Former gun-trotter preaches peace from behind the bars

Jehad in Kashmir. Is it a holy war? Hasim Quereshi debates the morals of the so called leaders of violent struggle in the Valley in an interview with Arun Sharma.

Srinagar, June 3: Thirty years after having sown the seeds of armed resistance by hijacking an Indian Airlines plane to Lahore in 1971, Hashim Qureshi -- a close associate of late JKLF founder Maqbool Bhat -- today feels that non-violence is the only way that can lead Jammu and Kashmir to ``freedom''.

``If we are not able to soften international opinion in our favour through the use of gun and violence, then we must give up the path of violence and adopt non-violent path of Intifada like the Palestinians,'' he said. Lodged in the Joint Interrogation Centre in the Valley, he is facing trial in the court of District Sessions Judge, Srinagar, under the provisions of the Enemy Agents Ordinance.

He has a justification also for change in his perception. ``Along with the movement, we must also take into account the environs. We shall have to protect the Dal and other lakes, our streams and waterways, our rivers, forests and mountains that contribute to the economy and prosperity of our land,'' he says.

He said a political party has to take every step thorough deliberation and meticulous planning. ``Minimum sacrifices have to be demanded from the people and maximum benefits have to be brought to them,'' he said, adding that this is what sagacity and good leadership demand.

Sitting inside the JIC, he has got nearly one lakh pamphlets distributed all over the state to apprise masses of the negative impact of ongoing violent movement in the Valley.

The distribution of pamphlets is still on and a number of professors, intellectuals and even former militant commanders have responded by visiting Qureshi in the JIC. Some separatist leaders also visited him recently and had an hour-long meeting.

``The nation has made a big sacrifice of nearly eighty thousand valuable human lives. The chief of the United Nations Organisation finally said that India and Pakistan should resolve the Kashmir issue through mutual dialogue and that they cannot interfere. The (then) President of the most powerful country in the world, Bill Clinton, arrives in Pakistan in a dramatic manner after changing three aeroplanes, and demands from Pakistan that violence be eschewed and sanctity of the Line of Control (LoC) be recognized,'' he says.

Emphasising the need for resorting to non-violent means to achieve ``freedom'', he says, ``When this is the situation and the whole world declares a struggle undertaken on religious card as terrorism, then the leadership and political parties should sit up and ponder over the situation. They should ruminate how they can pull out from this situation with honour and dignity. They cannot let things drift away and sit like an unconcerned person and watch the shaping of the disaster without remorse."

In justification of his opinion, he says the best leadership adopts different tactics from time to time to lead the nation to the destination. "It is important for the leadership that it treats the struggle of its nation like a good and experienced physician, who would like to cure fever first by administering some pills. But if the fever does not subside, he may prescribe some injections. He goes on changing the cure unless fever begins to subside," he added.

Taking a dig at all those supporting the ongoing violent movement in Kashmir, he said, ``If the leadership believes in the politics of gun, then it must, first of all, take it in its own hands. It must give the gun in the hands of its sons and daughters. Those boasting of jehad must keep before them the example of Holy Prophet, who physically participated in various wars like Badr, Ohod, Khandaq etc,'' he said.

``However, it is Kashmir alone where those who announced the gun to be the decisive factor in the struggle, never touched the gun. Even their sons and daughters did not touch it. Instead they provided them with government jobs and lucrative assignments or got them training as doctors, engineers and business concerns,'' he added.

When a so called leader, with not definite policy and planning abandons the youth to the throes of death and destruction only to serve his own ego and his status, he is no leader. The workers do not take him as a father-figure. The question is why is it so? he asked, saying the progeny of political leaders with no ideology, at the most becomes the heir to the leader's property.

Also taking a dig on pro-Pak separatist leaders, he said should the community be made independent or confederated with another country depends on the political and economic interests of the people. "A nation has not to be made a hostage to another country and its agencies for self aggrandizement."

Apprising people as to how higher is the moral standard of those involved in armed struggle, he said Mao had ordered that no soldier of the Red Army would ask anything from the freedom fighting populace without paying its cost. He had also ordered that no soldier would either ask for shelter with any civilian household or act against the adversary in towns and cities so as to avoid civilian casualties, he said, adding acts like bomb blasts in congested localities, kidnapping, massacres, arson have no place at all in the armed movement.

Qureshi also criticized all those boycotting the elections, saying if the political party and its leadership want to continue a struggle for freedom and political rights, it must discuss whether the people have that much of patience and economic stability necessary to keep the struggle going on for a long time?

"If during the struggle for freedom, demands are met one by one, should these be accepted? Is it right to allow occupational agents to be in place in controlling the local government by boycotting the elections? he asked.

"However, what is being done inadvertently or otherwise is that the enemies of freedom are provided an opportunity of capturing the government and its institutions. This contributes towards the failure of the movement," Qureshi added.