" We need to come together and decide" this is what the Hurriet Conference, the seperatist political wing in Kashmir has been saying ever since it's inception.
I was dismayed to learn that no one in the Hurriet Leadership has a clue of what they want to do, or how they want to resolve the Kashmir Issue. I do not know what the personal stance of Syed Ali Shah Geelani is on the matter, but apparently he was the chief opposition to the "4 Point Solution" suggested by Parvez Musharaff, the then President of the Republic of Pakistan. Not aggreeing with someone or something is completely just, but only when you have a different opinion or a coherant solution to the same problem at hand.
It is well establised and common sense that successful leadership doesn't just bring in a lot of authority, it also demands a mountain of responsibility. It doesn't need a University degree or a very high qualification to ahold the fact, that the first step in the hunt for something is to know what you are looking for. I feel this is where the the Hurriet Conference, as a Representative Leadership of the Kashmiri people seem to have failed. How is it possible that the Kashmiri struggle to free itself from an illegal occupying country, has gone on for as long as the history of the free Republic of India, which continues to occupy Kashmir, and yet we have not come up with a coherant solution to this problem yet.
The Hurriet Conference calls for strikes in the valley, crippling life and livelihoods, but when it come to a serious dialogue with the people who can resolve the long pending issue, they should not fall short of ideas on what to suggest and what they want.
Recently Parvez Musharaf was on record suggesting that no one in the Hurriet Conference could guide or advise him as to what the Kashmiri people want, as a result of which he came up with his "Joint Control 4 Point Formula". This formula may be completely virtual and to ideal to implement in reality but I feel it was a start.
To be able to decide what you want, you need to have imagined and dreamed of what success should look and feel. Apparently the task of shaping a solution to the Kashmir Issue never crossed the minds of the Hurriet Conference and as such we have never seen a serious blue print of a solution. I question them if they have a vision for a free Kashmir? If the answer is yes, can they present it in a coherent way that we as ordinary Kashmiris can understand an imagine, rather than empty and meaningless words.
If you do not know what you want or you can not present a demand/solution coherently, you make a joke of yourself. You not only end up sounding confusing but ridiculously confused.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Harper's Ferry
Yesterday was fun, went to Harper's Ferry, a serene and scenic spot on the intersection of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers in West Virginia. Also saw Charles Town West Virginia, named after Charles Washington, the brother of the first American president George Washington.
On my way back checked some Sports bikes. The sales agent wanted to know about the bike I already have so that he could suggest my new bike. The ones I was looking at are a 1000 c.c and the one I have is is 200 c.c, so when he asked me how many c.c's my exisiting bike is, my gentle reply was "just a little less than the one I am looking at" In the end we decided Suzuki Hayabusa is the one I deserve :)
On my way back checked some Sports bikes. The sales agent wanted to know about the bike I already have so that he could suggest my new bike. The ones I was looking at are a 1000 c.c and the one I have is is 200 c.c, so when he asked me how many c.c's my exisiting bike is, my gentle reply was "just a little less than the one I am looking at" In the end we decided Suzuki Hayabusa is the one I deserve :)
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Is STRIKES a solution?
Lets analyse the effectivenss of a STRIKE in Kashmir:
Issue: Demilitarization of the region
Strategy: None
Tactic: General Stirkes and Shutdowns
Effected population: (mostly Kashmiri's)
1. Students
2. Business owners
3. Employed People
4. Daily Workers
Now let us examine the nature in which each of these are effected:
1. Students: Loss of a day, week, month, or a year depending on the duration of the strike. Courses completed in time which goes beyond the stipulated duration. Prospects of a current or future placement for education or employment adversely effected.
2. Business Owners: Shops remain closed or even if a small percentage is open there is no business since there are no buyers or sellers.
3. Employed People: Since businesses remain closed, they don't have to go to work. Since the employer isn't making any money they don't get paid.
4. Daily Workers: Shutdown means no transport, no work and no jobs meaning no money. Now its pretty clear that the results haven't been promising so far. Lets analyse it a bit more;Students not completing their courses in the stipulated time period means that they have are handicaped when compared to their counter parts elsewhere. What this maginifies into is something more difficult to deal with and possibly hard to accept - lack of opportunties that they deserve or are worthy of. This happens equally in education and in employment, and when this happens THEY think Kashmiri's are discriminated against (sometimes true-but that doesn't make it a rule), well in fact the truth is our students might not have the same credentials (Yes friends completing your courses in time is one of them).
