Sheikh Abdullah-The up rooter of Kashmiriyat ?

The following is something I saw posted by a friend on a social networking website. It only made me think and ponder!

Quote:

“He may be the valley’s first post graduate, he may have given land to the tiller but now decades later, when near and dears of victims curse his grave and historic existence, his formal title “Lion of Kashmir” transforms into something meaningless. Had Sheikh Abdullah resisted power and not taken over as the Chief Minister and died as a freedom fighter, history of Kashmir would have been different. I ask , who really gained from the exit of Maharaja? History bears witness to the atrocious cruelties suffered in version of a democracy by the people of my land.
Regardless of Maharaja’s unpopularity among masses, The Maharaja was still the most significant figure in the dispute before 1949.He had the rights as a signer of the accession of Kashmir. His stay was substantive till all the requirements of accession were met. Maharaja’s powers were a crucial reference in deciding the future of Kashmiris. It would had negotiated the future power structure of Kashmir Unfortunately, his exit marked the gloom of evil and every hope of optimism vanished. However I should add that the the legality of a fleeing Maharaja signing the deed of accession is a suspect.However it does go to the credit of the Maharaja that he ensured that the final decision is left to the people of Kashmir. This is important because the deed was the last credible reference to people. Thereafter the conflict has revolved around table to table,land to land with a token of Kashmiris getting butchered everyday.
Sheikh Abdullah was not an elected leader by any means. His popularity was endorsed by Indians which came at a price and his advantageous purchase with Indians completely destroyed the social and political fabric of Kashmir. His political thought was not a problem for Indians. Exit of Maharaja accommodated Indian concerns because India at that time was too ignorant to grant Kashmiris full sovereignty which Maharaja had made very clear in the “deed of accession” . Maharaja was seen as an obstructer and Sheikh Abdullah facilitated his exit. Sheikh Abdullah overrated his stature by thinking that he would be able to get a fair deal with the Indians. He altered priorities regarding basic human rights of Kashmiris and he ignorantly refused to become aware of the changing circumstances through his senses which resulted in the loss of his leverage in the pertaining political machinery. So he cowardly surrendered to the Republic of India.
Sheikh Abdullah was the architect of the Delhi Agreement. This agreement was designed as a power sharing structure between Delhi and Kashmir that covered draconian points which shifted the focus from accession and self determination to the implementation of the Indian Constitution. Maharaja’s vision of quasi-sovereign state was eroded by the Delhi Agreement through Sheikh Abdullah .The end result was that he got elected unopposed which made a joke to the sanctity of democracy. It not only completely eroded and uprooted the concept of sovereignty and independence, but also created a new context rooted in exigencies of the Indian Constitution as opposed to exigencies of the terms of accession. Even if I jokingly support Sheikh Abdullah’s school of thought, it still isn’t a great substitute as it could not be substituted for the sacred right to self determination as envisaged in the UN Resolutions in accordance with the wishes of the people of Kashmir.
Sheikh Abdullah’s power of politics on the eroded terms and conditions negated what he all along fought for the agricultural class & rise of feudal system and it weakened his popularity among the people of Kashmir. If he wouldn’t had played the role of a tyrant during the 1947-1953 period, Kashmiris would had made him a legend and a champion of rights of the masses. In the event of the death of an unrelenting Sheikh Abdullah, the people of Kashmir or even Pakistan would have got a valiant role model, a political martyr. But, it was the one and only Sheikh Abdullah who played a shrewd role in transforming an internationally recognized conditional accession to a final accession with India. Alas! In the event of death of Chief Minister Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah in 1982, the people of Kashmir were deprived of a political martyr and a valorous hero who was saddled in a regrettable legacy.”

Unquote.

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I do not know if I have known the man enough, to say whether Sheikh Abdullah was the Sher-e-Kashmir (Lion of Kashmir) or not. What I can say without a doubt is, that he certainly was an extraordinary man. A man who was jailed for 10 years to give up his cause, a man who chose to live to be called a Traitor by his people, rather than die, to be remembered, a Hero.

Despite the fact that we all love Dead Heroes, I do not know if his death as a hero would have brought Kashmir or the Kashmiriyat in question, any good. Choosing to return to Kashmir as the Chief Minister and not dying in the Indian Jails as the exiled Prime Minister, he choose life like many ordinary men would, and do even today. We have many living examples even today, of men (wannabe leaders of Kashmir) who served long terms in Jails for extended periods of time for Azaadi (freedom) for the motherland, only to we worn down and come out as changed men. Men who want to raise a family, enjoy the riches, and unfortunately out of the ordinary eye, sometimes are notorious for enjoying the bliss of playing both sides.

Personally I think it is a difficult position to be in. After all choosing starvation over abundance, a jail term over freedom, an honest living over overwhelming riches; it is a choice not all men can make, or at least it is something that most men can't stick their guns to. This is a path which is extremely difficult to tread on, and unfortunately there are those who start with the best intentions but are not resilient enough. They fail somewhere along the way, only to be cursed for generations to come.

I believe, if we are there to blame these men for not being who we want them to be, we should try and walk a mile in their shoes, for that would at least make us appreciate the good they did, for in part at least they deserve that.

Be the change you want to see in the World!

Ghandi