“Separatists” of   Kashmir or “separatists” in Kashmir is a politically misleading label tagged to the pro-freedom Hurriyat leaders. The people who ask for the resolution of  Kashmir issue are also labelled as separatists’. If this writer, with long established pro-India   leanings, expresses a desire of living in conflict-free Kashmir, he too will be called a ‘separatist’ by the Indian media.  This is the biggest tragedy of Kashmir Politics. And as this label gets repeatedly used in the media, a wrong is made to appear as if it’s a right. It now looks as if Kashmir politics is all about “separatists and separatism”.
Mainstream rulers and politicians of Kashmir exploited the “separatists” label to the hilt. After 1947, with independence of India and creation of Pakistan –and after the end of autocratic rule –Kashmir history changed.  Kashmir politics changed as well. Whenever we   raised slogan of Aazadi, we were supposed to define it in  that particular background to  prove ourselves as “people  of principles”. This is what Hurriyat leaders were supposed to make clear, but failed to do, giving birth to many doubts and damaging the Kashmir cause. Kashmir is not “Kashmir Valley” only. The dispute began in 1947 when the Kashmir dispute took berth.
But this too is a fact that Pro-freedom leaders and parties have always opposed the division of the State, especially when it was most discussed during the land row.  People who are in favour of Kashmir’s accession with India are also eager to see Kashmir free from any dispute, a conflict free State of peace and prosperity.However, freedom   or no freedom, the biggest question is –are the people who ask for resolution of Kashmir issue ‘separatists’? Are the pro-freedom leaders ‘separatists’? Are thousands and lakhs of people who often come on the streets separatists?     The answer is a big no.No Kashmiri leader can be called a “separatist.” History and politics
proves it.Kashmir has an individual existence. It is because of this “separatists” tag that BJP in 2010 suggested eradication of “separatists” in Kashmir for the resolution of Kashmir issue. The suggestion was made after the visit of a big parliamentary delegation in the wake of the killing of teenagers in 2010. Kashmir is not legally a part of India like Punjab, UP, Madhya Pradesh. Forgetting all UNO resolutions, remember what Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said.  “Kashmir is not the property of either India or Pakistan,it belongs to the Kashmiri people, when Kashmir acceded to India, we made it clear to the leaders of the Kashmiri people that we would ultimately abide by the verdict of their plebiscite…..If they tell us
to walk out. I would have not hesitation in quitting Kashmir…”
(Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru’s statement as reported by
“Amrita Bazar Patrika, Calcutta, January. 1952) Also consider this statement made one year earlier by the Indian Prime Minister. “Kashmir has been wrongly looked upon as a prize for India or Pakistan. People seem to forget that Kashmir is not a commodity for sale or too battered. It has an individual existence and its people must be final arbiters of their future.” (Prime Minister’s report to the Al India Congress Committee in the Statesman, New Delhi, July 9,1951)

Lastupdate on : Sun, 3 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 3 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 4 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST