Modi’s Elephant in the Room

Views

Modi’s visit to Srinagar Saturday brings to mind an event where in September 2006 the British artist Banksy gave special meaning to the phrase “elephant in the room” in a Los Angeles exhibit called Photo credit: Gary Martin www.phrases.org.ukBarely Legal. It’s theme was global poverty. As writer Gary Martin says, “By painting the elephant in the same bold pattern as the room’s wallpaper, Banksy emphasized the phrase’s meaning, by both making the elephant even more obvious and by giving those who chose to ignore it (like the woman in the tableau) an opportunity to pretend that it had blended into the wallpaper background.“

Modi’s elephant in the room was depicted in the same way in Srinagar, the Capitol City of Kashmir this past weekend, where we had the same artificial set re-enacted. The attempt to disguise the true problem of Kashmir by locking up the voices and spirit of resistance to Indian oppression did not make it go away nor did it recede into the wallpaper. The dispute over the sovereignty of the land and people of Kashmir cannot be hidden by all the cosmetics that $12 billion can purchase.

In the carefully choreographed visit, Modi was given a warm welcome by around 15,000 people who included couple of thousand police personnel in plain clothes, a few thousand daily wagers, some non Kashmiri employees who come from the Indian State of Bihar and of course some loyalists of PDP patron, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

It was no surprise to the local residents of Srinagar when they found out that the non-Kashmiri (Behari) employees did not show up to work. They had been detoured and corralled into listening to the prime minister who was otherwise going to standing before a lot of empty seats.

The highways were closed for public transportation, restrictions were imposed on movement, drop gates were erected in every nook and corner of the city of Srinagar and cordon and search operations were conducted. Curfew-like restrictions were imposed in Srinagar. Hundreds of leaders of the resistance were detained to prevent them from leading a march which was expected to attract more than a million Kashmiris.

Syed Ali Geelani’s call for ‘Million-Man-March’ was endorsed by all including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Mohammad Yasin Malik, Shabir Ahmed Shah and others. It was expected to attract virtually the whole population of the city, towns and villages – men, women and children — to express their desire for a political solution and not the economic package of the Kashmir dispute.

The local papers reported that the daily wagers from various departments of Agriculture, Horticulture, Forest, Fisheries, Labour and Animal Husbandry were ordered to assemble at Town Hall in Pulwama on Friday, November 6, 2105 at 6 pm so that they could be taken to Srinagar to participate in this Bansky-like staging of a rally on Saturday, November 7, 2015.

The local news agency CNS reported, “We (police personnel) have been asked to ensure our presence at our police lines in Pulwama for physical fitness tests but we are sure that we will also be taken to Sher-i-Kashmir Cricket Stadium to attend Modi’s rally,” said an SPO, wishing not to be named.

It has been the tragedy that the Indian leadership not to listen to the saner voices. India’s obduracy has never helped resolve the Kashmir dispute. And Narendra Modi is no different . It is the basic principle of international relations that when the parties are not able to resolve the conflict, then it is always better to listen to saner elements beyond the parties who are directly involved in the conflict, such as U.S. President Harry Truman who was in office when the Kashmir dispute erupted at the United Nations in 1948. Men like President Mandela who said that ‘we should be willing to lend all the strength we have to the resolution of this matter (Kashmir),’ and President Obama who has also said that the resolution of Kashmir is in the interest of the world peace.

Prime Minister Modi should realize that money can certainly solve some of the problems caused by last year’s flood, but it will not remove the ever-present and destabilizing atmosphere of oppression, the violence in the streets, and the persistent trauma of rape, murder and disappearances that have been the hallmark of India’s history in Kashmir.

Mere sloganeering, economic packages and cricket diplomacy will never solve the Kashmir problem. Kashmir is a political issue which needs a political solution. The immediate necessities are the following:

  1. The intervention of the international community to bring the violence in Kashmir to a quick end. This intervention could also be the facilitation of a person of international standing, like Nobel Laureates, Bishop Desmond Tutu or Dr. Kofi Annan;
  2. Demilitarization of the State of Jammu and Kashmir on both sides of the Cease-fire Line;
  3. Initiation of a political dialogue between all parties concerned – India, Pakistan and the leadership of the people of Jammu & Kashmir to set a stage for a democratic and peaceful solution.

