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J&K politics
Not a binding factor any more
The breakaway ‘hurriyat conference j&k’ |
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The crumbling of the Hurriyat The fresh split in the moderate faction of the Hurriyat has lowered the credibility of the separatist movement in the Valley. The breakup, second in a decade, suggests the conglomerate may assume a more hardline stance. By Ishfaq Tantry
The
fog over rumblings within the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference was cleared on January 17, when the rebel group led by Democratic Freedom Party leader Shabbir Ahmad Shah announced its formal separation from the amalgam. Considered as a big jolt to the leadership of Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the rebels also announced the formation of a ‘third Hurriyat’— the Hurriyat Conference Jammu and Kashmir (HCJK). Apart from Shah, those who have moved away from Mirwaiz are National Front leader Nayeem Khan, Azam Inquilabi of Mahaz-e-Azadi and Mohammad Yousuf Naqash of Islamic Political Party, a little-known political group. This is the second vertical split in the two-decade history of the erstwhile All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), which came into existence in 1993 for providing a ‘political representation’ to the separatist movement in Kashmir. The 23-constituent member APHC first split in 2003 when hardliner separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani parted ways and formed his own faction known as the Hurriyat Conference or Hurriyat (G). While moderates believe in an ‘incremental’ approach to resolve the Kashmir dispute, hardliners have an ‘absolutist’ view and bank on UN resolutions. Though the first breakup in the Hurriyat ranks had come along more on ideological lines among the moderates and hardliners, the latest split was simmering for long, mainly due to the personal differences between Hurriyat members, especially Mirwaiz and Shah.
Simmering discord
The discord within the moderate camp dates back to 2012, when supporters of Shah and senior Hurriyat leader Prof Abdul Gani Bhat come to blows during a seminar at the Hurriyat headquarters. Hurriyat insiders maintain that the trio of Shabbir Shah, Nayeem Khan and Azam Inquilabi had been ‘out of the fold fold’ as they would neither attend its meetings nor visit the headquarters located at the posh Rajbagh locality in Srinagar. In the immediate context, it can be said the precursor to the rebels parting ways was the controversial letter Mirwaiz had written to the Hurriyat’s PoK chapter in December 2013. He had cited “indiscipline and violation” of Hurriyat constitution as reasons for not entertaining certain leaders (he did not name them in the letter). The letter was leaked to the media and led to a chain reaction, with the rebel group going public and accusing Mirwaiz of leading an “anti-movement” group. It claimed it was the ‘real’ Hurriyat. Prior to announcing the formation of a ‘third Hurriyat’, Shabbir Shah, in an interview with The Tribune on January 8, 2014, accused the moderate conglomerate of trying to “make Kashmir dispute as an internal issue” by terming UN resolutions as “deadwood”. He also accused the moderate faction led by Mirwaiz of “lacking policy and transparency” and having “violated the Hurriyat constitution repeatedly”. Later, addressing a conference in Srinagar to commemorate Prophet Muhammad’s birth anniversary, Mirwaiz defended his actions against the three rebels, saying individual opinions could not override the collective decision of the Hurriyat.
The jigsaw puzzle
Even though many argue that no single factor caused the split, they term it “paradoxical” and “puzzling”. So, has the second split come as a surprise in the Valley? “The Hurriyat camp has been divided for long. The fresh split has weakened its ranks and diminished its voice,” says Prof Noor Ahmad Baba, former head, Department of Political Science, Kashmir University. He says the split has further lowered its credibility and disappointed people once again. “Generally, factions form and even disintegration occurs when certain objectives have been realised. Without success on any issue, the Hurriyat has started disintegrating, which is puzzling,” says political analyst Prof Gul Wani, who teaches at the Institute of Kashmir Studies, Kashmir University.
Hardliners rise
The formation of the ‘third Hurriyat’, experts say, suggests that the separatist political movement may assume a more hardline character, further diminishing the space for moderate separatist politics. It would also be shaped by external factors as historically, the politics in Kashmir has also been influenced to a large extent by the regional equations and power alignments. Much also depends on how India and Pakistan move after the parliamentary elections. “If India and Pakistan develop better relations and move forward; and Nawaz Sharif consolidates his position, hardline politics may find no takers. But if the ties deteriorate between the two nations, this brand of politics will assert itself and may gain more ground,” warns Prof Gul Wani. India and Pakistan need to work together in Afghanistan. They cannot hope to come out of it without working together, he says.
The ups and downs
1989: Militancy erupts in the Valley.
