The Many Faces of Kashmiri Nationalism by Nandita Haksar

Author:Nandita Haksar [Haksar, Nandita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Speaking Tiger Publishing Pvt Ltd
Published: 2015-08-20T00:00:00+00:00

A FOREST OF DEAD LEAVES

(1996–2001)

Because of the continued threats to his life from the militants, Sampat Prakash had not been able to enter the Kashmir Valley for almost seven years except for two brief visits in 1994. He was keenly watching the situation, waiting for an opportunity to return home and revive his trade union activities. He finally got the opportunity in 1996, when elections were announced in the Valley. It would be the first since 1987. The general elections to the Indian Parliament had already taken place in May 1996; the elections to the Assembly would be held in September 1996.

George Fernandes had informed Sampat that the National Conference had decided to stand for elections, and he thought it would be a good idea for Sampat to canvass for the party. It was a challenge for Sampat because he well knew that he was putting his life at grave risk, especially since the Hurriyat had called for a boycott of the polls. But he felt that the elections could open some democratic space in the bleak political landscape of Kashmir. Sampat did not want a seat in the Legislative Assembly or in the Indian Parliament, he just wanted to use the National Conference network to reach out to people and tell them to vote.

Sampat contacted his trusted comrade, Nisar Ali Mir, and asked what he thought of the idea of his return. Nisar had been working with the Hurriyat all these years, and many in the Hurriyat had also expressed their feeling that it would be good if Sampat Prakash returned to the Valley so that at least one token Kashmiri Pandit could be seen working there.

The National Conference arranged for a personal security officer (PSO) and a bulletproof car for Sampat Prakash. He knew that it would not be safe for him to stay in a hotel or with Nisar Ali Mir, thus the National Conference allotted him the official residence of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad since the occupants had left Kashmir.

Sampat had decided that he would use the opportunity to create a movement against the renegades. The renegades were former militants who had either surrendered or been captured and had then either opted for or been coerced into working with the police and the Indian Army. One of the most dreaded renegades was Mohammad Yousuf Parray, popularly known as Kuka Parray, and his organization, Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen.

Mohammad Yousuf Parray was born in 1958 in Village Hajan of Baramulla district. He had little formal education but was a popular folk singer and dancer; he also wrote poetry in Kashmiri. He joined the JKLF in 1989 and went across the border to Pakistan for arms training. He had returned a disappointed man as he felt that Pakistan was not helping Kashmir but destroying its ethos.

Parray, under the code name of Jamshed Shirazi, had started the Ikhwan-ul-Muslimeen with the objective of fighting the Jamaat-e-Islami ideology and in particular the Hizbul Mujahideen. In one raid on a Jamaati leader, he recovered 1,000 gold biscuits, Rs 2,000,000 and 600 packets of brown sugar.

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