In my opinion, marital rape is very much rape. If my woman was unwilling, I would sleep in another room. At worst, I would find another woman.
So, when it comes to political secession, I am a firm believer in the Principle. And it is a Principle. If some part of a nation wants to break away, they must be allowed to do so - peacefully.
[If you want to know more about the Principle of Secession in Political Theory, with concrete examples from history, read this article from the Journal of Libertarian Studies by Andrei Kreptul.]
In my view, there is no "political rule" in Kashmir right now. Over 100 young boys, between the ages of 9 and 17, have been killed by the State Police in the past 100 days. Many more have been injured. Even more are in jail. This is not "political rule." This is Maoism - "power flows through the barrel of a gun." I do not support such a government.
And what is Nude Elly planning to do in response? As this news report says, a 35-member team of MPs led by the Central State Police Minister are going to visit Srinagar for 2 days. The "heavyweights" on the team are Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley of the BJP - and the BJP is a party strongly opposed to the natural rights of Kashmiris. The BJP is strongly opposed to any dilution of the obnoxious Armed Forces Special Powers Act. So what will this team of MPs achieve? Nothing. It is just a show of India's phoney "democracy" at work. Note that there are no Kashmiri political parties in Parliament - other than the dynastic National Conference personally owned by the Abdullahs.
I visited Srinagar in 2002, as a guest of the youth organization HIMAYAT, and lectured far and wide. I was horrified by the experience. India is "occupying" Srinagar, not "ruling" it. My travelogue on Srinagar can be found in this collection online.
From the noises I am receiving, it seems that huge protests will meet the team of MPs when they arrive in Srinagar - unless the Indian Army steps in and starts shooting. In either case, there will be no "people-to-people" contact.
As a firm believer in urban local self-government, I think Srinagar has a bright future as a Free City. It is a beautiful place, blessed by nature. It used to attract tourists in the summer as well as in the winter. Exotic cash crops grow there - from saffron to hashish. If Lichtenstein, Monaco, Singapore, Macao and Borneo can be free cities, why not Srinagar? That is the direction this City must take - neither India nor Pakistan. Just Freedom for the City.
Many Indians may balk at this idea - especially because our Civics textbooks harp endlessly on the notion of the "unity and integrity of India." For them, I have an anecdote from my visit to Srinagar in 2002. The then Finance Minister of Kashmir inaugurated one of my lectures. Later, I asked him how much of his budget was met by local taxation. The answer: 10 percent. The remainder, he said, comes from Nude Elly - which means, from us. This is apart from what we spend on the Army presence there. This is ridiculous.
India must get out of Kashmir - and the right time to do it is NOW!
Sauvik,
ReplyDeletein the last couple of days now, i have read a good portion of your travelogues (linked in the post). its been very enjoyable.
has there been any progress in challenging the 'ban' on liberal rather non-socialist parties in India? Apparently the Supreme Court will take up the case if some political party actually tries to register but is denied a registration becos of not agreeing to socialism. is anyone trying?
Fuck the party. It is a trap created by the court on behalf of the system - the idea being that if you want to overthrow us, then you must do what we do and win elections. nonsense! there is "politics" there is "democracy" and there is "liberty" - and these are all three different words. THINK!
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