From: Habib Yousafzai <yousafzai49@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Feb 13, 2011 at 2:04 AM
Subject: [bangla-vision] 'Cairo tumult has lessons for Kashmir'
'Cairo tumult has lessons for Kashmir'
FAHEEM ASLAM
Srinagar, Feb 12: Ouster of the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak after 18 days of continued struggle by the people seems to have generated a lot of interest in Kashmir, with the political circles in Jammu and Kashmir, both mainstream and separatists, having their own take on Friday's development.
Though observers make a clear-cut distinction between the political scenario in Egypt and that in Jammu and Kashmir, they nevertheless sense that the Egypt triumph had many a lessons to offer for Kashmir.
Hurriyat Conference (G) chairman, Syed Ali Geelani, who has been spearheading the last year's "Quit Kashmir Movement", feels that the people of Egypt remained extraordinarily disciplined in their fight against the dictatorship of Hosni Mubarak. "When people remain disciplined, united and demonstrate peacefully, they straightway win. Egypt has shown that," Geelani told Greater Kashmir over phone from New Delhi, clearly believing that the Mubarak's ouster had lessons for Kashmir.
"It is my unshakable faith that if we remain disciplined and protest peacefully we will succeed in our goal of achieving the right to self determination," Geelani said.
Drawing parallels between the role played by the security forces in Egypt and that in Kashmir, Geelani said: "See the difference. Army didn't act against the protesters in Egypt, but here the forces including the Jammu and Kashmir Police open fire on peaceful protesters and the state government is unable to do anything in this regard."
The veteran leader hoped that the people of Egypt are now given a chance to elect a government which would ensure justice to the people and honour human rights. "The transition must not be a mere change of hands in the system. It must be a true transition where human life is valued and the human rights honoured," Geelani said.
He urged the world community to support the Kashmir cause like it supported the Egypt movement. "Suppression has to end one day. Egypt is reflective of the fact that people can't be silenced through military might and use of force," he said.
Pertinently, a New York Times report Saturday said a "new era dawned in Egypt as this nation of 80 million — and hundreds of millions beyond its borders — began to absorb the fact that an 18-day mass movement of non-violent protest brought down a 30-year military dictatorship and renewed the country's lease on life."
"The People Overthrew the Regime," read the headline in Al-Ahram, the flagship state-owned national newspaper and former government mouthpiece, borrowing a line from the protest movement.
The Chairman of a faction of Peoples Conference Sajjad Gani Lone minces no words in drawing parallels between the Egypt win and the struggle in Kashmir, with a special focus on the leadership. "The people's movement in Egypt was against the system but within the system," he said. "Once you compare it with Kashmir, you'll find that the movement here is for secession, not changes within the system."But, Lone said, the Egypt victory makes it clear that the movements can succeed without leaders. "It also brings to fore a fundamental fact that we have a very inefficient and incapable leadership in Kashmir. Time has come to acknowledge that our leadership is far below par than the level of sacrifices," he said. "This must make us understand that we should not allow the leaders to hijack the movement. There is a common joke making rounds that the people in Egypt succeeded because there was no Geelani. The onus lies on the people who must understand that whenever there is a mass movement, they must now allow a section of leadership to hijack it, which is often the case in Kashmir."
Referring to use of force in Egypt against the protesters, Lone said in Kashmir, forces open fire on the peaceful protesters which is not the case with Egypt. "Here the forces open fire just at the drop of the hat," he said. "And there the protesters are supported by Army."
The Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Muhammad Yasin Malik asserts that democracy was far better than dictatorship, which was prevalent in Egypt. "Democracy is better than dictatorship. Even in a bad democracy, people have a choice to change the ruler after five years. I am sure that the transition in Egypt will usher in a healthy trend in the Arab world," he told Greater Kashmir from New Delhi, ruling out that Egypt had any lesson to offer for Kashmir.
"There the Army didn't open fire on the protesters. Instead the soldiers demonstrated a sense of belonging and offered prayers with the protesters. But in Kashmir one lakh people have offered sacrifices for the cause and protesters are being killed, not supported," Malik said.
