The word “Mainstream” is probably the most used word in the context of Kashmir politics. A political party is described according to the ideology it follows. Some are called rightist and some leftist. Others are centrist. Then there are regional and mainstream parties. In case of Kashmir there seems to be some confusion or rather a misnomer in describing the category of a political party. In the Indian context, the mainstream parties are probably those which have more or less countrywide presence. Then there are regional parties which are confined to a specific region. In the alternative, it seems that the mainstream also means the party following the national agenda. At present most of the politicians as well as the media consider mainstream parties as those which toe the Delhi line of Kashmir being an integral part of India. Both the national level and the regional parties follow the national line in regard to status of Kashmir and there is only some variation regarding the quantum of autonomy or the extent of integration. Thus these parties are supposed to be the mainstream parties. However, there is a dichotomy. The bulk of the people in Kashmir do not go with the national agenda in regard to the status or the relationship of the state with the centre. Right from 1947 there has been a disputed or controversial relationship between Kashmiris and the rest of India. The entire Kashmir problem is based on this basic premise of the disputed legacy of partition. Kashmir’s own movement for freedom got mixed up with the fall out of the sub-continent’s partition. Had there been no partition, Kashmir may have become independent once again as it had been in the earlier times. The story of the progress of Kashmir’s Movement for Freedom which normally should be taken as its mainstream is tragic and pathetic. One is reminded of the prophetic sayings of the patron saint of Kashmir Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Wali popularly known as the Alamdar-i-Kashmir. Loosely translated it says, “Rivers will dry up and the streams will roar. Pears and Apples will ripen with Apricots. Mothers and daughters will leave in the morning holding each others’ hands and spend the day with lovers. That time my friend will be the rule of the apes.” The present age is truly the time Alamdar-i-Kashmir had visualised. The real movement being over shadowed by the roaring off shoots, the sex scandals, and the freak changes in climate vividly vindicate the wise sayings. Geographically, Kashmir’s mainstream River is Jhelum also known locally as Vyeth or Vitasta. It is the popular “River of Kings” which has been flowing quietly like Mikhail Sholokov’s Don for centuries. It has been subject to floods off and on which come with a warning. It does not have flash floods which happen without any advance notice. In contrast to most of the Rivers of the sub-continent, this River does not flow from North to South in its traverse through the valley. It flows from South to North and then turns westward. Again the political mainstream of Kashmir has a long and turbulent history. From early thirties it started as the movement of the down trodden Kashmiri Muslims which was subsequently enlarged to encompass all Kashmiris regardless of religion. In 1947, the movement got hijacked and suppressed by some so called popular “leaders” who in fact betrayed the complete unquestioned trust reposed by the common people in them for their emancipation. Since that time, the movement has remained more or less underground and suppressed by external pressure. The Kashmir’s political “mainstream” or the “River of Resistance” has seen many flash floods from time to time. These have been brutally suppressed each time. The first flash flood was in 1953 when the “popular” leaders were abandoned by their masters and thrown into prison. There was a mass uprising. Over a thousand people were killed. However, the government was able to overcome it by a policy of carrot and stick. The next one came in 1963 in the shape of the holy relic agitation. Again for months there was no administration. The government itself or any of its representatives had completely disappeared from the scene. It was truly a peoples’ revolution. Again this flood was suppressed with money and manipulation. But it resulted in the release of the “popular” leaders who had been incarcerated for over a decade. They were followed everywhere by a mass of humanity longing for the final emancipation. But the flood waters were once again cleverly channelized. These were made to leave the real mainstream and swell an off shoot leaving the common masses once again in the lurch! The last flash flood which is still out of control came in 1990. This one was rather a massive one. It swept away everything before it and the casualties were in thousands. Some estimates put these at over a hundred thousand dead! It hurt Kashmir badly. Every aspect of life was affected and people are still reeling under its impact. Usually with flash floods once the water level goes down people can resume their normal lives. However, this one refuses to go down and is held in check by massive bunkers of sand and concrete dykes everywhere. In the earlier ones after sometime the life had resumed its normal course but in the present case the situation refuses to become normal in true sense of the word. The normalcy is superficial held in place by a massive presence of security dykes. The moment these sand bags and concrete dykes are removed the waters will once again surge in the form of a massive flash flood which nothing would be able to stop. There are some other types of rivers or streams in Geology. These are below the surface of the Earth and are known as subterranean rivers. These keep on flowing unnoticed quietly below the surface. These come out sometimes peacefully as springs and violently as geysers. There are much more dangerous and destructive rivers also. These are deep under the Earth’s crust and are the rivers of molten lava. These erupt as volcanoes and destroy everything in their path. Kashmir’s political mainstream is thus a subterranean river flowing under the surface which has a habit of surfacing occasionally as a gushing spring. Sometimes it mixes with the molten lava and results in a violent volcanic eruption. Thus the political jargon of mainstream in Kashmir needs to be modified as per the actual ground situation and the history of the political movement. It is thus a misnomer to call pro-India parties as the mainstream parties in the context of Kashmir. These are actually the off shoots or the tributaries. Kashmir’s political mainstream like its River flows somewhere else!