Malik Ahmed

A few weeks ago, a guy tweeted how Indian government stole the biometrics of Kashmiris through Aadhaar, a mandatory I-Card for all Indians. After tweeting a long thread, it concluded with these words: “Khata Hasa Tchu Hurriyatas” – All blame goes to Hurriyat. No one asked him as to what he was doing at the time when it was happening. Did he resist in any shape or form the move? Now when Aadhaar is linked to the communication system, he suddenly finds that he has been robbed of his privacy by the Indian establishment. As usual, he needs a punching bag to vent his anger and that is the Hurriyat.

It has almost become a fashion to blame Hurriyat for every second bad thing in Kashmir. These keyboard warriors are knowingly or unknowingly playing a part in the grand Indian strategy to widen the gap between Kashmiri masses and resistance groups.

Being aware of the fact that more than half of the Hurriyat cadre is serving PSA in different jails including all the Tehsil and District level officials, these chicken hawks still push the rhetoric of “Khata Hasa Tchu Hurriyatas”.

They accuse Hurriyat of impotence, nepotism and call its members dunce but when offered to work with the organisation to usher it, they back out. All they want is to satisfy their frustration by slandering. They won’t contribute positively to the resistance movement but keep hitting those who are resisting the occupier within their capacity. They know to work actively with a resistance group means frequent raids by Indian forces, harassment to family members, detentions, perpetual PSA and end of family life. Why would these chicken hawks bear all this when they can enjoy all the perks and luxuries of life and say Khata Hasa Tchu Hurriyatas to satisfy their own conscience.

When Hurriyat calls for a shutdown against killings by Indian forces, Khata-Hasa-Tchu-Hurriyatas guys call them visionless. And, if the same leadership don’t give a hartal call, they are called sell-outs. These guys often brag about an ‘alternative’ to the shutdown calls but they suggest none. It is appalling that a guy sitting in his cosy chamber is calling a person who is suffering at the hands of the establishment a sell-out.

Indian agencies are finely trisecting the Kashmiris, making it common masses vs Hurriyat vs militants, and, unfortunately, we are playing our part knowingly or unknowingly.

Yes, there are a number of mistakes committed by the pro-freedom camp and any group resisting a treacherous enemy like India is bound to commit tactical and operational mistakes. But that doesn’t mean we should doubt their intentions or call them sell-outs.

Before slandering the resistance leadership, we must consider who are we targeting.

An 88-year-old man who has resisted Indian occupation through thick and thin. Syed Ali Geelani who fought the occupier at the time when common masses in Kashmir were waving the treacherous flag of Sheikh Abdullah and were singing “Raj kari Taj Kari Babb kari Lolo”. He confronted Sheikh Abdullah when it was considered a blasphemy to speak against Sheikh. He has spent over a decade in jail at a time when our grandfathers were dating with National Conference. Under house arrest from last 7 years, he still remains a thorn in India’s flesh. We must be ungrateful as well as shameless to question his intentions. The Khata- Hasa-Tchu-Hurriyatas guys who call him “stooge of kufr” should read his book Tehreeq-i-Hurriyat kay Ahdaaf: Islam, Azadi, Itehaad-e-Millat which forms the base of the constitution of Tehreek-e-Hurriyat.

We are also targeting a person who is languishing in jail for the last 25 years Dr Muhammad Qasim Faktoo an intellectual, ideologue who never bowed down before the oppressor despite all the atrocities. He rejected every offer of occupier just to stick to his ideas. Produced some of the gems in the form of books on Islam and resistance, which terrified the Indian establishment and refused to release him even after the completion of sentence.

His wife Aasiyeh Andrabi, also serving PSA in Jammu Jail, remains firm on her stance like her husband and sacrificed every luxury. What more are we asking from them?

We are targeting a person who is serving perpetual PSA in different Indian jails, Massarat Alam. His name sends shivers down the Indian spine. He is the one who revolutionised the youth of Kashmir, spearheaded the resistance at its critical stage better known as “Ragda”.  He took to the streets of Srinagar and protested against the Indian atrocities. Though Indian forces chained him, they couldn’t lock his idea of resistance which is seen every day on the streets of Kashmir.

Before slandering and abusing the Hurriyat we need to compare ourselves to these stalwarts of resistance. We need to ask ourselves, are we anywhere near to their sacrifices?

Hurriyat has committed mistakes and it may also commit the same in future. They need to be criticised for that. But criticism must be done for constructive purposes, it must not be criticism for the sake of criticism. If we have a right to criticise a policy, it is also a duty to come up with an alternative rather than slander and abuses. We must weigh our words before uttering them, particularly at this critical juncture of our resistance movement. But chicken hawks won’t do so. They begin and end their argument with Khata Hasa Tchu Hurriyatas.