The Chairman of National Front, Nayeem Ahmad Khan, feels that the Egypt win was the recognition of the people's peaceful movement. "It has vindicated the public stand. At the same time, the democratic world has acknowledged the protesters' demands in Egypt and supported their movement," he said.
But, Khan said, this support should not be selective. "In 2008, 2009 and 2010 Kashmir saw a peaceful people's movement but the world powers and international media maintained silence over it. That should not be the case. They must focus on the resolution of conflicts like Palestine and Kashmir like the resolution of conflicts in East Timor and Sudan recently," he said.
As Kashmiris, Khan said, "we can feel the pain and agony that the Egyptians must have undergone due to suppression." "People in Egypt and Cairo have been fighting for the fundamental rights. At the end truth prevailed. This has lessons for Kashmir that we must not lose our hopes and should stick to our values and fundamentals. At last justice will prevail," he said.
For mainstream political circles in Kashmir, the people's victory in Egypt is worth appreciation. "We congratulate the people of Egypt for their victory," said the Peoples Democratic Party president, Mehbooba Mufti.
Drawing parallels between Egypt and Kashmir, she said people in the Arab country did not face any charges from the authorities, but the leadership in Kashmir dubs protesters as "drug addicts and LeT agents."
She lauded the role of Army in Egypt. "They protected their own people," she said, asserting that people of Jammu and Kashmir were the first to respond to the "global abhorrence of violence" after the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
But, she said, the leadership in New Delhi didn't respond to the transition. "People of Kashmir participated in 2002 elections but the central government failed to respond to the people's transition from violent to non-violence means of protests," Mehbooba said.
Senior Congress leader, Abdul Gani Vakil, feels that the Egypt woke up to fight against suffocation in an undemocratic system. "When people feel suffocation in an undemocratic system, they will definitely go against the system. That is what happened in Egypt. Now the new generation there studies and understands the injustice. In that context, it is a very good signal we should not take it otherwise. Some say it will encourage fundamentalism. I don't think it is like that," he said.
He said in Jammu and Kashmir, there was a democratic set up in vogue. "And here things will depend on the level of deliverance on ground. If one doesn't deliver, people will go against him," Vakil said.
Senior counsel, Zaffar Shah, believes that the collective will of the people of Egypt ultimately prevailed." It shows the state might has to surrender before the collective will. It has established that the ultimate power vests in the people," he said. "The people need to be appreciated for having adopted pragmatic, non-violent, peaceful course to achieve their objective. The world community, despite their interests in Egypt, also had to ultimately line up with the people and support their cause."
Shah forecasts that the change of wind is likely to blow in many other countries where similar situations exist. "It is only a matter of time," he said, asserting that the Egypt victory must make the state leadership in Jammu and Kashmir and the state authority learn the lesson.
"It should be an eye opener to all of us. Though the issues are different, but means adopted where so effective that the people forced their solutions to the problems," Shah said.
The Egypt win has not only exited the common people in the Valley, but academics as well. "It (the Egypt win) is exciting. It shows what is possible and instructs both the power as well as the people," said Prof Siddiq Wahid, the Vice-Chancellor of the Islamic University of Science and Technology Awanitpora.
IT'LL CHANGE DISCOURSE IN MIDDLE EAST: MIRWAIZ
In an e-mail to Greater Kashmir this evening, the Hurriyat Conference M Chairman, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said: "I believe it is going to change the discourse in the entire Middle East. The subjugated people have spoken and spoken very clearly. It is clear that the will of the people is ultimately what matters and that is exactly what we are struggling for. It will give a huge boost to the morale of not only Palestine struggle but also Kashmir.
No matter how strong and powerful the oppressor is, at the end the power of the people matter."
Pertinently, Mirwaiz is presently in US.
Quote Unquote
* Discipline, dedication must: Geelani
* Don't allow leaders to hijack movement: Sajjad Lone
* Democracy is better than dictatorship: Yasin Malik
* Caution for GOI: Mehbooba Mufti
* Truth prevails at last: Khan
Palash Biswas
Pl Read:
http://nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com/
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