Need For A Better System of Protest/ To Gain Azadi, Kashmiris Must Give Up Hartal and Work Hard Instead!

Need For A Better System of Protest:

By Usmaan Raheem Ahmad (Kashmir Diary Vol IX 1997-1998)

Protest is the most important tool at the hands of the movement. It has been a long time since we have seen the massive protests of 1990 which were so effective in attracting sympathy for the Kashmir cause. India’s unprovoked violence against those marches proved very important in attracting attention to the cause. Massive protest has become difficult because India has been careful not to allow a major gathering to occur and if one starts it acts-quickly. Ways should be found around this obstacle. Instead of doing so, the movement has generically employed the hartal (strike) as its regular form of protest. This has caused much inconvenience to the civilians and has made many people critical against the movement. 

Hartal has its usefulness, but its overuse has been detrimental. For the past few years it has worked almost like a self-imposed curfew. It has caused severe damage to Kashmir’s economy. Ironically, it also makes things easier for security forces. For example, when Deve Gowda visited Srinagar in July it was decided to call a hartal. This took people off the streets and into their homes, which must have made things easier for the security forces to do their job. 

Hartal also has broader psychological effects. By continually calling hartals, families are forced inside their homes which physically separates Kashmiris from each other. This division gives way to entire days of complaining and “Gibat” which fosters social division in general. 

Unity is need for this cause. Let public, unifying forms of protest he employed. Not only will it unite and restore morale, but it can serve to damage India’s image. If India clamps down and imposes a curfew every time a protest takes place it will only show the world that it is losing control.

To Gain Azadi (Freedom), Kashmiris Must Give Up Hartal (Strike) And Work Hard Instead!:

By Rafique A. Khan (Kashmir Diary Vol IX 1997-98)

In Kashmir staying away from work has become routine action (rather than inaction) for achieving Azadi (freedom). Strikes are the only method of collective expression. Frequent calls for the strikes by the Kashmiri leaders create adversity for Kashmiris and does not advance the cause of freedom. Moreover, while the Kashmiris stay away from work to express their wish for freedom, the economical underpinning of their homeland is being eroded. 

Last year on December 15, Jamiatul Mujahideen, one of the many Kashmiri freedom fighter groups issued a Hartal (strike) call to protest the thirty year old division of Pakistan. On December 15, 1970 after a civil war, East Pakistan separated and became Bangladesh. While the Kashmiris took December 15 off from work, the people in Pakistan went about their workday business. Bangladeshi’s celebrate December 15 as their nation’s independence day. The Kashmiri strike, outside of Kashmir, went unnoticed, as do the many other hundreds of strikes held routinely in Kashmir. Kashmiris abhor Indian rule of last fifty years. They want to sever all ties with India. They desire freedom. Last year, after a direct rule of seven years by the Central Government of India, a civilian government headed by Farooq Abdulla was installed. As part of the change in the government, India announced an economic development program to improve conditions in Kashmir. Kashmiri masses responded by observing another day of Hartal. 

Staying home is the only mass activity for Azadi (freedom) in Kashmir. The calls for strikes are so frequent by the umbrella coordinating committee of political parties named Kashmir Hurriyat (freedom) committee, it is nicknamed Kashmir Hartal (strike) committee. The economy of Kashmir is in a dismal condition. The budget pundits of India maintain that huge sums in subsidies keep the Kashmir from sinking economically. An Indian official once dismissed the premise of Kashmir’s economic viability by a snide remark that “the economy of Kashmir cannot remain afloat on houseboats alone”. 

Farooq Abdulla as the new head of government in Kashmir seeks an “economic package” to help restore Kashmir’s economy. During the last seven years of the Central Government Administration in Kashmir the government budget deficit in Kashmir has grown to Rupees 900 crores, approx. US $300 million. The State coffers have run dry. The Kashmir government has overdrawn Rs. 548 crores from its bank account. The Kashmir government, one could argue, should seek damages from the Indian government. The present economic mess in Kashmir was created on the Indian watch -when Kashmir was totally and directly governed by India – and a new Kashmir government asking for restitution is reasonable. At present income per capita in Kashmir is in eleventh position among all Indian states, down from the sixth position it held in 1988. But the Farooq government can make no such demands. Farooq’s purpose in asking for the “economic package”, most observers suspect, is to provide graft for political cronies and favorite officials. Little, if any, of the ‘economic package’ will leak outside the official circle. Most Kashmiris know that. What the Kashmiris do not seem to realize is that all the money that comes from Delhi travels back to India after adding interest, paid for by the Kashmiris labor. Such is the historical legacy of Kashmir. 

The rulers of Kashmir have always lamented about the poor resources of Kashmir, while they plundered the riches of Kashmir. Ghulab Singh, after his purchase of Kashmir from the East India Company, complained that most of his acquired domain was either mountain or marshland. Ghulab Singh extracted what he paid the British (Rupees 75 lakhs) within two years of his reign by taxing the Kashmiris. Dogra reign in Kashmir lasted a hundred years. During the Dogra reign, among the many oppressive taxes, one was for an endowment at Banaras University in India. There was no university in existence in Kashmir during the 100 year Dogra rule. Perhaps some of the makers of Farooq economic package in New Delhi are alumni of Banaras University.

Squandering Of Resources Is Not Economic Development 

The Kashmiris economic context was captured by Alama lqbal in the following verse (1931 – Bangi Jihreial): 

“Kashri Ki Babandigi Kho Gar ifta; Bud Me Tamshand Rasngi Mazari 

Ba Resham Kaba Khoja Az Mehnat Oa; Nasseb Tallish Junta Tar Tani”

“Kashmiri entrapped in such servitude; Of gravestones he carves idols 

His labor provides silks for Master; Fate has for his body tattered robe”

To understand the present dilemma of Kashmir one does not need the intellect of Iqbal. A member of the Farooq government explains it well in a published interview (The Kashmir Times, November 3, 1996). In an interview with Masood Hussain, Mohammad Shari, Finance Minister of Farooq Government explains Kashmiris present economy in the following words: “The state is on the verge of virtual fiscal collapse and seven years or turmoil have rendered it bankrupt”. The state government budget expense for 1996-97 was Rs. 4,470.43 crores. The government revenue was Rs. 4,122.50 crores. Revenues include an overdraft from Jammu and Kashmir Bank. Bank interest on the overdraft alone was Rs. 90 crores. The Minister also notes that one third of the budget allocated for development works was “to be utilized to meet the non-plan gap.” In plain English, it means that one third of Jammu and Kashmir State Budget was used to pay the salary and war material of Central Government employees to police Kashmiris. The Minister in his interview said that Jammu and Kashmir State is “sinking under a mountain of debt … (in March 1997) arrears towards center are estimated to touch around Rs. 2,545.63 crores.” 

How did the Kashmir government get into such a heavy debt? Says Minister Shati, “Kashmir is under massive debt because injustice was meted out to the state…. While others (States ) were getting a 90 percent grant, we were getting just 10 percent.” A part of the revenue collected by the Indian Central Government -customs, income tax, etc. – is distributed back among the States as part of Central Government budget allocation. The budget allocated to the Indian States adjacent to Kashmir was 90 percent as grant and 10 percent as loan. But Jammu and Kashmir State budget allocation was different. Until 1991 its budget was 30 percent grant and 70 percent loan. Since, 1991 the budget allocation for Kashmir was changed to be same as other Indian States. 

The interest payment on the loan from 1947 to 1991 owed by the Kashmir State government makes a major portion of the Kashmir budget. Minister Shafi wants “… to be compensated on the financial front as the promises were not honored by the Center till 1991.” Why would the promises be honored? Were they ever honored? The mountain of debt and unkempt promises are only two among many “development plan schemes” which cut at the root of financial viability of Kashmir. 

