Commenting on the Amarnath land controversy, the Deputy Chief Minister alleged that the PDP was blackmailed by Congress Ministers for agreeing to the transfer of 800 kannals of forest land in Sonamarg-Baltal area. According to him, the Congress Ministers threatened that in case PDP blocked this land transfer, they would block the construction of Mughal Road as if this particular road was meant for Muslims only! How can a government be run on blackmail? However, merely stating that someone has been blackmailed does not solve the problem. Succumbing to blackmail is the worst thing to happen especially for a legal luminary of Harvard reputation! In any case, it is not for the first time that Kashmiri leaders have been blackmailed. Blackmail has been routinely used by both the outsiders and our own local leaders for a pretty long time. In 1947 Pakistani leaders blackmailed Kashmiris telling them that they were a bearer cheque in their pocket and in fact, sent Afridi tribesmen to encash it with disastrous consequences for both. In Kashmir itself, the charismatic popular leader was very ruthlessly blackmailed by the people of Jammu who ensured his long incarceration. He had risen as a nationalist leader of Kashmiris and in the heart of his hearts he had dreamt of an independent Kashmir. He had probably seen its realisation through his association with Pandit Nehru. But Nehru betrayed him. The Jammu people used the slogan of complete merger of the State with the Indian Union to blackmail him. It was an indirect blackmail of Delhi as they were basically responsible for instigating Praja Parishad to start the agitation against him as related by B.N.Mullick, the then Director of Intelligence Bureau in his book, “My Years with Nehru”. But Sheikh Abdullah refused to be cowed down and was deposed and imprisoned. Bakshi betrayed his leader and sold his conscience but he too was blackmailed into wilderness through Kamraj plan. Sheikh Abdullah got out of prison after eleven years because of holy relic agitation. The disintegration of Pakistan and his own family’s pressure put him back into the saddle of apparent “power”. In spite of Indira-Sheikh accord, the power continued to vest in Delhi. All through his last stint in the Government he continued to be blackmailed by Indira Gandhi till his death. This blackmail was sometimes in the form of a “Red Book” and sometimes as Income Tax raids on his staunchest followers. The same was true of his prodigal son Dr. Farooq Abdullah who tried to resist Indira Gandhi’s blackmail but was ultimately humbled into submission. Right from 1947 the Indian Government is alleged to have been preparing dossiers on all Kashmiris whether of the mainstream or any other genre. These dossiers have always been helpful to Indian authorities for keeping the people on the “right” track. No deviations are allowed. Whenever any one dares to go “astray”, he is shown the “file” or the “dossier” to bring him back on the line. The story of Kashmir has been a story of perpetual blackmail. The worst blackmail to which the entire population of Kashmir has been unabashedly subjected is regarding the safety of Muslims in India. It has often been brazenly stated that for the safety of the Indian Muslim minority, it is essential to keep Kashmiri Muslims in “secular” India. It is repeatedly stated that if Kashmiri Muslims leave India, it will be difficult to guarantee the well being of 150 million Indian Muslims. Thus Kashmiri Muslims are virtual “hostages”. This is the worst kind of blackmail indulged in by the Government and the people of a country anywhere in the world. No colonial power in the entire human history has been able to keep a people in bondage against their will. If Kashmiris have to be part of India, it has to be by their own free will. Same is true for Pakistan. Kashmiris cannot be coerced to be the part of that country simply because the Pakistanis consider the territory as their jugular vein. Kashmiris who have resisted the blackmail on both sides have either been liquidated or have disappeared without a trace or still continue to be incarcerated in various prisons. Those who acquiesce enjoy perks but for a short span of time and are in the end cast aside as the worn out parts of a machine! In the latest blackmail, the outgoing Governor used a special brand of “Kashmiriyat” to force people into submission. He tried to thrust down the throats of Kashmiri Muslims a peculiar version of his “Sufi Islam” fitting in the scheme of things of the “secular” India. His preposition was clear; accept “Sufi Islam” or I will bring hordes of Hindutva followers from all over India rushing to the cave of Amarnath! It has been alleged by a cross section of people that he had a diabolical plan to create an Amarnath Nagar of the rabid communalist militant Hindus in the heart of the Muslim Kashmir and sweep away Kashmiris by a flood of pilgrims. He had no consideration even for the centuries old local Hindu custodians of the holy cave (Mahant Deepinder Giri and the Dharmarth trust). He almost seemed to be succeeding in his plans but for the sudden upheaval by the common people. Kashmiris are traditionally given to deep sleep and are also known to suddenly wake up. They rise when their leaders capitulate before blackmail. It is also alleged by some that the Governor is only the face and there is a deeper conspiracy to effect a demographic change inspired and advised by Israeli experts who have been visiting Kashmir frequently in recent years. Strangely, no one from the Centre is denying existence of such a mischievous plan. Incidentally, the Governor has been receiving tremendous felicitations from different Hindu organisations in Jammu while at the same time the valley is being rocked by violent protests against the land transfer to Shrine Board. His brand of “Sufi Islam” seems to have suddenly evaporated and there is an unhealthy communal divide being generated which has had no precedent in Kashmir, not even in the worst crisis faced by the people in their entire history. It seems the Amarnath has acted as a spark to the long brewing resentment and alienation. However, this outburst is again as usual being termed as a communal divide and is being instigated through the fanatic organisations in Jammu who have threatened to enforce an economic blockade of the valley. The Deputy Chief Minister has remarked in response to this threat that if the Jammu people close one road, they would open the other one! One only wishes that he means it and is ready to go all the way. Some people say that the situation is being reverted to the upheaval of 1990. However, in fact it is snowballing into something on the pattern of Holy Relic agitation of December, 1963 and the political scenario is getting reverted to 1953 when Jammu fanatics forced Sheikh Abdullah to turn against India. The outgoing Governor after having failed to get an extension seems to have deliberately precipitated a very volatile situation for the new incumbent. He has not only created a communal divide but even a regional one with Jammu people getting instigated and incited against the valley dwellers. Unfortunately, the people at the helm in both the countries of the sub-continent seem to be totally embroiled in their own problems and have put Kashmir on the back burner. Delhi is totally engrossed in “Deal or No Deal” while as Islamabad is occupied in “President or No President”. The worrisome part of the situation in Kashmir is that it is the common people that are leading the leaders. The leaders themselves seem to have become irrelevant. This usually happens when the leaders lose their hold on the pulse of the people. Unless the top leadership in the sub-continent takes hold of the situation and acts fast and decisively, things may go totally out of control. One would not like to paint a dooms day scenario but such situations have a tendency to develop fast in an ugly way! Kashmiris are not against the Yatra. They are worked up by the monopolization of Yatra by outsiders. The best solution is reviving of the traditional Yatra which was jointly managed by Hindus and Muslims for ages. The question of land had never anything to do with the Yatra. The Dharmarth Trust was managing the Pilgrimage without any problem. There is no space in Kashmir for the Hindutva Brigade patronised by General Sinha! Kashmiris are reputed to be very patient people and their patience is mistaken to be bordering on passivity. They have often been blackmailed but they have always resisted the onslaught in the whenever their leaders appear to capitulate. This is because of a saying, “Beware of the fury of a patient man!”