BEYOND GEELANI'S GAFFE

Syed Ali Geelani’s indiscretion at a historical moment is, in fact, the reflection of a deeper malaise Kashmir’s pro-freedom leadership is afflicted with, Riyaz Masroor tries to diagonose the ills afflicting Kashmir's separatist polity

Syed Ali Geelani’s gaffe during a massive public rally on Monday, August 18 2008, is too small to crowd out the popular urge, which is markedly aloof from any personality cult. However Geelani’s eagerness to sign in for an ‘unrivalled’ leadership role was not just unwarranted but also out of sync. It appeared as if he miscalculated the popular mood that greeted him in the form of a path breaking public rally.
Amidst the overcharged sloganeering and recurrent applaud Geelani was speaking crisply about the right of self-determination and the Kashmiris’ sentimental attachment to Pakistan. He even illustrated this renewed pro-Pak surge through a rephrased slogan: Hum Pakistani hain, Pakistan hamaara hai (We’re Pakistanis, Pakistan is ours). All was going well until he had a Freudian slip that did took spotlight off the uprising and all tongues began to wag in fear of any simmering discord between the torchbearers of this latest phase of Kashmiri uprising.
Mr Geelani took pledge from hundreds of thousands present in the rally and reinforced that “I AM YOUR LEADER”; when people concurred he thanked Almighty in a Quranic verse: Al-hamdu Lillahi Rabil Alameen. The enthusiasm began to pale with people wondering why the veteran leader wrote off his colleagues. Geelani was quick to tender a public apology but by then the damage had been done. The forces inimical to the unity of purpose amongst the leadership had rediscovered a handle to beat Hurriyat Conference with the devices of its own making.
Geelani was in fact a late starter. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Muhammad Yasin Malik had spoken to the same gathering couple of hours earlier and were now waiting for Geelani to have his auspicious signatures on this momentous chapter of Kashmir’s history of resistance.
While Geelani’s error of speech remains just an aberration in a visibly momentous hour rest of what he and other leaders spoke is more significant. Except for some irrelevant bits in between and an undesirably stingy punch line, Geelani’s speech was precise and well crafted. He extended an emotional appeal to Ban Ki-Moon, secretary general of United Nations Organization and asked the world bodies to take cognizance of what “India is doing in Kashmir”. A visibly enthused Mirwaiz Umar shouted slogans in favor of Rawalpindi road: Kashmir ki mandi, Rawalpindi. He tried to build a case in favor of trade through two parts of Kashmir divided by the 734 Km long and about 35 Km wide Line of Control. And Muhammad Yasin Malik credited the people for having brought about a revolution that according to him was like the ones, which had brought down the bigger empires.
The leaders who until recently would not see eye to eye with each other were rubbing shoulders. Yasin Malik did not mind the presence of leaders from the rival faction of JKLF, Mirwaiz listened attentively to Geelani and Nayeem Khan was huddled closer to Shabir Shah. As if the clashing egos had converged to rally behind the people’s power. This must be a death knell to the believers of status quo hence the overemphasis on Geelani’s slip of tongue, which he rectified through a public apology.
The mistake may not affect the unity but it overshadowed the international import of Geelani’s speech. An aging Islamist from Kashmir seeking audience of the world powers was a clear indicator that Kashmiris were pinning hopes on the Christian West and the Communist China for intervention in Kashmir issue.
Yasin Malik’s signature campaign and Freedom March have already contributed hugely in the efforts Pakistan had been making to dissociate Kashmiri struggle from the global terrorism but Geelani’s posture looked more significant given his Islamist ideology. He did a greater service during the Plebiscite March on August 18 by effectively delinking the ongoing Kashmiri resistance from the terrorism US and India have been fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
In spite of the popular impressions that the UN has been a tacit collaborator of US and NATO against Muslim insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan, Geelani held out a passionate appeal for help to the same world body. When Geelani said Kashmiris cannot be denied their right of self-determination just because they are Muslims it was like a perceived conservative Islamist speaking to the world through the idiom it best understands – humanitarian law. It appeared not just the usage of an acceptable global jargon but also an attempt to strike a middle ground with parallel yet equivalent ideological shades within and outside Hurriyat Conference.
Nonetheless Geelani’s indiscretion at a historical moment is, in fact, the reflection of a deeper malaise Kashmir’s pro-freedom leadership is afflicted with. It is a combination of egotism, megalomania and narcissism. The tendency of falling prey to the delusions of greatness is not an unusual trait among popular leaders particularly in a situation that is purely the making of one or several leaders. In early years of twentieth century the sycophants had instilled into Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah a sense of being the chosen one. He got carried away and stumbled. But now it is different. People create the situation by themselves and the leaders play the people’s proxy. If Mr Geelani and his colleagues feel that some personality cult is running the Kashmir movement they better wake up. The era of individual charisma is over. Gone are the days when Sheikh used to suffer alone and boast his individual sacrifices only to become the pied piper of this beleaguered nation. Today the nation is offering sacrifices, altering the situations and creating newer situations; the leaders are following. The speeches on bigger occasions like August 18 should see leaders taking pledge that they will not falter in following the people rather than the vice versa.