Foundation for Development: Stolen 

Energy or electric power is a basic requirement of modern development. Electric power generation began in Kashmir at the turn of the nineteenth century. The hydro-electric power station at Mohora was one the first hydro stations built in the Indian sub-continent. It was commissioned to bring electric light to the Maharajas palaces and power their factories producing their wealth. A hundred years later, the present available electric power in Kashmir per person is among the lowest in the entire sub-continent. And yet power generated by the river waters of Kashmir lights up millions of homes and work places in India and Pakistan.

Following the partition of the sub-continent, on the Pakistan side of Kashmir, Mangla power project provides electricity for most of Pakistan. On the Indian side, in Kashmir growth of power generation is minimal. The future of power development potential has been mortgaged. As Minister Shall notes: “The state has been put to a serious disadvantage by the Indus Water treaty. While most of the central and other north Indian states are using water according to their choice, the treaty snatches our perennial rights on our own water resources.” Under the Indus Waters Treaty signed by India and Pakistan on September 19, 1960, the waters of the three eastern rivers, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej, were allocated to the Indian Punjab, and the waters of the three western rivers- Indus, Jhelum and Chenab were assigned to the Pakistani Punjab. The treaty under the auspices of the World Bank was supposed to be the framework for an amicable settlement between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir dispute. Thirty-seven years down the road, the World Bank and India have forgotten the understanding.

According to Mr. Shafi, the waters of Kashmir have a capacity potential to generate 15,000 mega watts of power. Only 4 percent (600 mega watts) capacity has been tapped. The Government of India has invested more than Rs 150,000 crores in the public sector, building power plants in India. In Kashmir, according to Minister Shafi, “…our state has got a couple of crores.” That amounts to .0001 % of Indian Government investment on building power plants. Notes the Minister, “If the power crisis ends, we shall have our resources to bank upon.” But how is the crisis to end? As Mr. Shafi notes: “We are not permitted to utilize our own resources. Whatever resources are being utilized like run off from the river projects like Salal and Uri Hydel-Projects controlled by the Central Government- we are not getting anything- just 12 percent of the power generated as royalty.” The state is “pleading” says the Minister, for transferring rights of these two NHPC (Central Government) owned power projects to the state. Mr. Shafi asserts that “we are not begging, it is our right because we have been put to a disadvantage because of a treaty which gives Pakistan perennial rights of our neighbors, unlike other neighboring states.” The power crisis, Minister Shafi admits, is the root cause of backwardness in the state.

As noted earlier, electric power was developed in Kashmir at the turn of the century at Mohora. The Mohora power station provided electricity to process silk yarn. The silk yarn from Kashmir fed the mills in England. Writing for the National Geographic Magazine, October 1929, Florence H. Morden notes that the Kashmir silk factory “…establishment at Srinagar is one of the largest in the world, employing 5,000 men and women. Five filatures of delicate machinery each 452 feet long, produce 1,200 pounds of silk a day.” As a point of interest, the first Kashmiri uprising against Dogra rule was an agitation for better working conditions by the silk factory workers. It was ruthlessly suppressed, scores of workers were killed, agitation leaders were banished from Kashmir. 

