Sayed Sanna
Geelani Sahib AsalamuAlaikum!
I read your press release asking Kashmiri people to be ready for “more harsh and harder days”. Frankly I can’t imagine what can be harsher than already being under strict curfew from last 45 days. If curfews were not enough suffocating, you have without fail released indefinite Hartal calendars with occasional “relaxation time” during evening and night hours (which anyway is not allowed by forces). With due respect, I as a common Kashmiri from downtown Srinagar who has been strictly obeying your Hartal calendars and shares sentiment of Azaadi, want to ask you few questions:
Do you think Indian Government is coming under any pressure by our Hartals and feeling compelled to talk for resolving Kashmir dispute ? I don’t think so. On the contrary they are blackmailing Pakistan with Balochistan and PoK, while labelling our agitation as Pak-sponsored which needs to be dealt with iron hands! Now even if at some time in future they agree to talk ( just talk-not Azadi ), how long will that take? May be it takes years, should we lockup ourselves in our houses all this time? How do you expect us to survive? Have you ever talked to a daily wager, an auto Rickshaw Wala, a Shikara Wala, a laborer, a mason or carpenter, a shopkeeper etc., who form a big section of our community, that are you having any savings ? Are you able to feed your family? Have you placed any alternatives for those who can’t? Why do you forget that whole Kashmir’s economy got completely devastated in Sep 2014 floods? People lost all their business, went in debt and so many even lost their homes. They are yet struggling to come out of that disaster and re-establish their business and others building their houses. Economy is the backbone of any society. If people can’t take care of their basic physiological needs, how do you expect them to bother for Azaadi? Have you seen a cancer patient who has to take chemotherapy doses, but can’t reach hospitals because of Hartals and curfews? He simply has to die in home like other patients who require regular health care. Do you think we cease to be human, with all human needs, because we want Azaadi?? Hartals have never harmed our enemies even a bit but us ourselves.
If these Hartals, don’t yield any significant results towards our Azaadi, just like months long Hartals of 2008 and 2010 didn’t, how do you expect to answer the people who are sacrificing so much?? in other words, consider that Indian Government doesn’t bother at all for our Hartals, how do you see the end. Will you call back Hartals or will you wait people themselves defy your Hartal calls ?? In either case it’s going to be embarrassing for you. Why have you made Hartals a litmus test to know who supports Azaadi?
In between the Hartals, why don’t you give us deal for fews days to go out and earn to gear up for the Hartal days ? If you plan for months long Hartals then best would have been that you inform people well in advance. Best time for Hartals would have been winter months when economic activity is low in Kashmir and everyone prefers to sit back home. Let people earn in summer months to save and stock for winter Hartals. But here you catch people by surprise in the middle of their busy life. Or is it the fear that once life gets normal for few days, may be people will not observe Hartals or protest with same vigour?? Well in that case, may be such people don’t deserve Azaadi who forget the cause within short duration. Or may be you need to do more ground work to educate the people about freedom struggle.
As much I know about you and have heard from you, it appears to me beyond doubt that you are a religious person who wants us to follow Islam in all affairs of life. With my little but basic knowledge of Islam, can you please tell me where does Islam teache us months long Hartals as a protest?? Does self harming Hartals have any place in Islam?? Has our Prophet (SAW) taught us to shut down all activities of life indefinitely in protest of something? On the contact there is one of his saying that Poverty almost leads to Kufr (disbelief) !. There is no doubt that Hartals are bringing us poverty. Can you give a single example in the whole Islamic history when there existed any concept of Hartals. Infact, the word Hartal is itself derived from a Gujarati word Hadtaal which MK Gandhi used and thus popularised in his non-coperation movement during Indian independence struggle! However, even his Hartals weren’t months long. They were just symbolic way of resistance. Now if you want to copy Gandhian style of protest-then fine. But then why stick to only Hartal, you can see he had adopted many more powerful ways of protest like tax resistance and economic boycott. Why are you ignoring all those ways. Now that times have changed, you can come up with many more types of protests which were not possible 100 years ago. Infact you already had come up with some alternative ways of protest like graffiti and singing Taranas. You can suggest online protests, vigils, demonstrations, rallies, sit-ins, etc. too. Why only Hartals!?? Now if we see the Islamic way of stopping any evil or injustice, I think it has been best explained in this Hadith of prophet (SAW): “Whosoever of you sees an evil / injustice, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then [let him change it] with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart and that is the weakest of faith.” Its clear from this hadith that if we can’t fight with force then we should speak out against the occupation in all possible ways but not lockup ourselves in our homes doing nothing else. This is my last and most important question to you. Why do you suggest youth to enforce the Hartals by blocking roads? Although majority of Kashmiris themselves observe Hartals, but if anyones doesn’t want to why should he/she be forced? In Islam, even praying Nimaz in middle of road is prohibited if it causes inconvenience to the commuters. Removing of harmful objects from road is considered a big virtue in Islam. Contrary to this, you ask people to lay down hurdles like stones, pipes, and burnt tyres! This is completely unjustified. Let people act by their own free will.
So, Geelani Sahib, I hope you answer these basic questions so that I stay convinced to continue my Hartal. Otherwise my humble advice is that abandon this useless tactics of Hartal. What is needed is not impulsive event triggered self-harming 24×7 protest which is followed by curfew and crackdown on mobile networks/ media/ internet/ TV by the State to break the will of people. As we learn from recent past, such protests suddenly end after a short duration with no benefits. We instead require a sustained protest campaign, may be for only few minutes a day, but spread over the whole year. We need to make protest an integral part of our daily life, while we continue to normally carry on with other activities. It should not be a choice between protesting and living a normal life. It is time that we Kashmiris learn to integrate the two. Come up with politically mature, practical and sustainable ways of protests. End this siege of Kashmir.