Was the second Monday of December any different? Or did it have something new to offer? Well not for me, and I believe not for the millions of fellow Kashmiris, who live in Kashmir or like me, outside of it.
Most of us showed no shock, no surprise, just a little ‘I told you so’ or ‘what else did you expect?’ Because this is what was expected, nothing better, nothing newer.
Our homes were not chained this time. We were free to lodge protests. Did we take out grand protests? We did not.
But does it mean we have reconciled collectively? Are we reconciled to the fact that we no longer have a say in things that define our political future? Reconciled that we have lost our voice and our voice does not matter, that we have no representation in the world’s largest democracy? We certainly have reconciled to the fact that for the last four and half years, our downgraded erstwhile state and now a Union territory has had no elected assembly.
We are reconciled to the fact that the last elections happened in Jammu and Kashmir nearly a decade ago. This is the longest ever stretch. The last time it happened was at the peak of militancy, when 1987’s famously rigged elections were followed in 1996.
We are reconciled to the fact that we may not see a functional democracy in many more years to come. We are reconciled to the fact that people can lose their jobs on mere charges of abetment of terrorism, stone pelting or any other family member being involved – even though the charges would not be strong enough to try them in courts of law. Social media posts can open the doors to jail.
We are reconciled to the fact that every voice raised is ‘treachery’, every right asserted is ‘anti-national’.
We know that we can pray for people of Gaza in our hearts but not utter a word on the same in gatherings and mosques.
We know that our mosques and religious places can be locked for years together, and preachers barred from leading prayers. We are reconciled to the fact that every few months there will be an amendment in previous laws or some new laws will be made, to strip us of our millenia-old identity even further. These include the domicile law, the changed land ownership rules, delimitation of electoral seats which takes the arithmetic across the mountains, to the liking of the ruling BJP. The changes in Jammu and Kashmir administration cadre, jobs, education, business, et al. We have seen it all.
But have we actually reconciled to it all? Have we given up or have we surrendered the right to dissent? The bad news is we have not.
The silence in Kashmir is loud and deafening and its people are isolated. Kashmir continues to be the paradise it was, people continue to remain the best hosts you will have but we are far from happy. With every passing day, as the voices in Kashmir are muffled, we are stepping closer and closer to complete political alienation.
As the Supreme Court upheld the reading down of Article 370, Kashmir remained unfazed. Its people believed that the court case was a lost battle from the word go. The way the honourable courts were batting on behalf of the government during the hearing was indicative enough.
So while right-minded people were posting on the outcome of the verdict, Kashmir was posting in support of Palestinian women and children.
There is no anger in Kashmir, but there may be hopelessness and a deep sense of political alienation – a dangerous concoction as we saw once in 1989.
And now, with the treatment meted out to the very torch bearers of the Indian democracy amid the alienation, one can only keep one’s fingers crossed and hope that the neighbours would remain weak and engrossed in their own battles.
Also reads: Four Important Takeaways From the Supreme Court Ruling on Jammu and Kashmir
Kashmiris expect many more decisions with wide optics in Jammu and Kashmir in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections next year. And with a unilateral decision making in progress and no local political representation to fight for them, many Kashmiris believe that the BJP ultimately wants to change the demographic character of the erstwhile state. Kashmiris had long ago understood that they are just a poll plank and that the claims of ‘restoring normalcy’ in Kashmir can garner votes for parties across the mainland.
The Supreme Court judgement gives further boost to the political rhetoric and adds to the narrative that Kashmiris have been shown their place’ under the Narendra Modi government.
Prime Minister Modi’s tough stance on Kashmir and the revocation has become a war cry in the rest of the country too. The vote bank which the party appeals to will consider the verdict another victory in national interest. The WhatsApp forwards will now further cement the notions that the Modi government has managed to do what governments for 70 years failed to do – crush the political individualism of Muslim-majority Kashmir.
In a country where Muslims have become the ‘other’, the verdict once again satisfies the collective consciousness of the same political majority who feel centuries of Muslim rule in India needs to be avenged by these historic corrections.
The act of a Muslim-majority state acceding to secular India was a leap of faith for common Kashmiris and crores of muslims in India. With the Supreme Court believing that president of India can unilaterally change constitutional character of a state, a wrong precedent has been set regarding the fluidity of guarantees that the constitution of India provides, and Kashmir here, again, is just the laboratory, a test case, which can now be unleashed anywhere across the country.
Toufiq Rashid is a journalist who has covered the Kashmir conflict, health and wellbeing for top Indian newspapers for nearly two decades. She now works at @Pixstory.
