When the Narendra Modi government scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and announced its decision to turn the state into a Union Territory Monday, it caught the thekedars of Kashmir in Pakistan off guard. The reactions from the Imran Khan government were anything but serious, that too for a piece of land they once called their own.
Honestly, losing cricket matches to India have had better reactions in Pakistan. But the bigger question is: can Imran Khan’s government run without a Kashmir cause, as the saying goes ‘hukoomat petrol se nahin, Kashmir cause se chalti hai’.
Everyone in the ruling elite sold the ‘Kashmir banega Pakistan’ chooran to the best of their benefit – those in the Pakistani military to keep themselves viable, the politicians to use it during elections, the religious cartel to fan anti-Hindu sentiments, and the ordinary Pakistani to just watch all of them make hay.
Brainwashing since childhood
‘Kashmir banega Pakistan’ is what we were told as kids. ‘But how will it become a part of Pakistan when it is in India?’ We would ask. ‘Kashmir hamari shahrag hai (Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan)’. So how are we managing to survive without this vein? The questions, we were told, had no answers, so they better not be asked either.
Growing up in the 1990s, our daily dose of brainwashing involved a 20-minute programme on Kashmir after the 9pm news on Pakistan Television. With Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s Iss duniya k gham jane kab hu gy kam playing in the background, we saw agonising images of Kashmir. It would eulogise Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and other Kashmiri leaders – we were told that these men were the real heroes.
‘Our heart should bleed for Kashmir,’ was the loud and clear message. But how can the heart bleed for something that was only a state-imposed reality? We would think.
The rulers of Pakistan came and went but what remained unchanged was Pakistan’s Kashmir cause. A cause for which daring to be indifferent amounted to blasphemy of sorts.
Once a year, Pakistanis would get a day to free Kashmir. Every 5 February, they show solidarity with their Kashmiri brethren. School tableaux depict innocent Kashmiri girls singing folk songs and out of nowhere come Indian soldiers firing gunshots to arouse pathos in the audience.
The happenings of Kashmir Day always remained unclear – a national holiday which seemed just like any other off day. Kashmir Day would involve everything other than liberating Kashmir. Waking up late, watching Indian films, and hanging out with friends was our contribution to the cause of Kashmir.
And then there were the poster boys of Kashmir freedom movement. Hafiz Saeed, Syed Salahuddin or Ahmed Ludhianvi from banned militant outfits taking out processions, apprising the Pakistanis of the Kashmir issue. But why would you preach to the converted already?