The Frozen Turbulence of Kashmir

Syed Ali Safvi
The tragedy of Kashmir is that ever since the 14th century it has been ruled by outsiders. The Kashmiri heart yearns for genuine self rule and the bitter truth is that the Kashmiri leaders are no better than puppets in the hands of New Delhi.
Lot of debate is doing the rounds in the political circle of Kashmir regarding ‘self rule’. PDP patron, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, went all the way to New York to explain his party's concept of ‘self rule’. Back in the valley, National Conference blamed New Delhi for not being "clear" on the issue of self rule. The party president while addressing a press conference on November 2 , 2007 described PDP's self rule proposal as Delhi's response to NC's Autonomy. "The Autonomy resolution created ripples in New Delhi. They thought that today Farooq demands Autonomy, tomorrow he might ask for Azadi. So, within a month PDP was created to counter NC." Omer asserted.
It is a great irony that Kashmir has never been ruled (in the real sense of the word) by someone ethnically Kashmiri. Right from the 14th century onwards Kashmir has been ruled by outsiders, while the locals have only had trappings of power. The first Muslim king of Kashmir, Rinchnan, who became famous in the history as Sultan Sadruddin after embracing Islam, was not a Kashmiri but he had arrived from Tibet during the reign of King Suh Dev. Similarly Shah Mir (known by the title of Sultan Sharafud Din), the forbearer of the famous Shah-Mir dynasty which went on to produce sovereigns like Sultan Sikander (the iconoclast) and Sultan Zainul Abideen (Badshah), was not a Kashmiri. He also came to Kashmir during the time of Suh Dev. Similarly, Lankar Chak, the forbearer of Chaks, was a ruler of Dardistan and after he was defeated in a battle by his enemies he came to Kashmir. It is pertinent to mention here that seven rulers of Chak dynasty ruled upon the throne of Kashmir.
After three abortive attempts, the mighty Mughal army was finally successful in conquering Kashmir in 1586. Mughals ruled on the throne of Kashmir for 166 years. They were followed by Afghans. Afghans were followed by Sikhs and then came the Dogras. History of Kashmir bears testimony to the fact that Kashmir has never enjoyed a Self Rule. Even today nothing much has changed and it is still ruled by outsiders. The only difference is that monarchy has been replaced by democracy, but the power equation still remains the same. In the contemporary Kashmir, our domestic mainstream political leaders have only got the trappings of power while the real power has always rested with the honchos in New Delhi. This is the reason why Kashmiri leaders are unable to decide anything on their own.
When the ‘self-rule’ proposal first came to fore, Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, was quick to claim that Kashmir was already enjoying ‘self rule’. "Government of the people, by the people, for the people," this is how the Chief Minister deciphered the ‘self rule’ code.
In truth it is neither a government "by the people" nor a government "of the people" when the Chief Minister says that the state government has given a mandate to the Centre to resolve the Kashmir dispute and that his government was only concerned about the "developmental work". The statement didn't come as a surprise as every one in Kashmir is aware about the stand of the Chief Minister. He is definitely more an Indian than a Kashmiri at heart.
Our state government has failed to make optimum utilization of available natural resources in the state and consequently we are forced to import virtually everything from India. Even after having three major rivers with over 20,000 megawatts of power potential, we are totally dependant on outside power which we do not have the capacity to buy.
It's a high time that the state government realizes its responsibilities and stop being a puppet government. It is the constitutional and moral responsibility for the state government to not only address the grievances of the people of state but subsequently work towards the resolution of the Kashmir imbroglio. Instead of working for ‘others’ interest, let them think of ‘Kashmir First’.