With Pakistan’s election campaign nearing an end and politicians there making no significant mention of Kashmir, the region's separatists are saying their struggle will remain unaffected by this changed stance of Pakistan’s political class.
Kashmiri separatists, many of whom have aligned themselves with Pakistan, said they were not worried about Kashmir going off the election map in Pakistan, where campaigning would end on Thursday and votes would be cast on May 11.
The discourse of many past elections in Pakistan had centred on Kashmir to such an extent that Pakistani leaders used to term Kashmir as Pakistan’s "jugular vein".
However, Pakistani politicians this year have remained silent on Kashmir and surprisingly the manifesto of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf led by Imran Khan - a leading prime ministerial candidate who swings between Centre-Left and Centre-Right - termed Kashmiri militants working within Pakistan as one of the six factors which were “driving lawlessness and terror” in the country.
Despite this, Kashmiri separatists have not lost hope. “This is our struggle. Pakistan has been our moral, diplomatic and political supporter and we hope that this support will continue. However, the way they used to talk about the Kashmir issue in election campaigns did not happen (this time),” said senior separatist leader Shabir Ahmad Shah.
Former chairman of the Hurriyat Conference Prof Abdul Gani Bhat said the Kashmir issue had no relation with either Indian or Pakistani elections. “This is a historic dispute. Election or no election, Kashmir will continue to be a dispute until the issue is addressed and resolved,” said Bhat, who is now an executive member of the moderate Hurriyat faction.
The election campaign in Pakistan has gripped the interest of many people in Kashmir. They are keeping track of developments on a daily basis via Pakistan-based private television channels, which are being broadcast in most of the houses in the region.
Azam Inqilabi, a former militant commander, said he is hopeful that any government which is formed in Pakistan would be vocal about Kashmir as the regional and global dynamics is changing fast. “Presently there is a problem within (Pakistan) which is because of the political polarisation there… All the major political parties have a commitment vis-a-vis Kashmir but this is not the time to assert for Kashmir,” he said.
Inqibali said there are “innumerable problems” within Pakistan which were being highlighted in the election campaigns. “Whosoever will be in power, will be a friend of Kashmir,” he said.
The 65-year-old veteran separatist, who led thousands of militants in early 1990s, said Kashmiri separatists need to “befriend all” parties including the Taliban militants operating in Pakistan. “We cannot afford to offend any of the parties of Pakistan… We may not subscribe to all of their ideologies but as far their sympathy and concern for Kashmir is concerned, we have respect for them,” he said.
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