By Abdul Aala Fazili
My dear brothers, sisters. Assalaamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu, Allah is the most merciful and Allah is the All Knowing. At the outset I would like to congratulate all of us for our steadfastness and sacrifices which Alhamdulillah are bearing fruits now. There is no need to be in anxiety and despair about the success of our freedom struggle. I have this total and farthest belief; we will finally achieve freedom – Insha’Allah.
Success, my dear friends is not an event, it is a process – it is a path, which we need to tread on so that we reach our destination – freedom. Alhamdulillah, the unflinching resistance of our young protesters and nation as a whole has set the movement into an irreversible motion on the path of success.
The resistance in last three years has been the most important phase so far in our freedom struggle. We may not have succeeded in chasing India out yet, but certainly we have succeeded in shaking their hold over Kashmir and creating ripples within their establishments – we have succeeded in tearing their mask of non-violence and democracy – we have exposed their demonic criminal conduct before their conscientious people – they stand demoralized – their confidence is shaken – their rhetoric of arrogance is changing – their claim of integral part has no takers anymore.
The mass uprisings in the recent pat have pushed the discourse out of ambiguities and made our political discourse clear and direct. It has dispelled the Indian propaganda unleashed primarily to confuse the public opinion within and outside Jammu and Kashmir.
The awareness has heightened and mobilization/participation has touched majority of the people of Jammu and Kashmir irrespective of age, gender and region. Voices of resistance remain now loud and clear in the remotest parts of Jammu & Kashmir. An informed commitment has transferred to the younger generation and they feel confident in continuing the struggle more creatively, courageously and effectively towards liberation. This generation has also been victim of and witness to the struggle and sufferings that this nation has been enduring for the cause of liberation and justice.
The resonance of our resistance has reached the global power corridors so emphatically that it has become impossible for anyone to ignore our struggle and sufferings.
The shackles of slavery will break – Insha’Allah, but for that my dear friends, lets us pledge that we will not forget the sacrifices our dear ones who have been taken away from us by the violence of Indian state during last sixty-three-years. We have to refrain from the disease of forgetfulness. We have to refrain from being inconsistent. We have to refrain from being indifferent and callous.
Let us share the pain of those families who lost their loved ones in last three years, rather with all those one lakh families whose members have been killed during the freedom struggle. The most important contribution for the movement would be taking care of these families who need our moral, financial and political support.
Let us build the memorial walls, in which the names of our martyrs are inscribed. Let us institutionalize their memories in our daily lives. These memorials will become an instrument of our strength, solidarity, remembrance, and motivation for future.
India has been tyrant to us, but by forgetting their crimes we will become an accomplice. We remember the killings of two and a half lakh Muslims of Jammu, Kathua, Udhampur and Reasi in 1947. We remember the killings of fifteen hundred people in 1953. We remember the killings and incarcerations of thousands of people, especially those of Poonch and Rajouri from 1965 to 1989. We remember killings of more than 1 lakh people since 1989 till 2010. We remember the molestations and rapes committed on thousands of our daughters. We remember those ten thousand people who have been subjected to enforced disappearance. We remember the bones and bodies of our men discovered in thousands of unmarked and mass graves. We remember the arrests and detentions of thousands of Kashmiri people. We remember the worst forms of tortures and humiliations being inflicted on us by Indian troopers. We remember and we shall never forget all this.
India may have succeeded in killing of our people – in arresting and torturing our people – in destroying our properties – in brutalizing our society, but they will never succeed in the death of our dreams – the dream of free Kashmir – the dream of justice – the dream of living a dignified and prosperous life – the dream of living a life without fear. Our resistance will ensure our existence, which is under threat from Indian control.
On the occasion of Eid ul Azha, let us all pledge in the name of the blood of our martyrs and tears of mothers and sisters:
– that we shall always remember their sacrifices,
– that we shall never stop our struggle for freedom, truth and justice,
– that we shall never allow India to divide us.
In last sixty-three-years India has invested into terrorizing, corrupting, co-opting, and exhausting our people. Also internationally India has tried to malign our movement by categorizing it as terrorism. All their investments seem to be going waste, Alhamdulillah. This is the direct outcome of our valiant struggle, resilience and sacrifices. We have given befitting responses to Indian political machinations and tyranny. This is a source of contentment and let us feel encouraged to carry on the march for freedom with hope. Time to celebrate will follow – Insha’Allah.
ALLAH, BLESS KASHMIR
Abdul Aala Fazili is a scholar at University of Kashmir.
The views expressed are authors own, it does not necessarily reflect The Kashmir Walla’s editorial policy.
