Cut Deal With Pakistan To Start Agitation, Cut Bigger Deal With State To End It

Welcome to the tales of one more edition of Mafia e Kashmir. No prizes for guessing the mafia don of Kashmir. Syed Ali Geelani.

Mafia enjoys power without responsibility. Geelani and his cohorts were enjoying it. Globally, has the mafia ever cared for what happens to the people, the society, the economy? No. Ditto for Geelani. He and his society never cared about what happened to Kashmir, its people. How terrorism impacted their lives, their children, their happiness. The mafia only cares about itself, its own riches and its own empires.

This is all that Geelani and gang ever cared about. They cared about their own riches and their own empires. The mafia draws its power from the gun. So did Geelani and gang. He enjoyed the unbridled power of the gun for two decades. When Geelani’s mafiadom over Kashmir started, the right-minded Kashmiris were aghast at these ugly shifts in the society. The gun killed all who spoke up. Hizbul Mujahideen wasn’t the militant wing of Jamaat e Islami for nothing. Hizbul, the creation of Pakistan in Kashmir, served its purpose well. After eminent thinkers of Kashmir were assassinated by Hizbul Mujahideen, the larger majority fell silent before Geelani’s reign of terror.  The so-called spontaneous and wide-spread agitations in Kashmir did not start and end on their own. On the face of it, the agitations were spearheaded by Geelani. In reality, it was Pakistan which was pulling the strings. The agitations began with a defined purpose, and they ended with an equally defined purpose.

Mercenary, Paid Terrorism

Kashmir terrorism has always been mercenary. It has always been a paid terrorism perpetrated, funded and sponsored by hostile powers. Making Kashmir a conflict zone was Pakistan’s master strategy. Jamaat e Islami and Tehreek e Hurriyat drove the conflict in Kashmir. The politics of the region became subservient to external forces.
The funds fuelling the conflict came from across the border. The money dictated Geelani and gang. They became the representatives of the Pakistan deep state in Kashmir. Their statements were dictated by Pakistan. The Kashmir mafia steadily fattened on the funds channeled from Pakistan. Geelani received huge money from Pakistan for starting the agitations in Kashmir. He received huge money and favours from the ruling party in the state for ending it. This sick pattern was repeated over and over again. For two decades, Geelani was running a parallel government in the state. Every time Pakistan gave him a fat deal, he started his hartal calendar. Every time the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir gave him a fatter deal for ending the hartal calendar, he ended it. Through all these years, the old man never gave up his devious ways.

On August 5, 2010, Geelani entered into a secret deal with the J&K government to end the agitation if personal favours were showered on him and his family. Geelani was in custody when Rana went to meet him secretly. Right after the meeting, Geelani changed his stance. Why did Geelani make a U-turn in his position after the meeting? The deals struck by the mafia are seldom known  

National Conference and Geelani’s Mafia

The 2010 unrest in Kashmir was a series of violent protests and riots in Kashmir valley. It lasted for three months. Omar Abdullah was the chief minister. It is the tragedy of Kashmir that our state governments have been so spineless that they could not control the mayhem in the streets, and allowed complete mafia domination.

When the situation did not return to normal, Omar’s close aide Davinder Singh Rana finally approached Geelani. This was the usual pattern in Kashmir. Whenever violence in the streets would spiral out of control, Geelani would hook up with the state government to end the agitation provided he was promised enough personal benefits.

On August 5, 2010, Geelani entered into a secret deal with the J&K government to end the agitation if personal favours were showered on him and his family. Geelani was in custody when Rana went to meet him secretly. Right after the meeting, Geelani changed his stance. Why did Geelani make a U-turn in his position after the meeting? The deals struck by the mafia are seldom known.

By this time, the agitation had consumed more than 100 young lives. About 540 Kashmiris had sustained injuries. Among security forces, 1,274 CRPF personnel and 2,747 personnel of JK Police had been injured. Public and private property worth crores of rupees had been damaged. The labour class was starving for bread for their families. Education of children had been badly impacted.

NC Box of Goodies, Geelani Goes From Hawk To Dove

After the meeting with Devinder Rana, Geelani’s drama started to play out. In no time, he became Dovish Geelani from Hawkish Geelani. After two months of provoking and constantly instigating the youngsters to be violent against the state, Geelani suddenly started singing a different tune. “People must desist from violence despite provocation from security forces. Those who burn railway stations, those who burn police stations; this is a reaction against the oppression of India, against India’s merciless measures. But it is against our basic principles and it harms our basic cause. We should ensure that our reaction should not harm our basic cause. This siege (around the government buildings), it is true that it is a reaction against the massacre of people by India here. But it has nothing to do with our movement. It only harms us. In all circumstances, we (people) should be seen as oppressed and not oppressors so that we achieve the moral high ground while we continue our struggle.”

Why did Geelani realize this noble truth after his meeting with Davinder Rana? What did Davindar Rana say to Geelani that it led to a U-turn in his ideology? What was the deal offered? This was the same Geelani who for two months had called for continuous strikes, protests, rallies, and urged the youth to take up stones against the security forces.

Kashmir terrorism has always been mercenary. It has always been a paid terrorism perpetrated, funded and sponsored by hostile powers. Making Kashmir a conflict zone was Pakistan’s master strategy. Jamaat e Islami and Tehreek e Hurriyat drove the conflict in Kashmir. The politics of the region became subservient to external forces

Geelani’s Old Pattern of Exploitation

Geelani has been exploiting the emotions of Kashmiris since the 1990s to suit his agenda. He kept Kashmir’s pot boiling for two decades because the Kashmiris took too long to learn the lesson. He issued the hartal calendar on a weekly basis. Kashmiris complied meekly even though their economy nose-dived, and even though their children suffered. Geelani made the Kashmiris believe that in death lies our life. We believed him.

When KZINE contacted Davinder Rana regarding the 2010 deal, he declined to comment on the contours of his meeting with Geelani. He even refused to accept that he had met Geelani in 2010.

PDP and Geelani

During the uprising of 2010 in Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti had put in strenuous efforts to ensure that the protest graph remained high daily. Her game was to dislodge Omar Abdullah has chief minister. On September 26, 2010, Geelani made a secret late-night visit to Mufti Sayeed’s residence on Gupkar Road. The purpose was a secret deal with the Muftis. Geelani played on the blood of the Kashmiris. The more the blood of the Kashmiris spilt on the streets, the stronger were the cards in Geelani’s hands.

Political moves cut both ways. In 2016 when Mehbooba was chief minister, Geelani orchestrated another agitation in Kashmir. This time, the opposition parties played the same game that Mehbooba had played in 2010. Geelani made sure the agitation continued daily. The opposition put in its efforts to show Mehbooba in a poor light every day. Mehbooba had to make a deal with Geelani to end the agitation. According to the NIA chargesheet, Rs 5.60 crore was handed over to Geelani’s son-in-law Altaf Fantoosh Shah as part of the deal.