LET me quote Shah Faesal, a former Indian bureaucrat and now a politician who founded the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Movement. He is a doctor and was among the four Muslims who topped the examinations for the Indian civil service.

In his BBC interview on Hard Talk he said: “In the ’50s my grandfather’s generation was devastated when a low level Indian police official arrested the chief minister. In the ‘80s our father’s generation got frustrated when the state elections were massively rigged. Today by 5th August announcement our generation lost faith in [the] Indian government. Previously there were moderates and stooges. Today we have a choice to be either a stooge of the Indian government or be a separatist.”

When asked if he would like to be called a separatist, he said he would not like to be called a stooge.

Meantime the chief minister of Haryana state has suggested bringing in Kashmiri girls to wed. An opposition lawmaker said: “Their own girls they murder while in the womb.”

Aslam Minhas
Karachi

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2019