Alternative strategy needs to be evolved to protest and counter the human rights violations
Muhammad Asif Rashid
Hartaal…..! The dialogue by superstar Amitabh Bachchan in his angry baritone voice in 1983 movie ‘Coolie’ has wooed the women, mesmerized the men, impressed the classes and entertained the masses but who could have imagined even in his wildest dream that in the coming time the word hartal will echo on the streets of Kashmir for decades to come, would be on the tip of tongue of each Kashmiri and would change the fate and lives of Kashmiris forever.
Hartal is a mass protest involving a total shutdown of workplaces, offices, shops, courts of law as a form of civil disobedience. Hartal is the refusal of an organized body of working men to continue their work except on certain conditions. It came into existence with the present age of machinery and large factories.
Earlier the workmen were at the mercy of rich and powerful employers who would hire and fire anyone any time they wish and would keep wages low and force them to work for long hours but then the workmen learnt that unity is strength and they banded themselves into organized societies called ‘Trade Unions’ and refused to work unless their demands were fulfilled and the employers had no option but to accept them in order to save their business.
Thereafter hartal has been also used as a political tool against the illegal foreign occupation and even against the own governments as a mode of protest to change an unpopular or unacceptable decision or policy.
Ever since the beginning of freedom movement in Kashmir, hartal has become an integral part of Kashmiris. Hartals have been a general expression of anti-India protests by Hurriyat. Every anti-people decision or policy of government, every human rights violation by the armed troops or police, every killing, rape, disappearance, fake encounter has been followed by hartals.
Even when hartals are successful, they cause a lot of suffering, damage and hardship to the public, and when they fail they often make matters worse than they are before. Hartals do not benefit anyone but paralyzes the life and everything comes to a standstill.
During hartals people stay indoors, fearing violence and those who venture out certainly risk their lives and of course it is the poor who face the music. The damage caused by the frequent hartals is tremendous, affecting not only the commercial and educational sector but also the social, cultural, scientific and sports sectors.
According to a recent survey by a media agencies the economy of the Kashmir has suffered a loss of Rs 60,000 crore as a result of around 4000 shutdowns that is more than four years that have taken place during the last two and half decades and each individual Kashmiri has suffered an average loss of Rs 20 lakh.
According to the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the region loses 100 million rupees for every day of hartal.
In a way hartals have broken the back bone of economy of the Kashmir. The businessmen have already faced a lot of problems and are not in a position to bear further loss and these hartals every now and then are adding to their miseries.
According to the World Bank report Jammu Kashmir is among the worst in India to do business with. Hartals have spoiled the carrier of students. They are not able to attend their schools regularly and spend a major portion of time in homes. They are not able to complete their syllabus at time, they are not able to appear in exams and most importantly when schools, colleges and universities are closed, they get involved in things other than their studies. During hartals the price of essential commodities rises due to the insufficient supply of essential commodities and as a result, inflation is caused.
Hartals called by any group for any cause is an occasion for celebration for people. For them it is one more holiday to spend with family or to visit their relatives and one more day to rest. Next day people forget the cause of hartal get back to the work and wait for another hartal.
However, this is not true for everyone and there are people who have scarified everything to keep the freedom movement alive but they understand that if this situation continues it will not only be bad for their personal lives but also for Kashmir and to sustain children must go to school, officials must attend their offices and the traders from a small vendor to big a businessman must earn their livelihood so that the situation remains normal because it is only in a normal situation that people can be led in a proper way.
Nobody can deny that armed troops commit human rights violations in Kashmir and at times, hartal becomes the only option and has been a successful medium to register the protest against the atrocities but with the passage of time it has lost its importance and the whole freedom movement has been reduced to mere day or two days hartals.
An alternative strategy needs to be evolved to protest and counter the human rights violations. Hurriyat needs to unite themselves and unanimously think of a programme in which neither the people nor the cause suffers. And at the same time people need to understand that Kashmir is neither the property nor the responsibility of Hurriyat leaders alone but Kashmir belongs to everyone so the responsibility is of everyone to protect his property. People and leaders must work together and must understand the limits of one another.
Author is an advocate and can be mailed at asifr788@gmail.com