Dying Silk Trade of Kashmir

A hundred years later now, the silk industry in Kashmir is nearly extinct. Muzaffar Azim, in an article titled: A Dying Silk Trade and Callous Silk Board (August 12, 1994). notes that, from Rs 15 to Rs 25 per chatang “the age-old silk industry of the state is facing death and that is due to the central and state agencies responsible for its development.” Farmers of silk cocoons in Kashmir, notes Azim (25,000 families) were paid Rs. 25 per chatang of silk cocoon. For the same amount farmers of Karnataka State got Rs. 60, for a poorer quality cocoon. The Government of India, notes Azim, claims credit for the rapid progress of sericulture of Karnataka. But in Kashmir, the government is not “able to maintain the existing silk worm races at the level at which they were obtained by them in 1958”. The state run Sericulture Department was taken over by the Indian Government in 1958 and according to Azim “there has been no improvement since then.” The seed stations in Kashmir were transferred to the Indian Silk Board in 1981, according to Azim, on the understanding that in addition to the qualified staff, a cold storage plant and other modern equipment would be provided. That has not been done. By way of comparison, in 1982 the price of silk cocoon was raised by the government very reluctantly from Rs 15 to Rs 25 per chatang (still less than half of price paid by the government in Karnataka). The production of cocoons was boosted from 640 metric tons, despite the unfavorable weather that year. 

Shawl Industry: A Lost Trade

In Kashmir mismanagement of resources is the rule and not an exception. This becomes apparent also from the study of another historic Kashmiri industry, the famed Kashmir shawl. Ever since Napoleon Bonaparte gave a Kashmir shawl as a gift to his empress Josephine, the textile has signified elegance. Josephine made the shawl the fashion rage in Europe. Kani shawl became a major source of revenue for the tax collectors of Kashmir. “In their heyday, Kashmir shawls kept 16,000 looms humming”. Kani shawl production at one time employed 50,000 workers. At present it may be difficult to find fifty Kani looms in all of Kashmir. Old Kani shawls as marvels of glowing textiles grace the museum and galleries of Europe and America. Indian traders scavenge old shawls from flea markets of Europe and sell them on the high fashion streets of New Delhi for Rs. 100,000 and more. 

In Kashmir, while the Kani shawl industry is practically extinct, a related craft of crewel -hand embroidered fabric used for upholstery – still survives. A Kashmiri-American entrepreneur in a single year imported 400,000 yards of crewel to New York. Recently he gave up the trade. Among the reason for doing so was Indian regulations that impede lucrative marketing of crewel. Kashmir is at the tail end of Indian customs and transportation network. Custom clearance for export is located at an 800 miles distance. To get to the nearest sea port, three modes of transportation are involved. Products of Kashmir: crewel, carpets, fruit and handicrafts, and the tourist trade, are a significant source of foreign exchange earnings for India. Kashmir should have an international airport. The nearest international airport to Kashmir is 400 miles distant at New Delhi. 

Neglect and Mismanagement of the Economy 

It is evident that industry and enterprise which produce real wealth and well-being are deliberately not promoted in Kashmir. Instead, enterprises which provide seedbed for corruption are promoted. A case in point is Minister Shaft’s boss, Farooq Abdulla’s current proposal for the employment of 125,000 educated unemployed youth in Kashmir. Farooq wants to add the unemployed to the police force in Kashmir. In Kashmir, at this time when for every six Kashmiri civilians there is one armed Indian soldier on guard, Farooq wants to expand employment of police, a non-productive work force! 

At the state government level, according to Minister Shafi, sixty percent of the Kashmir budget is spent on salaries of over 350,000 government employees. Kashmir has no money to spend on salaries, so the Farooq government wants the Center to provide employment for the unemployed. Minister Shafi wants 10,000 jobs in the Central Services, every year for the next ten years. In the past 50 years not even 50 Kashmiris- not counting Nehru relatives and cronies – were employed in the Central Services. The Farooq government wants 10, 000 Kashmiris to be given Central Service jobs every year for the next ten years! 

In the past, Kashmiri youth has been employed en-masse in jobs like development administrators and as traffic police officers. These jobs were viewed as choice jobs, given to sons of favorites, because the jobs provided opportunities for graft. Another avenue for employment was a militia force, (nicknamed by Kashmiris as Khooftan Fakirs, Night Beggars). The militia men were used to intimidate and silence any protest against autocratic rule and corruption. Thus the Kashmiri youth that had the potential of becoming productive law abiding citizens were made into instruments of evil. The Farooq government wants to perpetuate this legacy. As a police force another generation of Kashmiri youth instead of producing and promoting economic growth of Kashmir will become an unproductive drain on its resources. Kashmiris are now a nation of consumers, not producers. Can such a nation tread on the road to freedom? 

Which Way To Freedom: Strikes or Hard Work? 

Kashmir continues to be in the grip of ruthless tyranny. Kashmiris do need to find means to express their distress and anguish and their solidarity. Work strike is counterproductive. Strikes have no adverse effect on Indian interests. As it is now, for the Indian establishment, a day of strike in Kashmir is an easy day off work. For all India cares, Kashmiris might as well go on strike for the whole year and year after. It would not matter. 

The point here is that a well-organized and disciplined work interruption as a protest stop can be far more affective than a day of “holiday.” Kashmiris need to counter the Indian occupation with cost effective and workable ideas such as the one recently proposed by Mr. Shabir Shah when he challenged Farooq Abdulla in the following words: “Let Farooq Abdulla organize public meeting in historic Lal Chowk and deliver a speech, if he claims to have been elected by the people. I will see how many people come to listen to him.. . . We, too will come after 15 days if the government allows people freely to listen to us and let the world media be present there to understand the truth of our movement.” By this direct and effective method Mr. Shah dismantled the mountain of lies that India had constructed about the recent election process in Kashmir. Days, even months of a strike could not have made the point any better. 

Shabir Shah describes the task for freedom seeking Kashmiris, in an interview published in Mountain Valley Kashmir (November 18^th, 1996), “We have to run a parallel government to counter every move of the state at all levels and on fronts.” Instead of staying home and not working, Kashmiris need to work harder than before.

The government salaried employees, during the last seven years, routinely shun work and stay home. A strike day for the government employee is a day of rest. Work stoppage does not effect the salaried employees or the politicians. Businesses also make up the loss some other time. Work strikes adversely effect the most vulnerable sections of the society. For a daily wager loss of a day’s earning can mean starvation. For most of the student population of Kashmir, continued strike meant illiteracy.

Consequences of the last seven years of (in)action are brought to focus by Vijay Dhar. In an article in India Today, Let’s Build Trust In The Valley (June 15^th, 1995), Dhar describes Kashmiri investments in India. He has asked this question: “Do the authorities know that there are at least 6,000 students from Kashmir studying in Karnataka, 8,000 in Maharastra, most of them Muslims, each having paid an average of Rs 6 lakh as capitation fee?” Maharaja Pratab Singh endowed one Indian university. By Dhar’s estimate, Kashmiris have invested Rs 840,000,000 to help build universities in India. Meanwhile, all educational institutions are in shambles in Kashmir. In America, an average university provides employment to some 5,000 persons, in a variety of jobs from professors to peons. How many jobs and how many universities could be capitalized by the 85 crores capitation fee spent by Kashmiris in Karnataka and other places away from Kashmir?

Kashmiris who call for strikes need to consider the enormous cost of their (in)action. Protest is an important tool for freedom fighters. The massive protests of 1990 were effective in attracting world attention and sympathy. Organized protest is not now allowed by India. Ways must be found to organize protest that will unify people. Protest is meant to unite people under a common cause. Hartal divides and fosters negative reactions. It weakens community togetherness. Efforts must be made to find ways of protest which will unite the people physically and socially, and help build institutions. The present Kashmiri hartals-read holidays- do not foster building institutions. Responsible institutions for governance are a prerequisite for freedom. Building and maintaining the institutions- a functioning parallel government- should be the aim of freedom seekers. To achieve that aim Kashmiris must give up hartals and instead go to work to build institutions and other mechanisms for self-government.

To quote Alama Iqbal once more:

“Yahi Hai Sar Kalimi Har Ik Zamai Me,

 Hawai Dast, Wa Shoaib, Wa Sabani Sabauroz”

“This is the mystery of emancipation in every era purity of purpose, 

Honesty-nobility, and community service, day and night.”