Sahibs of Kashmir

When Sheikh Sahib died in September 1982, almost whole Kashmir went out on street sides to enact melodramatic mourning scenes. Now that Geelani Sahib died on September 1, 2021, Kashmiris are already politically dead.

Geelani Sahib joined the establishment in 1972 after Jamati-Islami contested provincial Assembly elections. Sheikh Sahib re-joined the establishment in 1975 after dumping plebiscite slogan.

Until 1975, Sheikh Sahib criticized Prime Minister Bakshi, Prime-Minister-self-demoted-Chief-Minister Sadiq, and Chief Minister Mir Qasim for diluting legislative autonomy of J&K State through sponsoring amendments to Constitution Order, 1954.

1975 onward, Sheikh Sahib himself sponsored seven Constitution Amendment Orders and thereby further diluted legislative autonomy so much so that he accepted a bar through Second Constitution Amendment Order of 1975 that the unconstitutional position of Governor would not be disturbed: “No law made by the Legislature of the State of Jammu and Kashmir seeking to make any change in or in the effect of any provision of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir relating to:--(a) appointment, powers, functions, duties, emoluments, allowances, privileges or immunities of the Governor…shall have any effect unless such law has, after having been reserved for the consideration of the President, received his assent.”.

Geelani Sahib was member of the Legislative Assembly when Sheikh Sahib sponsored seven Constitution Amendment Orders. Also, he was part of the establishment when Mir Qasim sponsored five Constitution Amendment Orders.

When Qasim Sahib, Sadiq Sahib, Bakshi Sahib (Kashmiris called them Sahibs when they were in power and denounced them later on) sponsored Constitution Amendment Orders (06; 16; & 09 respectively) to dilute J&K’s legislative autonomy, Sheikh Sahib criticized them harshly. He called them “traitors” and even instigated his blind followers in 1965 not allow burial to the dead relatives of supporters of Chief Minister Sadiq. During his plebiscite patronage years, 1955-75, he declared that he did not subscribe to the Constitution of India. Also, he boycotted elections.

Geelani Sahib, when he became patron of plebiscite slogan post-August 1989, included Sheikh Sahib among the “traitors”. Likewise, he declared that he did not subscribe to the Constitution of India. Following Sheikh Sahib’s footsteps, he called for election boycott, and demanded plebiscite. He even went a step further, calling for establishment of caliphate. How that caliphate would be set up, nobody ever knew!

When it suited Geelani Sahib and Sheikh Sahib, they contested elections. When it suited them, they boycotted elections! Kashmiris seldom asked them any questions.

Sheikh Sahib was a harsh opponent of plebiscite when in power from November 1947 to August 1953. Post-dismissal he became a champion of self-determination for Kashmir. Geelani Sahib became champion of self-determination post-resignation from membership of the Legislative Assembly in 1989.

It would have been in the best interests of everyone if Geelani Sahib had retired from politics after he resigned from Assembly membership 1989; and if Sheikh Sahib had retired from politics in 1953 after he was dismissed from Prime Ministership. It would be in the best interests of all if Kashmiri political sahibs had announced mass retirement from politics post-August 2019. It is a tragedy that Kashmiri sahibs remain stuck to politics even after they become superannuated politically.

Whereas Sheikh Sahib was summarily dismissed by Sadar-i-Riyasat Karan Singh (at Prime Minister Pandit Nehru’s behest), Geelani Sahib was forced to resign in August 1989 from the membership of provincial Assembly by JKLF militants. That he resigned in protest against election rigging of March 1987, was but a ruse.

Geelani Sahib’s great contribution was his rigid insistence on hartal (strike), chalo (protest march), and election boycott. Sheikh Sahib’s significant contribution to Kashmir polity was the Constitution Second Amendment Order, 1975, which was an anti-thesis of his own Autonomy rhetoric.