Lack of selling and buying opportunities for business owners doesn't just mean that they earnings are effected (and some of you don't care since they can afford it), it also means that they people they employ lose their earnings (o yes we do care for the non-so-rich). Many of these employees are parents to these unfortunately student class. So these people now don't qualify as a seperate class, but infact if you are a STUDENT your problems just compounded, your parent's hands are now a little more tied up financially than otherwise.
Daily workers - do we even know this class exists? Yes it does, these are the same people who live a day to day life, earn just enough for the hand to mouth living. Anyones who goes out everyday looking for work and is paid on a daily basis falls in this category. And now you can imagine what a day off in their lives mean....hmm you do know it.
As far as my humble opition goes, I don't think there is a strategy to what the Hurriet is doing or just trying to do, remember Strategy is long term and has to be sustainable. Given the picture I tried to paint above, how to you sustain an indefinite strike and expect people to do nothing when this tactic gives them nothing but just asks of them.
A people that can think and understand is a people that that knows what it NEEDS more than just what it WANTS. Sometimes in our unquenched thirst for what we want we forget the more important thing in life - what we need. Education is what I feel we need, education doesn't just mean fancy degrees and big qualifications, it goes beyond. It is having the strength to listen to different schools of thought and have empathy.
What we are stuck in is a sheep culture, following the head-sheep without any thought or consideration. Education means the ability to question things and rate them on their merit, it is the ability o see the Right from Wrong...Yes being able to identify the RIGHT when many others don't see it yet, can be an uphill task, breaking away from the herd of sheep is like swimming upstream, but thats what makes us HUMAN I guess, and not SHEEP
Issue: Demilitarization of the region
Strategy: None
Tactic: General Stirkes and Shutdowns
Effected population: (mostly Kashmiri's)
1. Students
2. Business owners
3. Employed People
4. Daily Workers
Now let us examine the nature in which each of these are effected:
1. Students: Loss of a day, week, month, or a year depending on the duration of the strike. Courses completed in time which goes beyond the stipulated duration. Prospects of a current or future placement for education or employment adversely effected.
2. Business Owners: Shops remain closed or even if a small percentage is open there is no business since there are no buyers or sellers.
3. Employed People: Since businesses remain closed, they don't have to go to work. Since the employer isn't making any money they don't get paid.
4. Daily Workers: Shutdown means no transport, no work and no jobs meaning no money. Now its pretty clear that the results haven't been promising so far. Lets analyse it a bit more;Students not completing their courses in the stipulated time period means that they have are handicaped when compared to their counter parts elsewhere. What this maginifies into is something more difficult to deal with and possibly hard to accept - lack of opportunties that they deserve or are worthy of. This happens equally in education and in employment, and when this happens THEY think Kashmiri's are discriminated against (sometimes true-but that doesn't make it a rule), well in fact the truth is our students might not have the same credentials (Yes friends completing your courses in time is one of them).
Lack of selling and buying opportunities for business owners doesn't just mean that they earnings are effected (and some of you don't care since they can afford it), it also means that they people they employ lose their earnings (o yes we do care for the non-so-rich). Many of these employees are parents to these unfortunately student class. So these people now don't qualify as a seperate class, but infact if you are a STUDENT your problems just compounded, your parent's hands are now a little more tied up financially than otherwise.
Daily workers - do we even know this class exists? Yes it does, these are the same people who live a day to day life, earn just enough for the hand to mouth living. Anyones who goes out everyday looking for work and is paid on a daily basis falls in this category. And now you can imagine what a day off in their lives mean....hmm you do know it.
As far as my humble opition goes, I don't think there is a strategy to what the Hurriet is doing or just trying to do, remember Strategy is long term and has to be sustainable. Given the picture I tried to paint above, how to you sustain an indefinite strike and expect people to do nothing when this tactic gives them nothing but just asks of them.
A people that can think and understand is a people that that knows what it NEEDS more than just what it WANTS. Sometimes in our unquenched thirst for what we want we forget the more important thing in life - what we need. Education is what I feel we need, education doesn't just mean fancy degrees and big qualifications, it goes beyond. It is having the strength to listen to different schools of thought and have empathy.
What we are stuck in is a sheep culture, following the head-sheep without any thought or consideration. Education means the ability to question things and rate them on their merit, it is the ability o see the Right from Wrong...Yes being able to identify the RIGHT when many others don't see it yet, can be an uphill task, breaking away from the herd of sheep is like swimming upstream, but thats what makes us HUMAN I guess, and not SHEEP
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