JUSTICE MARKANDEY KATJU
By hoisting the Indian flag and denouncing Pakistan the Kashmiris have shown that they cannot be befooled any more. In fact they are the first people who have realized the truth stated above. It is food they must have in their stomachs, not Islam.
The vast masses in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Kashmir share the same socio-economic problems of massive poverty and unemployment, appalling level of child malnutrition ( every second child in India is malnourished, according to Global Hunger Index ), skyrocketing prices of essential commodities, almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses, etc.
Hence the people of the Indian subcontinent should unite under a secular government with modern minded leaders determined to create a political and social order under which all our people get decent lives. Our national aim must be to transform India into s modern industrial giant, like USA or China, within 20 years, for only then can we generate the wealth required to provide for the welfare of our people.
The narrative built for decades by the Pakistan Establishment was that the Indian government was the oppressor of Kashmiris, and that the hearts of all Pakistanis was bleeding for the hapless and suffering Kashmiris. All would be well if a referendum was held in Kashmir and Kashmiris allowed to choose their own future.
It was a different matter that these Pakistanis whose hearts bled for the poor oppressed Kashmiris always lived in great comfort in big cities like Islamabad, Lahore, or Karachi, and would become indignant if someone asked them to give up their comforts and go to fight for the Kashmiris for whom their hearts bled so much.
It was presumed, according to this narrative, that Kashmiris will always be in favour of Pakistan, since Pakistan was an Islamic state ( and most Kashmiris are Muslims ), whereas most Indians are Hindus, and therefore the enemies.of Muslims.
For quite some time this narrative worked, and Pakistanis were always depicted as being in favour of Kashmiris, their hearts bleeding for the latter. Whether politicians, army officers, bureaucrats, ‘intellectuals’ or journalists, Pakistanis would harp the same tune : all problems between India and Pakistan would be solved if freedom was given to Kashmiris to choose their future.
The recent events in POK ( the part of Kashmir occupied by Pakistan) have blown apart this bogus narrative. Kashmiris were seen and heard condemning Pakistan and wanting freedom from its military jackboots. Some were even seen hoisting the Indian flag, indicating that they prefer to join India rather than remain part of Pakistan .
I have often said that while the small enlightened section of society may have understanding of political realities, the mental level of the masses is usually very low, their mindsets being full of casteism and communalism. They can be easily befooled by the rulers and charlatans for quite some time. However, a time comes when a ‘danda’ must be wielded on their backsides to wake them up, for otherwise they will neverr wake up. In the Indian subcontinent this danda is the economic danda of record massive unemployment and skyrocketing prices of essential commodities like food, fuel and medicines, and this is gradually waking up the people in this vast region. I do not like people to get dandas, but like bitter medicine sometime it is very much needed
Now Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis ( and Kashmiris ), by getting the economic danda, of skyrocketing prices and massive unemployment, are gradually realizing the truth : that we are really one nation, sharing the same culture, and were one for over 500 years since the time of Mughal Emperor Akbar. We were befooled into thinking that Hindus and Muslims are each other’s enemies. Partition of 1947 was a British swindle, implemented by their agents Gandhi and Jinnah, on the basis of the bogus two nation theory. It was done to keep Indians ( and in that term I include Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Kashmiris ) weak and backward, so that we do not emerge as a modern industrial giant, like another China, for which we have all the potential with our huge pool of technical talent and immense natural resources.
(Writer is former Supreme Court Judge, India)

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