Kashmiris admired Geelani Sahib for not toeing Pakistani President General Pervez Musharaf’s line in 2003 – 04. General Musharaf, in order to end his own and his country’s isolation, dumped Pakistan’s traditional stand on Kashmir and instead lobbied for status quo-istic 1998-Livingston Proposal, titled Kashmir A Way Forward, of American Kashmir Study Group of Farooq Kathwari – (by the way the Proposal kept intact the frontier called Line of Control, LoC, and talked of joint control which was impossible because Pakistan would be confined on that side of the Line and India on this side of the Line entailing separate control of respective territories rather than joint control of the whole State). He named the Proposal as Four Point Formula and like an expert salesman touted it masterfully to humour United States, India, and the rest of the world. His propaganda terms, Demilitarization, Self-Rule, Porous Borders, Joint Control, were faithfully parroted by all the modern Sahibs of Kashmir except Geelani Sahib. This resulted in skyrocketing the latter’s popularity.

Even though General Musharaf shunned Pakistani stand on Kashmir and walked the talk by curbing militancy (this measure backfired, and militants turned against Pakistan itself), India developed cold feet (perhaps because India at that time had an “accidental” Prime Minister). This led to India’s failure in clinching an agreement on Kashmir with Pakistan while General Musharaf was still on the seat. General Musharraf’s oustal in Pakistan coupled with 2008 Amarnath Land Row in J&K, furnished a chance to Kashmir’s modern Sahibs to recapture political centre stage. That year Geelani Sahib issued “protest calendars”. 2009 Shopian double rape and murder; 2010 stone pelting agitation; and 2013-14 escalation of militancy by Pakistan gave the Kashmir’s modern Sahib’s enough space to remain relevant while as too much insistence on hartal, chalo and boycott brought political stagnation to Kashmir. Kashmir’s modern Sahib’s failed to perceive this, despite warnings by concerned citizens. Their main concern was to run personalized political factions – (there were more than sixty such personalized political enterprises affiliated to two personalized groups called Mirwaiz Hurriyat and Geelani Hurriyat; each faction comprised of a Chairman and a group of loyalist clients; and it was mostly about Chairmanship and foreign funding rather than about resolution of Kashmir issue).

For now, Kashmir is beset with political paralysis, a direct consequence of hartal, chalo and boycott, thanks to Geelani Sahib. There seems to be no way out of this political decadence because Kashmiris are by DNA blind followers of cult personalities. Cult personalities become cult personalities primarily by putting religion to political use. Kashmiris hero-worship cult personalities considering them guardians of religion and hence above questioning and accountability. They denounce them after their death.

Irrespective of whether at a particular point of time Geelani Sahib and Sheikh Sahib were part of establishment or at loggerheads with the establishment, their actions benefitted India. When in 1960s Bakshi Sahib and Sadiq Sahib sponsored stepwise dilution of legislative autonomy of J&K, Sheikh Sahib helped the establishment by instigating election boycott. This kept pro-self-determination elements away from the election process and from the Legislative Assembly. Also, this helped Congress Party to take root in Kashmir.

Geelani Sahib repeated post-1989 what Sheikh Sahib had done in 1960s. His insistence on election boycott kept pro-self-determination elements away from the election process and Legislative Assembly. Also, this political decadence made available enough space for BJP to grow in strength in Kashmir.

In 2017, at the time of GST Amendment, Geelani Sahib openly supported the establishment when he snubbed trade leaders for opposing the Amendment. When in August 2019 New Delhi Administration unilaterally derogated Article 370 and abrogated Constitution Order, 1954, Kashmir was in political coma thanks to Geelani Sahib’s hartal, chalo, and boycott fixation.

Both Geelani Sahib and Sheikh Sahib suffered incarceration for years. But to what purpose? Jail going helps a demagogue to project himself as a resister against tyranny when it is all about personal political ambition to dominate people. Sheikh Sahib spent years in jail pre-1947. At the end of the day, he turned out to be a collaborator for the Maharaja against whom he pretended resistance. Post-1953, he again suffered imprisonment for years which was proved in 1975 to have been a struggle for personal political power.

Post-1989 Geelani Sahib suffered incarceration. This earned him the epithet of “symbol of resistance”. What did Kashmir get out of such resistance? Political stagnation and decadence!

There is no way how J&K will now revive politically especially when Kashmir is filled with hero-worshippers (shakhsparast log).