The controversy surrounding the Baroness Emma Nicholson’s report very starkly demonstrates the West’s total abandonment of the Kashmir’s cause. The punch West used to put in reports on Kashmir is totally missing. No doubt the right of self determination has been upheld but in an apologetic way stating that it is not possible to exercise same in present circumstances. The West has abandoned Kashmir not only as its favourite holiday destination but as also one of its most talked about cause celebre. There was a time when Kashmir was a darling of the entire West. Any discussion about Kashmir in any world forum was spearheaded by the western countries and they would go out of the way to staunchly support Kashmiris’ right of self-determination. In most of the debates in UN Security Council, it was always the Communist Bloc which would oppose Kashmiris. The western countries led by USA were in the forefront of the campaign to give Kashmiris their birth right. In fifties and sixties, Kashmir issue was the top story of every section of the western media. There was not a single western news paper, news agency, and a magazine as well as a TV network which had not sent its correspondents to Kashmir. That was the universal age of freedom and liberty. Colonialism was declining all over the world and colony after colony was getting liberated. Kashmir’s struggle for freedom which had started in 1931 had been followed very meticulously not only by the free western press but by even the controlled press in the communist countries like USSR. The nationalist struggle of Kashmiris with its emphasis on the rights of the peasantry had received appreciation in the news papers of Moscow and was very widely reported. However, the outright support of the Soviet Bloc for the Indian stand of the irrevocable accession of the State to India signed by the Maharaja prompted by Pakistan’s joining the Western Military Pacts, was the main factor for total western support for Kashmir cause. Moreover, at that time freedom movements were very much espoused by the western liberal thought. Kashmir had a very strong movement led by a towering personality, the “Lion of Kashmir”. Sheikh Abdullah was a charismatic leader, a nationalist and progressive Muslim. He was equated with Ben Bella of Algeria and even Nelson Mandela because of the long years of incarceration he had undergone for a popular cause. Unfortunately, the first major jolt to the movement was its abandonment by its very founding father. He joined the Government set up by the very people who had incarcerated him and abandoned his people to a total wilderness. This also gave a set back to the western media who had projected him as the Ben Bella or the Omar Mukhtar (Lion of the desert) of Kashmir. Like all colonists, the Indians built an edifice of a colonial set up by creating a massive state apparatus subservient to them. What the British took almost a hundred years to built, the Indians did it in a couple of decades. From mid seventies to late eighties, Kashmir enjoyed a peaceful and economically flourishing break. Every body thought that the issue had been settled and people were reconciled. However, it was a deceptive and superficial calm which had a simmering volcano underneath. The eruption came in 1990 with unprecedented massive rallies of people demanding freedom. Again the western media rushed in to project the resurrection of the dormant freedom movement. Time magazine carried at least five stories about the Kashmir’s rejuvenated freedom movement. The west had a new cause led by new young Kashmiri leaders. A nationalist movement for the total independence of Kashmir. But the second jolt came from across the border when the movement was hi-jacked. It became a means to settle past scores. Kashmiris were expendable. In spite of the confusion, the movement carried on and thousands of young Kashmiris died in pursuance of this sacred cause. Then came 9/11 and the west got totally scared of anything with a Muslim label. Anything anywhere connected with Islam or Muslims was labelled as a source of “Islamic terrorism”. All Muslims were terrorists and Islam was a religion of terror. The famous “Bush doctrine”. A cause celebre for the new “Crusades”. Bush even named this western war against terrorism as a Crusade. All of a sudden the whole complexion changed. Indians welcomed this new crusade as it was the best tool they could imagine for dealing with the unrest in Kashmir which already had a Muslim tinge to its movement for emancipation. The exodus of Kashmiri Hindus (Pandits) had already given the movement a fundamentalist colour and it had been further compounded by the attitude of religious extremists from Pakistan claiming it to be a universal Jihad. The situation was further confused by the umpteen signals emanating from dozens of Kashmiri organisations both within Kashmir and outside. Kashmiris had neither a single leader nor a single organisation to espouse their cause. No body was prepared to believe that Kashmiris could not be religious extremists. It was a struggle for the basic rights regardless of the religion. In spite of the fact that a number of western authors like Alistair Lamb have abundantly made clear through their writings the fundamental issues involved in Kashmir, yet the west remains suspicious and doubtful. It is a strange irony of fate that the cause of Kashmiris has always been projected in most clear and lucid terms by the western people throughout its long history. Be it Sir Walter Lawrence, Francois Bernier, Robert Thorpe, Lord Birdwood or Dr.Joseph Korbel, all have very lucidly and meticulously portrayed the sufferings and privations undergone by Kashmiris during last four centuries of external rule. The events of 1947 and the turmoil of last two decades have been best presented by Dr.Korbel and Alistair Lamb. There are dozens of other books available on the present upheaval. It is a real tragedy and an irony of fate that notwithstanding all that the west has been doing for Kashmir in the past, it has now abandoned it. In earlier times every demonstration and each political event in Kashmir would make banner lines in the western papers. Not now. Every day people are killed here. There are numerous violations of human rights but it does not move the west. Much smaller incidents elsewhere get more coverage than major violations in Kashmir. The meaning of the terms freedom and democracy has also become relative to the people involved. For Jews and Christians these terms have one meaning and for Muslims even if placed in similar circumstances, these have altogether different meaning. Even the highest religious authority of Christians, the Pope, could not escape this bias. The last jolt Kashmiris have received is their abandonment by the greatest champion of their cause, Pakistan. Even they have forsaken the poor suffering Kashmiris after espousing their cause for decades. They had a number of times even staked their very existence on it. However, this abandonment may prove beneficial for Kashmiris. Now people cannot blame the turmoil in Kashmir on the whipping boys across the border. The struggle is indigenous and not coming from across the line of control.

Who should one blame for this all round abandonment? The changing values of the west especially in regard to freedom and democracy? The exceptional growth of materialism by emphasis on economic issues rather than spiritual values? The economic compulsions of the west especially in regard to energy sources in Middle East and Central Asia? Last but not the least the overall change in the politico-military alignments and priorities of the western powers after the end of cold war? Yes there are many factors responsible for this lack of interest in the Kashmir’s movement for basic rights on the part of the west. However, above everything else, one must confess that the greatest damage to the cause of Kashmir has been done by the Kashmiris themselves. We have dozens of causes and road maps to show to the world through dozens of leaders with bloated egos trying to pull down each other. We have ourselves been totally confused by our so called leaders about our ultimate goal and the path that leads to it. How can we expect others to support it? We have to make up our own mind first as to what do we really want? Unless we have a clear and a well defined goal and have complete faith in its righteousness, we cannot move forward and would continue to be abandoned by all midway! Faith, Unity, and Discipline are the pre-requisites of success. As and when Kashmiris inculcate these qualities in themselves, they will reach their ultimate goal. Otherwise they will continue to wander in the wilderness like a rudderless ship!