A Long-term Loss

by Qazi Syed Sajad

A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation.

—James Freeman Clarke, Sermon

The untimely, tragic and politically surcharged execution of Parliament attack convict Moha-mmad Afzal Guru has genuinely opened the floodgates of viewpoints and speculations. To this writer, it has led to the emergence of a transitional phase in the Indian political system. The larger picture is that the hanging has done a lot of disservice to the country as a whole than the bereaved family.

Till yesterday the Indian National Congress (which sometimes is taken as the synonym for India) was perceived as an epitome of non-violence, satyagraha, tolerance and soft approach. But now it is looked upon as something completely different. There are people who are now going to the extent of declaring the Congress as harder than the hardest BJP. What baffles the minds of various political pundits is the seeming unison of ideologies of these two arch-rival parties. After all, barring some less important issues both parties now seem to be alike in terms of a strong Centre, Pakistan-bashing, tough on the terror approach and so on. I think the voter will be in a fix to choose between these two in the upcoming elections of 2014.

The other matter of concern is the pronounce-ment of a pure socio-political judgment by the Supreme Court of India. The founding fathers of the Indian nation held the Supreme Court in high esteem and wanted this vital organ to be an impartial, impersonal and politically neutral law adjudicating agency. The phrase “collective conscience’’ used by the Apex Court has already attracted a plethora of criticism and venomous remarks. Even senior lawyers in the Supreme Court have come down heavily on this emotive verdict. Not informing the family about the rejection of their mercy plea, the secret hanging and denial of the body to the bereaved family are some other legal excesses which made a dent in the Indian legal system.

The happenings at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and Dehradun will not be out of place to mention here. The ruthless assault on peacefully protesting Kashmiri students by certain goons along with policemen and their subsequent detention tarnished the sanctity of Article 19 of the Indian Constitution guaranteeing the right to assemble and freedom of expression. Even after their release they are being harassed by various communal patriots and many of them have left their studies mid-way. These highly educated students are completely awestruck by the huge difference they witness between the theory and practice of the Indian state. The image of India which would be now in their minds is anybody’s guess.

Jammu and Kashmir is the only State with a negotiated relationship with the Indian Union. Article 370 guarantees this special status. Although this arrangement was badly tampered with over the years, the situation has now reached a point when this State is treated worse than the other States. Pertinently there was no uproar over the resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Assembly seeking clemency for foreign LTTE terrorists.

And now when the Chief Minister has himself admitted that his government was not consulted and the Central Government went ahead with the execution of a Kashmiri State subject of its own, the realisation that Kashmir is treated as a colony is only growing in the State. Not seeking an opinion from a Chief Minister on an issue concerning the security of his State and threatening even his political career is sheer injustice by all yardsticks. As a matter of fact the people in Kashmir had a clouded memory of the tumultuous years of 2008 and 2010, but now with the shabby treatment of their elected government, secret hanging of a Kashmiri who is widely believed to be falsely implicated, and subsequent state repression the outcome is the revival of the separatist tendency. With conti-nually imposed curfews, the image of Omar Abdullah has already suffered a body blow. He is seen less as a competent Chief Minister and perceived more as a cop maintaining law and order in his State at the behest of the Central Government. Such a realisation is bound to alter the political discourse in Kashmir for quite some time. The Congress, which over the years succeeded in creating a niche in the Valley, has lost much of its credibility. If the reports are to be believed, then local Congressmen were also sidetracked by their High Command and kept in the dark about the execution plan.

The common public view is that India has done a great mistake by executing Afzal Guru. This has served no purpose. Terrorism is not going to stop with such a tit-for-tat approach. Had it been so, then there would not have been terrorist strikes in Hyderabad (AP) barely 12 days after the hanging episode. The disadvantages seem to be far greater. Even at the international level India has been sharply criticised. The UN and EU have already expressed their displeasure. Back home a large chunk of scholars, academics and lawyers have openly criticised the decision. Indian Muslim leaders, who rarely spoke about Kashmir-related issues, have also broken their silence. Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan, the President of the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat (AIMMM), said that Afzal Guru did not get a fair trial and his execution was legally and morally unjustified and hasty.

The image of India being a non-violent, peace-loving, tolerant and spiritual country was already at stake, but now it is totally lost. Instances like denying an innocent boy a last glimpse of his about-to-be-hanged father, not allowing a family to perform the last rites of their dear son and even denying the body, a corpse to them, are very disturbing. Moreover insulting, beating and arresting the protesting Kashmiri students and putting the entire populace in Kashmir under prolonged curfews has made a mockery of Indian democracy. Unsurprisingly, it is now branded as a “blood-thirsty country” and even a “banana republic” by some of its most loyal citizenry.

Inside Kashmir separatists have got a fresh life. Till yesterday a minuscule public knew about Afzal Guru’s case. But now people from all ages and all walks of life are abreast with the entire knowledge of his life, his case history, his defence and what not. Afzal Guru is now regarded as a Shaheed and his story is on the lips of the teenage generation. The fact remains that this generation will shape the future political discourse in Kashmir.

With all these facts in hand one may safely conclude that while hanging Afzal Guru and burying his body in Tihar Jail, India has also buried its cherished concepts of non-violence, human rights, tolerance, justice, Gandhism, federalism, satyagraha and democracy. (At least a major chunk of Kashmiris think so.)

Qazi Syed Sajad has worked on Centre-State relations. He can be reached at qazisajad@gmail.com