Some us are cheering the removal of Article 370, while others are against it. The author says we will all have to live with the weighty consequences of the decision.
If removing article 370 makes you happy then I am happy for you. If you believe that doing so will bring peace in the valley, then I really hope that you are right.
On the other hand, if abrogation of 370 and 35A makes you sad then I can only try and share your pain. This is because I too don’t agree with the methods used to bring in this provision.
I don’t like the fact that the entire state had to be shut down to change laws that will affect them. I am sad that Kashmiris are being treated as prisoners in their own land.
I also hate the fact that there was no CONSENT involved and that some people in Delhi and Islamabad have always gotten away with unilateral decisions like this.
But whether today’s decision makes you happy or sad, you should know that any decision has its consequences. And we will have to bear the burden of its ramifications.
We try and control someone because we don’t trust them. It’s time to accept that truth.
Both India and Pakistan have become so paranoid over Kashmir that they try and shut down anyone who has a slightly different opinion about the issue with coercion, intimidation or ammunition.
We can try and sugarcoat their methods saying that our governments love Kashmir and only we know what’s best for its people but it’s not true.
We want their land but we don’t want to hear what the people of that very land are trying to say.
Pakistan believes that it can take control over the whole state of Jammu and Kashmir (including the parts governed by India) by spreading terror in the area and keeping its people under their thumb.
Whereas India believes that it can force Jammu and Kashmir into silence by cutting off communications, imposing a curfew, sending in more security in what is already one of the highest militarized zones in the world and arresting their leaders.
And that is why we have decided their fate on Article 370 and 35A without asking what Kashmiris (not the politicians, but it’s people) want.
That is not love. It never was. Our love towards them is conditional of them obeying our command. Otherwise, we can go to any extent to get them to obey us. But if that’s the way we want to be then we will have to accept the consequences of our decisions, whatever they may be.
We want them to be with us but only on our terms. Such a relationship inevitably treats the other person as an unequal partner.
Neither India nor Pakistan can even think of the possibility that Kashmir, like any other group of people around the world, has the right to decide what to do with its boundaries.
Of course, we should try to convince them to stay with us but if we really love J&K and its people, we should be happy for them whatever they decide.
I am not saying that it should or shouldn’t happen, but if we try to control them there are greater chances of Kashmir deciding to go its own way.
The resentment in Kashmir will only increase because no one likes to be treated this way. No one likes their freedom to be taken away like this.
I hope Kashmir can keep its calm but it’s highly doubtful. I hope Kashmir fights for its rights within the parameters of peace but I don’t know if they will.
I really don’t.
First published at author’s blog
Image via Pixabay
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