “must also be seen as an overture to the wider Islamic community outside and not limited to the militant factions” reveals the collective mental block. They may mouth clichés about how you cannot link this sort of militancy with a religion, but here you are. What really angers me is that these people believe that their symbolic nonsense will whitewash everything.

Hold it. Are you trying to say that 30 days of cessation of firing is supposed to act as a salve for years of neglect and torture? Is this being done for the militants, to teach them the true lessons of Islam? What the hell is going on? Does someone believe that if a group of fellows are fasting and down on their knees for a few days, they will forget the purpose of their fight? And what business do we have to expect Pakistan to feel chastised? For god’s sake, we are talking about a nation that was formed with a clear purpose, whether we agree with it or not; it is not something out of Mogambo’s imagination, however inimical it may be towards us. And let us face it, General Pervez Musharraf at least has been open about saying that Pakistan is a nuclear power; he did not quietly go to a desert and try out some atomic pyrotechnics to get the public aroused by the sheer titillation of the mysterious bang. It is in that country that a prime minister has been arrested for corruption, and he is behind bars. Influential people like the Bhuttos and the wrong men they marry are not spared. You may call this political vendetta, but there is no wishy-washiness here.

As regards Kashmir, how can we say that Pakistan is misrepresenting the term ‘jehad’ for the militancy there, when we are operating at the same level, only with more deftness? To therefore make a poor state into a pawn is a cheap way of getting public sympathy and shows no evidence of statesmanship. If our neighbour is fighting a proxy war and its aim is “bleeding India through a thousand cuts”, then whose responsibility is it to not let the blood congeal?

This is one state. What about the others? I am truly sorry about the young soldiers who died fighting a battle there, but I think that the sympathy wave for the young Nawang Kapadia is being milked for ulterior motives. His mother has written a protest letter talking about how the ceasefire is a let-down. You might think that the government would lose face over this. Think again. This is readymade manna from heaven. Here is a mother’s cry, but the keepers of this motherland will not let that interfere with their commitment to the larger goal. A few ‘shahids’ only add to their stature.

And we, the fools, feel good about it. The idea is to make us somnolent. For one month you can put people into a deep slumber. Not only is it a stupid idea, the execution is bad too. If the holy month of Ramazan is so precious, may I make a few suggestions?

- I have said this earlier and I repeat – leave Kashmir alone, let it be. It will show a true spirit of generosity, but I do know that if we don’t have that state, we will have nothing to quarrel about, nothing to get us into any international forum of discussion and nothing to get our patriotism salivating.

- Let there be no public display of ‘iftaar’ parties, no media coverage.

- Get holy enough to do something about catching hold of Veerappan and Chhota Rajan, instead of playing footsie with them.

- There will be no talk of pampered minorities and no attempt at appeasement for personal gains.

- And no mention about how a favour is being done to a certain community, because Muslims have not asked for a ceasefire; if you want to save your ass, don’t fire from someone else’s butt.

And for those fellow Indians who are planning a travel agency with the express purpose of getting me relocated, I must tell you I always travel well and with a return ticket. I like my meals well-done and my men rare. And remember what I said in the beginning – hard beds, soft pillows? I like to feel good, but unlike the government that gets into frenzied activity for one month, my search is perennial and comes with no strings attached. Politicians cannot survive without making puppets of others. How I wish they could be like elastic, capable of stretching and spreading happiness. That would be truly a feel good thing.