1993: APHC formed to provide political representation to separatist movement. Aim is to achieve right to self-determination by implementing UN resolutions or arrive at alternative negotiated settlement through talks. 2001: PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee invites Pak President Pervez Musharraf for summit-level talks in Agra; Hurriyat not invited. Vajpayee says it should first meet chief negotiator KC Pant. 2001:
KC Pant, Deputy Commissioner, Planning Commission, named to engage in talks with broad range of groups in J&K. His invitation is rejected by Hurriyat leaders, who had been released from jail for talks. 2003: APHC splits, with Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chairman of breakaway faction, alleging some Hurriyat members participated in the 2002 Assembly elections by fielding proxy candidates. 2004:
First-ever talks between Mirwaiz faction and Vajpayee-led government in New Delhi, despite resentment by hardliners. Talks conducted by LK Advani, then Deputy Prime Minister. 2004: NDA’s defeat in polls does not alter Kashmir policy as UPA-I continues its engagement with Hurriyat. 2006: PM Manmohan Singh holds talks with moderate faction of Hurriyat in New Delhi. 2007: Talks unilaterally scuttled by UPA regime due to internal strife in Pakistan. 2009: Moderate Hurriyat leaders engage in secret dialogue with Centre. This is revealed by then Home Minister P Chidambaram during a press conference in
Srinagar. |
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Apart
from being seen as a divided lot with ‘fat egos’, the common refrain in the state is that the separatist leadership has failed to deliver as far as the resolution of the Kashmir issue is considered.
The strategies adopted by the moderates as well as hardliners are out of sync with geo-political realities. The poll boycott strategy of the separatists has hardly worked. Since 1996, when the elections were held after long, three successive state governments have been elected in the state. Experts believe that the failure of the poll boycott campaign is a wand by which the Indian Government has beaten the separatists repeatedly and weakened their argument for a ‘representative’ character. The ‘hartaal’ politics — called so by mainstream pro-India political parties — of the separatists has also boomeranged as of late, the shutdown calls have been evoking a lukewarm response. The influence of separatist politicians has waned over the years, primarily because of two reasons. Firstly, there has been a decrease in the number of militants and incidents of violence, adversely affecting the ‘assertiveness and influence’ of separatist politics. Secondly, the separatist leadership has been accused of lacking fresh ideas for the resolution of the Kashmir issue. While the moderates led by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq were seen as strong votaries of Musharraf’s four-point formula, the hardline Hurriyat faction led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani has been harping on implementing the UN resolutions on Kashmir and demanding the right to self-determination as a solution.
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The breakaway ‘hurriyat conference j&k’
A
senior Hurriyat leader and head of the Democratic Freedom Party, Shah leads the rebel Hurriyat group which parted ways with Mirwaiz on January 17, 2014, to form a third Hurriyat faction. Born in 1953, Shah began his political career at the age of 14, when he led a separatist demonstration in South Kashmir from where he hails. He was arrested and released after three months. Ideologically, he remained associated with the pro-Pakistan People’s League. When militancy erupted in the Valley in 1989, he threw his weight behind the now-defunct militant outfit, Muslim Janbaz Force. The outfit later merged with other groups to form Al-Jihad, a formidable militant organisation during the early 1990s. Having spent nearly 29 years behind bars, Shabbir Shah gained popularity when he was called the ‘prisoner of conscience’ by Amnesty International. He was part of the ‘Muzaffarabad chalo’ march which was stopped and fired upon by the security forces at Baramulla in North Kashmir in 2008. Senior Hurriyat leader and People’s League chairman Sheikh Aziz was killed in the firing. He has now hardened his stance and is emphasising on the implementation of UN resolutions. The ‘third Hurriyat’ led by him has indicated it would work closely with the hardline faction led by
Geelani.
Tough stand
For militants, a father figure
Among
the separatist camp in Kashmir, Azam Inquilabi, whose original name is Mohammad Altaf Khan, is considered one of the early proponents of militancy. A former militant commander, Azam became the first chief of the Muzaffarabad-based United Jihad Council in 1990. After his return a few years later, he joined the ‘political movement’ and became part of the APHC as head of the Mahaz-e-Azadi Party. That Azam is a hardcore separatist is evident from the fact that he crossed the Line of Control and picked up a gun at the age of 43. For this, he is respected as a ‘fatherly figure’ among the separatists. He gained fame for his pronouncements on Sadai-e-Huurriyat Radio, a propaganda organ of the Kashmiri separatist movement which was broadcast from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and beamed around the Valley during the early 1990s. Azam would often announce that he is ready with his 15,000-strong militant cadre force to cross over to Kashmir and wage a ‘jihad’. He was arrested for the first time in 1965 at the age of 18 and has since spent seven years in various jails of the state. He has written many articles and booklets on the Kashmir issue. Of late, he has remained confined to his modest home in the posh Nigeen locality of Srinagar, where Mirwaiz also lives in a sprawling bungalow.
Claim to ‘fame’
Head
of the J&K National Front, Nayeem Khan has graduated in civil engineering. He was affiliated with the now-defunct militant outfit Muslim
Janbaz Force. However, his profile on the official website of the front states, “Nayeem, who never resorted to militancy, continued to take the struggle forward peacefully.” After he formed the front in 1998, he encouraged the youth for a peaceful struggle, it adds. Hailing from the Pattan area of Baramulla district, Nayeem Khan began his political career as a student after joining the People’s League in 1980. He was arrested in the year 1982 while leading a procession of students in the Kashmir valley. In 1986, he became the founding member of the Islamic Students League, along with Ishfaq Majeed, Shaheed Sheikh Hamid, Mohammad Yasin Malik, Javid Mir and Firdouse A Shah, all of whom later emerged as top militant commanders. He was later elected chairman of the league while Yasin Malik, current chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, was its general secretary. Khan played a pivotal role in the formation of the APHC in 1993.
‘Peace monger’
Began his political career as a student after joining the People’s League in 1980.
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