Professor Mohammad Ramzan was a reputed religious scholar and head of Jamiat-ahli-Ahlihadith in Kashmir. He was arrested 1998 but managed to secure his release through orders of a law court. In 1999, an attempt was made on his life by unidentified gunmen. They couldn’t kill him on-spot. However he passed away on fifteenth of February same year as a result of the injuries inflicted upon him. The term unidentified gun men is usually understood here to mean members of state sponsored private agencies. For police they can be both members of counter insurgency outfits or militants. Death of professor Ramzan was preceded by killing of sixty year old Ghulam Muhammad Paul a reputed teacher and an activist of Jamati-Islami. He was taken into police custody from his residence. Within twenty-four hours of his detention, his dead body was delivered to his family. Police as usual attributed his death to an encounter. Age of the victim makes fakeness of the police claim too obvious to need any elaboration. These incidents shouldn’t be seen in isolation but in context the shock therapy that is being applied to tame the rebellious Kashmiris through coercion. Scores of Kashmiri scholars and professionals have become targets of this therapy until now. They include Mushtaq Ali, Yousuf Jameel (Journalist), Jaleel Andrabi, Mr. Hirdainath. Wanchoo (Human rights activists) Dr. Gooroo, Dr. Ashai (Medical Practitioners), Professor B.A. Mattoo and Professor Wani (Academicians). Other facets of this campaign are attacks on the houses of the political leaders, rape and molestation of female members of the wanted insurgents and demolition of houses of suspected marginalized of the militants etc.
Shock therapy is one of the techniques that owes its origin to experiments done on non-humans and is applied to control the behaviour of various social groups. The idea is to passify the resistance of a society by subjecting it to continuous shocks with intervals of respite. The way a rat stops to respond electric shocks after being subjected to them for a long time it is presumed that a society will be deprived of its power of resistance if it is exposed to similar shocks. The victims themselves may not be the real targets but are attacked to convey a message to the members of particular profession or to the society at large. Sometimes potential activists are also made to understand the likely repercussions of defiant behaviour prior to their actual involvement in a resistance movement. These techniques were first of all used in Latin American countries subsequently some Western elite intelligence agencies refined and developed them. Third world countries nowadays are importing these techniques and utilizing them to fight insurgencies and mass movements. India is one of the recipients and is applying this strategy to fight insurgencies in Kashmir and the North East. Application of shock therapy to minorities in India can’t be ruled out in view of the mega-shocks that were administered to them through demolition of Babri Masjid and devastation of the Golden temple. Killings of foreign missionaries may also be part of the same strategy.
In Kashmir those involved in these acts apparently seem to be achieving some results. Kashmiris are in process of diluting their response to the acts of oppression. When Dr. Guroo and Dr. Ashai were killed, protests were on large scale now the response to such killings is mute. Death of Ghulam Qadir Wani didn’t evoke such large scale protests. Previously strikes against killing of scholars evoked response across the valley, now it has got confined to the localities of the victims. May be after sometime only families of the targets will be their to mourn the death of their relations. Professionals have distanced themselves from the on going movement after receiving the message that was sort to be conveyed through killing of their renowned colleagues. Even political leaders seldom take an initiative besides issuing occasional statements and visiting the families of the dead.
The above observations simply project one side of the implications of this therapy. One can have proper appreciation of other implications only after going through the history of the on going insurgency. J&I Liberation Front was a non entity in Kashmir politics. Life long efforts of M. Muqbool Bhat couldn’t help it to find adherents in the valley nor did it receive any significant response from the people of Pak Administered Kashmir (PAK). Those very people who commemorate death anniversary of Mr. Muqbool Bhat were the ones who facilitated his arrest. Even on his death the call of strike didn’t receive a response from the people. Within six years of his death however, he became hero for thousands of Kashmiri youth who resorted to armed insurgency. What Muqbool couldn’t achieve through his life long efforts, was done by the state for his marginalized by hanging him. J&I Liberation Front now occupied the centre stage of Kashmiri resistance movement and managed to create an unprecedented mass movement against India. If execution of Muqbool Bhat under a court verdict could lead to such an uprising why can’t extra judicial killings of so many people give rise to a similar situation and lead to popularity of the peripheral religious groups? If Muqbool Bhat could become hero of masses without any network of his marginalized why can’t those belonging to well knit marginalized become heroes of tomorrow? Professor Ramzan, Mr. Paul and others may be immediate victims of the shock therapy. No one knows who is going to be its ultimate casualty; current phase of the on going insurgency or the Indian state itself.
Shock therapy is one of the techniques that owes its origin to experiments done on non-humans and is applied to control the behaviour of various social groups. The idea is to passify the resistance of a society by subjecting it to continuous shocks with intervals of respite. The way a rat stops to respond electric shocks after being subjected to them for a long time it is presumed that a society will be deprived of its power of resistance if it is exposed to similar shocks. The victims themselves may not be the real targets but are attacked to convey a message to the members of particular profession or to the society at large. Sometimes potential activists are also made to understand the likely repercussions of defiant behaviour prior to their actual involvement in a resistance movement. These techniques were first of all used in Latin American countries subsequently some Western elite intelligence agencies refined and developed them. Third world countries nowadays are importing these techniques and utilizing them to fight insurgencies and mass movements. India is one of the recipients and is applying this strategy to fight insurgencies in Kashmir and the North East. Application of shock therapy to minorities in India can’t be ruled out in view of the mega-shocks that were administered to them through demolition of Babri Masjid and devastation of the Golden temple. Killings of foreign missionaries may also be part of the same strategy.
In Kashmir those involved in these acts apparently seem to be achieving some results. Kashmiris are in process of diluting their response to the acts of oppression. When Dr. Guroo and Dr. Ashai were killed, protests were on large scale now the response to such killings is mute. Death of Ghulam Qadir Wani didn’t evoke such large scale protests. Previously strikes against killing of scholars evoked response across the valley, now it has got confined to the localities of the victims. May be after sometime only families of the targets will be their to mourn the death of their relations. Professionals have distanced themselves from the on going movement after receiving the message that was sort to be conveyed through killing of their renowned colleagues. Even political leaders seldom take an initiative besides issuing occasional statements and visiting the families of the dead.
The above observations simply project one side of the implications of this therapy. One can have proper appreciation of other implications only after going through the history of the on going insurgency. J&I Liberation Front was a non entity in Kashmir politics. Life long efforts of M. Muqbool Bhat couldn’t help it to find adherents in the valley nor did it receive any significant response from the people of Pak Administered Kashmir (PAK). Those very people who commemorate death anniversary of Mr. Muqbool Bhat were the ones who facilitated his arrest. Even on his death the call of strike didn’t receive a response from the people. Within six years of his death however, he became hero for thousands of Kashmiri youth who resorted to armed insurgency. What Muqbool couldn’t achieve through his life long efforts, was done by the state for his marginalized by hanging him. J&I Liberation Front now occupied the centre stage of Kashmiri resistance movement and managed to create an unprecedented mass movement against India. If execution of Muqbool Bhat under a court verdict could lead to such an uprising why can’t extra judicial killings of so many people give rise to a similar situation and lead to popularity of the peripheral religious groups? If Muqbool Bhat could become hero of masses without any network of his marginalized why can’t those belonging to well knit marginalized become heroes of tomorrow? Professor Ramzan, Mr. Paul and others may be immediate victims of the shock therapy. No one knows who is going to be its ultimate casualty; current phase of the on going insurgency or the Indian state itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment