DOST KHAN
JAMMU: Delhi peace pigeons’ Mission Kashmir, a day ahead of the expiry of weekly calendar of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, alias Geelani Qalander, raises several questions, the answer to which lie only with Sushoba Barve, a self-styled activist, who carried Yashwant Sinha, Wajahat Habibullah and Kapil Kak to Srinagar to meet chronic India bashers.
The visit can’t be just a coincidence with the wrapping up of Hurriyat calendar, which may or may not be extended tomorrow. Is there more than that meets the eyes? Is this visit a planned event to provide ‘facesaver’ to Hurriyat trio-Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar and Yasin Malik-to wriggle out from the situation they have got themselves trapped in the Valley, locked for 107 days? Is the visit of peace pigeons a manifestation of SoS sent by the Hurriyat trio to avert huge embarrassment they are likely to face due to their fast declining appeal among Kashmiris, who have started feeling ‘fatigue syndrome’ in the wake of current unrest? Sushoba Barve and her so-called NGO, Centre for Dialogue Resolution, owes answers to all these questions, as the Kashmiri separatists have not only tormented Indian psyche but also mocked the valiant soldiers who continue to offer valuable sacrifices on borders and in the mainland. The controversial NGO cannot accord respectability and credibility to spent force of separatists, who are otherwise at the verge of receiving end from the people of Kashmir.
The tragedy of the Indian nation is that whenever Kashmir showed signs of improvement and reconciliation, even during peak of terrorism, the so-called activists and self-styled Track-II agents chipped in to keep the pot boiling and provide much needed oxygen to discredited secessionists. Precisely this is being repeated this point of time as well. The ground situation in the Valley is that the people are about to revolt against Geelani Qalender’s calendar, which is evident from open defiance by residents, who are moving around with a sort of contempt. The recent traffic jams in Srinagar and activity across the Valley is a mute reminder of separatists’ futility. It is now just question of days when the separatists would be pushed to wall, lest the peace pigeons from outside the State keep them alive by providing a sort of respectability.
True, Yashwant Sinha is a spent force and the other two gentlemen have no more credentials than being ‘drawing-room’ experts on Kashmir, but the question arises who has mandated them to meet anti-India elements. What is the motivation and who has been funding these trips? Despite lack of knowledge on Kashmir problem, Sushoba Barve’s NGO has generated immense controversy in the past for holding seminars with those as key speakers whose anti-India antecedents are well known. Her visit to Handwara soon after the notorious stone-pelting season in 2010 (on 12th November) in the company of MLA Er Rasheed is self-explanatory. With due regards to her person, Sushoba Barve has a superficial assessment on Kashmir. Otherwise, how could an analyst say what she observed on 23rd November 2014, “To begin with, there was a big disillusionment with militancy. Now the disillusionment is with the deliverability of the Azaadi slogan. People no longer think it is a deliverable. So they vote because they want to deal with their day-to-day problems.” Barve better ponder over her assessment then and the situation now. The problem with these activists remains that they consider themselves experts on Kashmir just after a visit or so to the Valley and partaking of Gushtaba combine cuisine in Srinagar Civil Lines, courtesy some concessionist and pampered intellectuals and journalists.
In a democratic set up like India, the freedom of speech is a fundamental right of every citizen. Nobody can be restricted or restrained to meet anyone. However, given the bonhomie between so-called activists and anti-national elements, the state is duty bound to find out the motivation and objectives. Today’s meeting of Geelani and Mirwaiz with Barve’s group is intriguing, especially in the backdrop of humiliating response he gave to CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury” CPI leader D Raja, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and RJDs Jaiprakash Narayan when the doors of his Hyderpora residence were contemptuously shut for them on 6 September 2016. Why change of heart now and that too for a BJP leader? Geelani owes explanation to the people of Kashmir and the four-member team led by Yashwant Sinha to rest of the country, solely for the singular reason of providing respectability to notorious secessionists.
The BJP also needs to respond by acting against a leader, who they say has not been accredited or mandated by the party to meet Geelani and Company.
Let it not be forgotten that such attempts by insensitive and irresponsible activists only provide a window to anti-national elements to breathe freely. The separatists, who have almost lost their clout in the Valley, have got yet another lease of life, thanks to Delhi peace pigeons.
