Focused, expressive and bold. That is what describes the 19 students from Islamic University of Science and Technology – who by articulating the Kashmiri cause in an unprecedented setting in Delhi caused a stir in some quarters.
 
The IUST Vice Chancellor, Professor Siddiq Wahid, had accepted an invitation from Tarun Vijay of the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee Foundation to bring a group of students from the University to participate in a dialogue with representatives of BJP, RSS and various other political parties, and to meet with the Home Minister. It was a decision that some have questioned. At this crucial juncture when Kashmir is witnessing a street resistance that has defied political pundits and ‘outside influence’ theorists alike, we cannot afford a myopic vision that believes only in talking to like-minded people and shudders at the thought of Kashmiri students discussing Kashmir at a BJP event. After the trip, someone here in Kashmir even expressed the fear that the students would have been “brainwashed” by BJP and RSS. At a time when our youngsters are braving bullets on a daily basis, using several contemporary tools of resistance very intelligently, and showing a lot of political maturity, accusing them of not being able to resist BJP and RSS propaganda is nothing but a downright insult to this generation and perhaps no different in its prejudice than the charge of “across the border influence” meted out by BJP etal.

The event in question was organized at the India International Center in Delhi on August 17 and 18th. I was part of the delegation from IUST that comprised of the VC, two other colleagues and a team of students. The tone was set on the evening of the 16th when during the after-dinner musical program IUST students were asked by the BJP hosts to sing a song. Their response was, “How can we sing when people are dying back home?” Then one of them got up and read a few lines from two poems – Agha Shahid Ali’s ‘Farewell’ and Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s  ‘Irani Tulba Ke Naam’- poignant expressions of loss and resistance. Kashmir had arrived in Delhi.

Next morning we showed up at the IIC wearing black ribbons in memory of the civilians that have died in Kashmir recently. In addition to Kashmiri Pandits there was also a ‘rented crowd’ of Kashmiri BJP workers who were constantly paraded as “students from Kashmir University”. Barring one instance, they remained silent throughout the two days of proceedings. The fact is that KU had not accepted the invitation and, as such, had not sent any delegation. There was only one KU faculty member there from their Persian Department. He had been invited separately and had come in his individual capacity. On the last day, after getting fed up with the “students from Kashmir University” line being repeated over and over, he made it a point to mention in his concluding remarks that no student or any other delegation from KU was there.

In his opening remarks the VC told the audience that, “It is time to listen. You may not like what our students have to say, but listening is the only way to a true dialogue”. He then asked the audience to observe a minute of silence for the recent deaths in Kashmir. Everyone, including BJP President Nitin Gadkari , had to get up in observance.

The first day’s sessions were Q&As with Bal Apte, President of the organizing foundation and Nitin Gadkari, followed by a session with Delhi University and JNU student leaders (members of BJP). Their comments were as expected and towed the party line to the hilt, insisting on Kashmir being “an integral part of India”. IUST students asked bold and intelligent questions and expressed their views fearlessly. They spoke about AFSPA, demilitarization, ‘azadi’, the recent deaths of civilians, accountability on the thousands of disappeared people and mass graves.

Three young Kashmiri Pandits also spoke and were vocal about the loss of homeland for their community and their desire to remain with India. Two of the three represented the organization, ‘Roots in Kashmir’. The third one exhibited a good understanding of the issue and her comments were devoid of the usual clichés and propaganda. At one point she asked the IUST students about the black ribbons, and when they explained the significance she requested one for herself. Several barriers came down when an IUST student got up and tied a black ribbon on her right arm as she joined us in our collective mourning. In the concluding session the next day, she wished we had been introduced simply as ‘Kashmiris’ instead of being labelled as  ‘Kashmiri Muslim’ or ‘Kashmiri Pandit’.

The meeting with the Home Minister was on the afternoon of August 17th. Chidambaran asked for three questions and gave a speech in return. He, then, asked the students to tell their brothers and sisters back home to stop the protests, and got up to go to attend a session in Parliament when Tarun Vijay requested a group photograph with IUST students and BJP participants. Not a single student from IUST group got up to have their photograph taken with the Home Minister. This symbolic gesture of protest sent a loud and clear message, and the Minister had to admit that he had not been able to convince the students.

The next day’s guests included, among others, Smitri Irani, Sushma Swaraj, Ram Madhav of RSS, various newspaper editors and a group of young parliamentarians from different parties including Priya Dutt, Anurag Singh, Narendar Jain and Harsimran Kaur. The sessions were not much different from Day 1. Though this time a young Kashmiri Muslim (the son of a BJP worker) was brought in, who said he was in favour of staying with India. Although I respect his right to have a differing opinion, it was clear that he had been brought in at the last minute out of sheer desperation to try to counter the arguments of IUST students. It did not work - though, predictably, BJP is highlighting his comment in their propaganda write-ups.

Two IUST students were also invited to a show on CNN-IBN that evening. In true sensationalizing style, the show was presented as a ‘face-off’ between Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits, but the IUST students showed a lot of maturity in steering the focus back to the real issues.

After the events in Delhi concluded, I came home to see the face of an 8-year old child Milad in a local newspaper. He had died of bullets fired by security forces in Islamabad. His story had not made it to the national press. There was no headline screaming murder on the umpteen TV channels that are in a perpetual race with each other for the ‘big news’ stories. We complain about such glaring omissions all the time – about other people not telling our story, and not really understanding Kashmir. I was reminded of the look of total shock on Sushma Swaraj’s face during her interaction with the students and how indicative it was of this lack of understanding. It made me realize how truly important and far-sighted a decision it had been to go to Delhi. The events provided IUST students with a platform to narrate their story in their own words – uncut, uncensored and unadulterated – to an audience that is not used to hearing it.

This is just the beginning. It will take many other moves, bold and quiet, each needing courage and vision to carry this story forward.

(Fozia S. Qazi, Ph.D is Professor, Islamic University of Science and Technology)

Lastupdate on : Fri, 3 Sep 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
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