Paradise on Fire: Syed Ali Geelani and the Struggle for Freedom in Kashmir

190 Pages·2016·3.98 MB·English

by  Abdul Hakeem

PARADISE
ON FIRE
In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
George Orwell
PARADISE
ON FIRE
Syed Ali Geelani and the Struggle
for Freedom in Kashmir
Abdul Hakeem
Paradise on Fire: Syed Ali Geelani and the Struggle for Freedom in Kashmir
Published in England by
Revival Publications
Markfield Conference Centre
Ratby Lane, Markfield
Leicestershire LE67 9SY
United Kingdom
Distributed by
Kube Publishing Ltd.
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [email protected]
© Abdul Hakeem, 2014/1435AH
All rights reserved
The right of Abdul Hakeem to be identified
as the author of this work has been asserted
by him in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-0-95367-684-2 paperback
ISBN 978-0-95367-685-9 casebound
ISBN 978-0-95367-686-6 ebook
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cover design: Fatima Jamadar
Book design: Naiem Qaddoura
Typesetting: Abu Abida
Printed by IMAK Ofset, Turkey
CONTENTS
List of Images
Foreword (by Lauren Booth)
Preface

1. The Dispute
2. A Lifeline of Resistance
3. Neighbouring Lands and Peoples
4. Imprisonment and Writings
5. Kashmir’s Pandits and Its Integrity
6. Human Wrongs
7. Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?
8. Insurgency and Counter-insurgency
9. Elections and the Peace Process
10. The Kargil Fiasco
11. Ceasefire
12. The Hurriyat Split and Efforts towards Unity
13. Ailing but not Caving In
14. A Bilateral or International Issue?
15. The Bottom Line
16. Not the End

Appendix
Endnotes
References
Image Credits
Index
LIST OF IMAGES
1.1 Map of Jammu and Kashmir
2.1 Geelani leading march to UN in Srinagar, 2008
3.1 Musharraf meeting Geelani in New Delhi, 2004
3.2 Musharraf meeting Bush in Islamabad, 2006
3.3 Muslims killed in anti-Muslim genocide, 2002
3.4 Mochi at Sahapur, Ahmedabad, 2002
3.5 Qur’an burning in New Delhi, early 1990s
4.1 Geelani leaving his residence for detention, 2010
4.2 Geelani meeting Kashmiri victims
6.1 CRPF personnel smashing cars, 2011
6.2 Sikh leaders meeting Geelani
6.3 Frisking in Kashmir
8.1 Funeral of militant in Kashmir
8.2 Masses carrying body of militant for funeral
9.1 Kashmiri leaders meeting Advani, 2004
13.1 Geelani addressing a public rally
14.1 Geelani welcoming a Japanese diplomat
16.1 Indian parliamentarians meeting Geelani, 2010
FOREWORD
When a man is denied the right to live the life he believes in, he has no choice but to become
an outlaw. —Nelson Mandela
PEACE IS A universal human yearning. Every society and every people need peace in order to flourish
and to develop their resources, both individually and nationally. Nor is peace the mere absence of
war. For peace of heart, mind and society can only exist when accompanied by the weighty presence
of justice.
More than fifteen million people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) have been denied
justice for the past six decades. Kashmiris exist in a permanent state of violent occupation by Indian
forces. An occupation that, at this time, has 800,000 troops, controlling a region of breathtaking
natural beauty. The violence of these troops has turned a place of mountains, valleys and rivers, once
known as ‘Paradise on Earth’, into the largest open air prison in the world. A civilian pressure cooker
that would be instantly recognizable to the people of the Gaza Strip. In Kashmir, non-violent protests
for water, electricity and the freedom to travel, are met with the bullets of the occupying troops. And
accompanied by the threat of imprisonment. Meanwhile, the international community looks on,
shakes its head, expressing ‘concern’, issuing ‘reports’ and effectively doing nothing.
The Indian research scholar Abdul Hakim has produced a comprehensive study of the nature of
the Kashmir struggle for freedom in providing a biography of its most vibrant voice, Syed Ali Shah
Geelani, showing his vision and determination. For the past two decades, Syed Geelani has been the
primary symbol of the Kashmiri people’s efforts towards self-determination. Like other great figures
of our age, men who have committed themselves to fighting apartheid and occupation, Nelson
Mandela and Shaykh Raed Salah of Palestine (to name but two), Geelani is no stranger to
incarceration. His galvanising calls for a widespread non-violent resistance, including strikes, have
seen him imprisoned for sixteen years in a variety of regional gulags.
This book, then, is the story of one man’s self-sacrifice told through the struggle of an entire
people. Paradise on Fire is a call to the conscience of humanity. I pray that people from every part of
the world will respond to this call and join the Kashmiri people in their non-violent resistance to
oppression and occupation.
Free Kashmir, free Palestine!
Lauren Booth
London
October 2013
PREFACE
WALTER SISULU, the long-time comrade of Nelson Mandela, and for twenty years his prison mate,
urged Mandela on his 57th birthday (18 July 1975) to write his memoirs: ‘such a story, told truly and
fairly, would serve to remind people of what we had fought and were still fighting for’ and be ‘a
source of inspiration for young freedom fighters.’1 That prompt explains my motivation for
narrating Syed Ali Geelani’s contribution to the Kashmiri freedom struggle. The Economist (29
December 2010) referred to Geelani as the ‘highest-profile’ Kashmiri leader and ‘elderly icon’, and
doubted ‘that anyone among a handful of potential successors could command as much local respect’.
The Arab News (17 August 2010) declared him ‘the undisputed leader of the insurgency’ and
confirmed that ‘India has consistently tried to court him but he has refused to take the bait.’ Geelani
has spent over sixteen of his eighty-three years of life in prison, and written (in Urdu) about thirty
books. The second edition of his autobiography Wular Kinaray (On the bank of Lake Wular) was
released in July 2012. ‘Its first edition was completely sold out within a week. Those who were keen
to read it included […] civil and military elites of every shade of opinion’ (review in Greater
Kashmir, 30 July 2011). However, the story of his self-sacrificing contributions to freedom and
justice in Kashmir has not been communicated plainly to the wider audience that can be reached by
writing in English.
I have known Geelani for about twenty years and had dozens of meetings with him. Of course, he
is not my only source. I have sought information from a variety of public and private sources,
especially those close to Geelani. For reasons of confidentiality and security, I have withheld the dates
and venues of personal interviews and other detail about some of my sources. This book is the
outcome of decades of closely following events in Kashmir, and some four years of reflection and
further enquiry during the writing. I have strived to present Geelani ‘as he is’, without seeking to
build him up as a hero or a vilian.
I have done my best to cover briefly the major events of Geelani’s political life. My narrative does
not follow a strictly chronological line; it is, instead, arranged around broad topics that are crucial to
understanding Geelani and the Kashmiri freedom movement over the last quarter century. While he is
not present on every page, Geelani’s own views are cited or referred to throughout the book.
Geelani took on the might of India and almost single-handedly put the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)
dispute on the international stage. His personality can be summed up in Nelson Mandela’s words:
‘time and again, I have seen men and women risk and give their lives for an idea. I have seen men
standing up to attacks and torture without breaking, showing strength and resilience that defies the
imagination.’2 Geelani has dedicated a lifetime to advocacy of justice and piety; that is why this book
cannot just be an individual’s life story, it has to present the major ideas that he has lived and