A fellow columnist has been lamenting the absence of a political icon in Kashmir’s freedom struggle. He concluded his latest article in which he called himself an “Elegist” (The author of a mournful poem lamenting the dead), with the plea, “In the bizarre political spectrum of Kashmir if you see a “ray of hope” please let me know”. The American Intelligence Agency, CIA, has a special section known as “Department of Dirty Tricks”. The task of this section is to spread dis-information and undertake all dirty jobs in the name of the US Government throughout the world. The working of this section has been described in detail by William Blum in his book, “The Rogue State”. The counter parts of CIA in the sub-continent have similar set ups. It seems that these local establishments have been quite successful in creating a feeling of despondency and depression among our intellectuals. If one analyses the Kashmir situation for last couple of decades in the light of our recent as well as ancient history, one would not be so pessimistic. Let us start with our distant past. Kashmiris have seen so much suffering and upheavals that the present episodes seem only pin pricks. The mere reading of the accounts of certain events during Afghan and Sikh period sends a chill through one’s spine. The word “Sikashahi” is still commonly used in local parlance to describe lawless tyranny. Centuries of oppression have steeled Kashmiris to such an extent that they take everything in their stride and never give up hope. They may be momentarily down and depressed but as soon as they see an opportunity they rise up again with vehemence. In Geological terms at present the Kashmir’s volcano is passing through “Quiescence” which is a period of quiet between two eruptions. I am reminded of an interview which I gave to Satinder Bindra of CNN during Kargil War in June 1999. He had come to cover the War in the mountains and during his stay in Srinagar he wanted to know something about Tourism Scenario in the Valley. During the course of the interview he asked me, “I have been all over the Valley and have learnt about the amount of suffering the local people have gone through. If people in USA had seen so much trouble, they would have thrown up their arms long back. How come Kashmiris are so calm and serene in the face of so much adversity?” My answer pleased him so much that he made me repeat it. I told him, “Look Mr. Bindra you people in America have only 200 years of history. We have 5,000 years of it. We have seen so much turmoil and suffering that the present events are not even a minuscule part of it!” We have survived for few thousand years and would continue to do so in future also. 60 years or 86 years are a very small period for a nation whose history extends to few thousand years. The situation is not as desperate and bizarre in the overall context for Kashmiris as is made out by some. It is rather more bizarre and worrisome for the people who are holding us down. There has been a dramatic change in ground situation in last two decades. In seventies and eighties, Kashmir was totally peaceful. A real “Paradise on Earth”. Tourism was at its peak. There were excellent relations between the civilian population and security forces. Senior officers of security forces and intelligence agencies were living as tenants in different posh localities of Srinagar without any security. Even we used to be frequently invited to officers’ messes of the Air Force and Army because of our continuous interaction regarding rescue of foreign mountaineers and trekkers swarming all over the valley. One used to freely travel through the cantonment as it was a short cut from the National Highway to Dal Lake. All these things seem to be a distant dream now. Almost all security establishments have been converted into impregnable forts and it is virtually impossible for a civilian to freely enter these. The open and free social interaction between the civilians and officers of security forces has virtually broken down. A senior security forces officer remarked sometime back that he used to invariably visit a famous bakery on the Maulana Azad Road every evening to buy bread and some confectionary. He cannot do it now. According to him if he goes there, he has to take almost half a platoon of armed guards with him which may scare hell out of the baker! There is a superficial feeling of an ominous calm which is taken to be part of normal life by the locals. However, the outsiders are struck by the amount of armed personnel deployed everywhere and immediately notice the simmering tension under the deceptive surface calm. A foreign tourist who had been all over the valley remarked that the soldiers seemed more tense than the local population. The reason is simple. A militant can see a uniformed soldier from miles but the soldier does not know which one among dozens of people around him is a militant! To him everybody appears as a potential militant. This feeling of stress and tension is also borne out by the large number of cases of suicide and fratricide indulged in by the members of the security forces. There are thousands of personal security officers guarding virtually the members of entire administrative and political set up. Most of the outside bureaucrats live in safe houses guarded by security forces which were not there before the eruption of turmoil in 1990. Most of the non-Kashmiri employees live in state run messes in different hotels and guest houses. It is often quoted that there are more than half a million troops in Kashmir. That involves half a million Indian families from all over the country directly and many more indirectly. They too remain under continuous tension regarding their relations serving here. Any untoward happening anywhere in Kashmir makes them equally tense and anxious about their kin. A mother in Chandigarh whose son is serving somewhere in south Kashmir remarked in a TV interview that every time she hears about a violent incident in south Kasmir, she gets tense about the welfare of her son. Apart from the psychological effects, all this security paraphernalia entails huge expenditure which is a big drain on the meagre resources of the state. How long can this state of affairs continue? Seeing the present situation one feels that Kashmir which had almost been digested by both India and Pakistan and was in their belly has now been pushed up the food pipe and is stuck in their throats. Both want to get rid of it but they do not know how? Not many politicians give vent to this real truth. Mufti Sayed is probably the only mainstream politician who has realised the true import of the security situation and has been continuously pleading for demilitarisation. Regarding the icons, it is better to have none in the present situation. People have lost total faith in any kind of leadership. Every leader who had promised a place of honour and dignity to Kashmiris right from 1931 has betrayed them. Leadership has now reverted to common people. They take their own decisions and know when to come out and resist. In a situation of trilateral conflict it is impossible to have a genuine icon. He has to fight on two fronts unlike Mao Zedong, Ben Bella, and Fidel Castro who came up in a situation which involved a one to one conflict. One would need a leader or an icon who can tell both the countries to get lost and leave Kashmir alone. Till such a person is thrown up somewhere, it is better to be without icons or leaders. Every arsenal in the armoury has been tried against Kashmiris. Imprisonment, torture, rape, cold blooded custodial murder, and wanton destruction of their property. There is nothing more left to be tried. All this has failed to break their resolve. They are more than ever determined to get free in the heart of their hearts even though outwardly they may seem depressed by temporary set backs. This is evident from the spontaneous outburst of people after every incident of excess anywhere in the Valley. They do not need a leader or an icon to do that. Even Kautaliya has failed to outline any stratagem to tackle a leaderless mass uprising! That is the “Ray of Hope” and a silver lining to the dark clouds hovering over Kashmir in its bizarre political situation. The collective unshakeable will of the people is better than any icon as ultimately there is no alternative for all concerned except to accede to it!