13th July. The martyr’s day. This is the day when ruling class and politicians of different ideological and political backgrounds commemorate the occasion by laying wreathes of flowers on martyr’s grave in Srinagar. They take out processions and deliver speeches, praising the national heroes whose glorious sacrifices won them eternal place in the annals of Kashmir resistance against tyranny and dynastic Raj. On the martyr’s grave they pledge their commitment in following the foot steps of the Shuhada  and the cause they sacrificed their lives for.
 Maharaja Hari Singh and his dynasty is portrayed as the greatest of evil Kashmir has faced. His quitting from the throne is heralded as the happiest moment we all Kashmiris were waiting for. For every politician erstwhile Dogras have turned into dead horses flogging of which serves them to showcase their democratic credentials and register their “benign” pro-people activism.
 If some magic would bring Dogra Maharajas alive, they can't help but laugh at the ‘representative character’ of modern day democrats.  Alama Iqbal they would be thankful to for lifting them out of the siege of touch-me-not-ism and bringing them anew in the corridors of power achieved in the name of democracy.
   Ham nai khud shahee ko pehnaayaa hai jumhoori libaas
   Jab zara a’dam huwa hai khud shinas-o khud nagar
(As man became educated and assertive, we (the democratic Maharajas) draped our self-autocracy in the clothes of democracy)
 Yes, the despotic Dogras would see that no one would challenge their authority as the “sale-deed” had vested in them the unquestionable powers to have their writ intact. Here though the sale-deed has since long vanished, yet the power-lust regimes are dead. No one summons courage to stand against them.
 True a feudal dynasty would have monopolized everything state would produce, nonetheless, it would have ensured state honor and autonomy. All our resources the state has owned and preserved. There was no vandalization of environment and devastation of forests. Water-bodies maintained their pristine glory and purity. Dal lake reverberated the mesmerizing beauty. Weth flowed in grandeur. Post-Dogra rule have inflicted many a blow to us. Today we and our resources are on decline. We are threatened with onslaught of non-state subjects. The NHPC has already entrenched its exploitative hold on our precious resources. Its East-India Company type proboscis has drained excruciatingly a big hole in our economy. Even states agreeing to pay the depreciating cost for returning of Salal and Uri projects, it is on the course of head-butting. We have choked the veins of Dal and Jehlum through encroachments and raising concrete jungles. The state which enjoyed its self sufficiency today has been made subservient on practically everything. The begging-bowl we have copied our rights on tells the story of dependence. The article 370 which guaranteed autonomous character of our state has become a hollow shell. In fact it has proved as a ‘tunnel’ in the words of former Indian Home Minister Gulzari Lal Nanda, that could be used to erode autonomy by pushing in legislations that otherwise would have entailed constitutional amendments.
 Urdu flourished under the patronage. It enjoyed its official status in all the organs of the government. Today, though still regarded official language of the state, the fact of the matter is it is into its death throes.
 In this context, the homilies delivered on the martyr’s day lack both substance and conviction. Dogra rulers, our modern Dogras would condemn for not paying tax. But with one crore ‘constituency development fund’ deposited in the account of every MLA every year, the monarchial fiefdom comparatively seems much poorer. Still say we have a ‘flourishing democracy’.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 11 Jul 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 11 Jul 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 12 Jul 2012 00:00:00 IST