Similar Posts

  • The JNU Protest: The Right to Dissent

    In many respects the brouhaha over the Jawahar Lal Nehru (JNU) protest and the arrest of the student union president Kanhaiya Kumar can be counted as a good thing, in that it has brought the issue of Kashmir again into the national limelight, encouraging discussion and dialogue about self-determination.

    Kashmir is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, but yet it is being treated like dirt under the rug. Responsibility for it must ultimately be faced, because, sooner or later, it will be exposed. The authorities will hope that the JNU protest and Afzal Guru can be swept under the rug of the Indian conscience too. But repression invariably brings about the very opposite.

  • Kashmir and the Nuclear Threat

    “The best way to solve any problem is to remove its cause.” Martin Luther King

    “Nuclear weapons are the scourge of the earth; to mine for them, manufacture them, deploy them, use them, is a curse against God, the human family, and the earth itself.” Philip Berrigan, American Peace Activist.

    The nuclear age has placed in the world’s lap a growing and complex set of threats that create the possibility of an all-out holocaust in some part of the world almost every day. We now have North Korea threatening Seoul, testing intercontinental ballistic missiles and bragging about hydrogen bombs. Few people know that the Korean War has never ended. The Armistice Agreement was just a ceasefire. No formal treaty was ever signed. Then there’s NATO playing war games at Russia’s borders, with generals talking about taking back Crimea. And let’s not forget Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu who has threatened to attack Iran unilaterally if no one else does it. But in South Asia, the mainstream media seems to overlook frequently a continuous and ongoing threat of another kind.

  • Twelfth International Kashmir Conference Concluded in New York

    New York. December 11, 2015. Twelfth International Kashmir Peace Conference, entitled, “Beyond the Blame Game: Finding Common Grounds for Peace and Justice in Kashmir,” organized by International Educational Development (IED) at the Church Center of the United Nations, New York, attended among others by the academics, researchers, the delegates from various United Nations Missions, representatives of the United Nations NGO’s, social and civil rights activists, political analysts and prominent Americans of South Asian origin, began with the key-note speech delivered by Hon. Ramsey Clark, 66th Attorney General of the United States.

  • Kashmiris can determine their own political destiny: Dr. Fai

    Baltimore, Maryland. May 31, 2016. “The world powers have voiced not a syllable of reproach to India for its human rights violations in Kashmir. Their tacit message to India’s leaders: your economic attractiveness and hegemony in South Asia exculpate your human rights atrocities in Kashmir. Does that reflect a profile in courage?” this was stated by Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Secretary General of World Kashmir Awareness during the 41st Annual Convention of Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).

    Dr. Fai was speaking in the panel, entitled, “Muslims Around The World Series” on the subject of Kashmir. Other speakers included Dr. Nikibur Rahman, son of Motiur Rahman Nizami who was executed in Bangladesh on May 11, 2016 through a trial procedure that international human rights groups, including ‘Amnesty International’ have condemned as deeply flawed. ‘The Arab Spring: 6 Years later’ was presented by Dr. Abdul Mawgoud Dardery, former Member of Parliament of Egypt.

  • Kashmiris Demanded UN Pledged Right of Self-Determination

    New York, October 26, 2015. A huge peace march took place in New York in which thousands of friends of Kashmir participated. The march was jointly sponsored by all groups who believe in the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir.

    The very inspiring March began at the Indian Mission to the UN on 43rd Street and led up 3rd Avenue to 47th, terminating in front of the United Nations. The cooperation of NY state and city police was exemplary, and there were no incidents which marred the event.

    Hundreds also participated in London, Brussels, Islamabad and Muzaffarabad with their own marches. In Srinagar, Kashmir, however, the leadership was put under house arrest in Srinagar so they could not go the office of the UN and present the memorandum.

  • “We need pens and computers, and not guns and grenades” Lord Nazir Ahmed

    Chicago, September 8, 2015. “Tripartite negotiations between Governments of India, Pakistan and Kashmiri leadership is the only way to resolve the outstanding dispute of Jammu & Kashmir,” said Lord Nazir Ahmed, Member, British House of Lords during the 52nd Annual Convention of Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) on the subject of, ‘Kashmir: A Case of Steadfastness.’