Rahul Gandhi needs to correct wrong narrative on Kashmir

Rahul Gandhi’s visits to Kashmir could be compared to the visit Mahatma Gandhi had made on the eve of freedom. Gandhi Ji was on a tour of the State from 1-4 August 1947. When he reached Srinagar, he was accorded a grand welcome by Begum Akbar Jehan, the wife of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, accompanied by 500 women social and political activists

Rahul Gandhi’s public meeting in Anantnag was a huge success. His every sentence received applause. The Congress leader has certainly generated hope among the people who have lived a life of hopelessness for a long time. However, the question remains whether the Indian State is ready to provide any relief to the people. Could the election results influence the decisions of the central government? Could Rahul Gandhi fulfill his promise to bring back statehood to the State? It will require agitations and protests even if the Congress-National Conference alliance under the banner of the INDIA alliance gets people’s mandate in the State.

In any case, Rahul Gandhi’s initiative cannot be dismissed as a routine political exercise. As in other cases, he also looks serious here. He is trying to properly articulate the complex issue of Kashmir. He does not limit his assertions to the politics of autonomy only. He is talking about unemployment, communal harmony, and all other issues people in Kashmir are facing in their lives. It makes his politics different from that of other political players in the State, including Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, and others.

The legacy of the Congress and the Gandhi family also helps the politics of Rahul. His great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru was a proud Kashmiri Pandit. He immensely influenced its politics. He played an active role in integrating the freedom struggle of Kashmiris into the Indian freedom struggle. The Muslim Conference changed its name to the National Conference. An organization that was talking of Muslim interests in the early 1930s converted itself to the creed of secularism. It became the voice of all communities of Jammu and Kashmir, including Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and other ethnic groups. It is well known that Nehru’s Kashmiri background helped him gain the confidence of the local population. Sheikh Abdullah, the tallest leader of the State, was his friend.

Rahul Gandhi’s visits to Kashmir could be compared to the visit Mahatma Gandhi had made on the eve of freedom. Gandhi Ji was on a tour of the State from 1-4 August 1947. When he reached Srinagar, he was accorded a grand welcome by Begum Akbar Jehan, the wife of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, accompanied by 500 women social and political activists. He met the people of Kashmir. During the three days of his stay, he expressed his feelings and views about the Kashmir issue. He found “a ray of hope” in Kashmir when the Indian subcontinent was engulfed in the communal fire. Unlike other parts of India, Kashmir witnessed no communal violence. Gandhi was of the firm opinion that Kashmir, with its Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh population, could provide an antidote for the subcontinent’s Hindu-Muslim divide.

Gandhi was clear in his views on the Kashmir issue. He believed that it was the Kashmiris who only had the right to decide about their future. He also expressed his opinion that after the raiders were repulsed, ‘Kashmir would belong to the Kashmiris’.

There should not be any hesitation in accepting that Rahul Gandhi’s approach has a lot to do with the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi. The way he interacts with the youth and women of Kashmir reminds us of Mahatma Gandhi’s connection with the common people of the State. The response he received in Kashmir in his Bharat Jodo Yatra shows the depth of his connection with the people.

In his rallies, he gave an expression to the resentment of the local people when he attacked the rule of the Lieutenant Governor by terming it the “rule of a monarch." However, he also made it clear that he dreams of a Kashmir that is free from communal biases. He assured Kashmiri Pundits a fair deal.

The task of bringing Kashmir back to normalcy is not at all easy. Kashmir has been the victim of political dishonesty by different political formations. The Congress government in New Delhi also made huge mistakes and failed Kashmiris. Had it fulfilled its promises made to the people of the state, it would not have to face the present situation. Kashmiris had joined the Indian union that would be given the required autonomy to govern their state. It did not happen. Instead, they were deprived of their right to choose their representatives through fair elections.

What was the main reason behind the failure of the Indian government in carrying the people of Kashmir? It is not very hard to discover. The disillusion among the people was primarily caused by the Indian government’s abandoning the principles of federalism. Indeed, there were separatist tendencies in the state inspired by fundamentalists and abetted by Pakistan. However, we must remember that the National Conference, under the leadership of great Sheikh Abdullah, had defeated them during and after the independence struggle. We forgot that they fought tribal raiders and, with the help of the Indian army, expelled them from Kashmir. We even choose to forget that the Kashmir mission of the Indian Army was led by Brigadier Usman. We forgot how Sheikh and his associates did not allow Jinnah and his Muslim League to make any foothold in Kashmir. Sheikh had to fight simultaneously both the Muslim League and the Hindutva forces. One should not forget that the Hindutva organization had supported Maharaja Hari Singh when he made the Standstill Treaty with Pakistan. He delayed the accession of Kashmir till the raiders attacked the state.

Bharatiya Janata Party inherits the legacy of the same Hindutva forces. Its predecessor, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, has played an important role in making a communal narrative. The party made the issue of Article 370 a national issue. The article had assured Kashmir of the required autonomy. The BJP has been harvesting political gains from it. However, the issue proved to be of no consequence when we find that the abrogation of the article has made no difference as far as terrorism is concerned. Snatching the statehood of Kashmir only vitiated the situation.

Rahul Gandhi has an uphill task to correct the Kashmir narrative.

(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy)