inam ul rehman
Politics is less based on morals and more on politicking. That is why political class mostly gets away with wrongdoings.
In 1636, the Mughal emperor Shahjahan signed a deal with the Deccani states of Golconda, and Bijapur, promising not to conquer these states in future. This promise was reneged by Shahjahan himself. But Golconda, and Bijapur kingdoms continued to exhibit some sovereignty although they accepted the Mughal suzerainty. Then came emperor Aurangzeb.
He wanted both these states to confront Marathas, who were hassling his troops in guerrilla warfare. They refused, and Aurangzeb for the time being lost interest.
Bijapur, and Golconda states acted as a buffer zone between the Mughals and Maratha. The latter would plunder these two states, and sometimes join hands with them against the Mughals. Aurangzeb’s repeated offer to Bijapur to join hands with him to destroy the Maratha was not acceptable to Bijapur, as it considered Maratha power the sword arm against the Mughals. Emperor Aurangzeb tried to win over its nobility through diplomacy, but failed.
By 1684, Aurangzeb’s patience had given up. He thought that the Maratha power can be crushed only by conquering Deccani states. Since, he was orthodox, and it was against Islamic principles to attack, conquer, and annex, fellow Muslim lands, he accused them of handing over the entire control of the affairs to infidels. On this pretext he annexed both of them to the Mughal kingdom, but it was the start of winding up of the empire.
With Bijapur, and Golconda annexed, Aurangzeb succeeded in to arrest Sambhaji, Shivaji’s son. According to historians, some nobles of Aurangzeb’s court asked him to spare his life in lieu of him surrendering all forts. Aurangzeb was then at his zenith of power, he refused, and in fact, paraded and humiliated Sambhaji before executing him. Aurangzeb also spurned Marathas offer for peace. When the emperor dead in 1707, the Mughal empire virtually controlled the subcontinent including parts of modern Afghanistan.
But in just 50 years the same Marathas against which the Mughals spend huge human resources, and money were now protectors of the Mughal court. No Mughal king could sit on the throne without the support of the Marathas.
What at that time seemed lost of the very rebellion turned into a game changer with the Marathas becoming kingmakers at the Mughal court!
If you think I am drawing analogy between Kashmir and the events of past, yes, you are right. The Indian state has abrogated the last vestige of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, the merger, as per the Indian state, is complete.
The abrogation of Article 370, et al, made many Kashmiris to think that Pakistan would come to their rescue. In fact, in the first month rumours were circulating that Pakistani forces have entered inside Gulmarg, in the next month it was said they are in Gangbal area as well. But as August faded, September waned, and the month of October passed too people began to realise that all these rumours of Pakistan coming to their rescue were jokes, and nothing else. It may have eroded a significant junk of pro-Pakistan constituency in Kashmir. Because for years pro Pakistan constituency in Kashmir kept repeating a lie that it was because of Pakistan that India’s hands are tied!
The other thing that this abrogation did was to erode pro-India constituency. So far these pro-India politicians were relevant in Kashmir because of the Article 370. It is no secret in Kashmir that sometimes both pro-India and pro-Pakistan people cooperated with each other to benefit themselves. Now both these constituencies have been hit. Just like Bijapur, and Golconda were conquered, annexed, and forgotten. Not that these constituencies will disappear altogether they will be like the Zimbabwean cricket team whom no one wants to host.
Apart from it both these constituency were fulcrum against the global jihadist movement in Kashmir. Both these constituencies were deadly against global jihadist movement. The Indian state may have unintentionally helped global jihadist organisations to consolidate in Kashmir.
What is in favour of the state?
The smooth transition from abrogation of the Article 370 to union territory with not many shots being fired has helped the state to link its activities with the past ones, such as, do away with the visa at entry points of Kashmir, removal of the post of president, prime minister of Kashmir, arrest of Sheikh Abdullah, et al, where the Kashmiri population did nothing and accepted everything as fait accompli.
It projects Kashmiris as docile, and only when instigated by external forces do they rise up.
The narrative in Kashmir has been changed from azaadi to clutch domicile law.
Kashmiris will remain busy nit-picking domicile law, earlier they were engrossed on the validity of instrument of accession, which came first––tribal warlords, or the Indian army ––forgetting that partition of the united India was on the basis of communal politics where Hindu majority states were to join India, and Muslim majority with Pakistan.
The state is also not missing the point that when all communications were put to halt in Kashmir, the same Kashmiris, men and women, young and old, readily went to police stations to call their kith and kin. Same about journalists who didn’t protest when a few computers were installed in a government controlled space for them to work from, and were also monitored by the police (https://www.newslaundry.com/2020/02/05/a-panopticon-of-fear-and-rumours-inside-kashmirs-media-centre-during-lockdown)
No nation state wants to redraw borders. Just look at Syria where old adversaries, USA, Russia, Iran came together to throttle any plans to redraw borders.
Pakistan, as it seems, is also exhausted. Last year its prime minister repeatedly tried to instigate the people of Kashmir to protest, but no one took his word (https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/besieged-kashmiris-hail-imran-khan-speech-190927105940765.html)
Pro-Pakistan militants are also sitting ducks these days as Pakistan has refrained them from killing any combatant (https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/calls-for-jihad-in-kashmir-against-kashmiris-cause-pak-interest-imran-khan/article29811581.ece)
What is the state up against?
The state is up against a new determined militant minority who owe allegiance to global Khilafat, and not to any nation state.
The ideology of global Khalifat is spreading in Kashmir, and as police officials have repeatedly said that they can kill militants but are helpless in front of radical ideology (https://thewire.in/security/zakir-musa-new-extremism-kashmir-killed).
With the abrogation of Article 370, the state has made the whole of India as the battlefield for global movements, as al Qaeda in the Indian subcontinent has frequently said “key to victory in Kashmir lay in attacking Indian cities” (https://www.news18.com/news/india/kashmir-al-qaeda-wing-says-delhi-riots-taliban-peace-agreement-have-energised-jihad-2523689.html). Many voices that were against Kashmir being dragged into pan-Islamic conflict will be silenced now.
The Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan without support from any Muslim country is going to spur on huge number of radicals in Kashmir.
The hyper-propaganda, riots, lynching of Muslims in India is going to boomerang against the state as it provides fertile ground for global jihadists to recruit militants from these areas. (https://www.news18.com/news/india/kashmir-al-qaeda-wing-says-delhi-riots-taliban-peace-agreement-have-energised-jihad-2523689.html, https://www.firstpost.com/india/communal-riots-in-india-are-playing-into-the-hands-of-islamic-states-jihadists-and-realising-their-dystopic-dreams-8148281.html, https://www.firstpost.com/india/kashmirs-islamic-state-seeks-to-cash-in-on-delhi-communal-violence-through-new-online-call-for-violence-8083021.html).
But at this time the state will not see it like that.
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