Parallax View: Are things so bad in J&K that you can't raise the tricolour in a public place?

If there is a lesson in the saga of the BJP’s abortive attempts to hoist the Indian flag at Lal Chowk in

Srinagar on Republic Day, it is this: your arguments depend on your perspective.      Much of the mainstream media took a

position that was hostile to the BJP’s Yatra and to its flag-hoisting ambitions. The milder expression of this position went something like this: Kashmir is a complicated place and we are past the stage where we need to deal in gestures. Politicians from the rest of India who have visited Kashmir say that while young Kashmiris feel less and less kinship with Pakistan, they are still inclined to treat India as an occupying power rather than their own country.

 

   One reason for this is the intrusive military presence which, while probably necessary to fight terrorism, massively inconveniences and hassles ordinary people. The fact that most of the soldiers are from outside Kashmir and yet retain the authority to force Kashmiris to explain themselves or face detention emphasises the sense that Delhi is an occupying power. To hoist the Indian flag in Lal Chowk will provoke Kashmiris because it will be seen, not as an expression of patriotism, but as India claiming the territory for itself.

 

   There is a less mild version of this position which was articulately expressed by Omar Abdullah on Headlines Today on the eve of Republic Day. Abdullah said that the BJP was engaging in political opportunism. It knew that Republic Day was always a tense time for the state administration in Kashmir. Despite knowing that, it sought to provoke an incident only so that it could win votes in the rest of India. If the BJP cared so much about the sacrifices made by our security forces, why did it not go to Maoist areas – where more jawans have been killed than in Kashmir over the last year – and try and raise the flag there?

 

   Others were even more outspoken than Abdullah. The BJP was in power in Delhi for several years. For much of this time, it was in alliance with Abdullah and shared power in Kashmir. Why didn’t it raise the Indian flag in Lal Chowk during that period? Surely, the BJP’s real agenda was Hindu vs Muslim. If it succeeded in raising the flag then it would portray itself to its Hindu supporters as the one party that dared do so in a Muslim-majority area where residents were not necessarily loyal to India. If the Yatra failed – as it did, eventually – then it would tell its Hindu supporters that things were so bad in Muslim-majority Kashmir that nobody even dared raise the Indian flag. Worse still, the secular establishment was backing the sell-out to anti-national forces, etc. etc.

 

   I do not deny the strength of these arguments. Seen from a political and pragmatic perspective, they are convincing. I also accept that there is a thin line between expressions of pride and provocation. In the 1930s, British fascists would stage demonstrations through the Jewish areas of London. These demonstrations would be described as peaceful and patriotic but they usually had the effect of intimidating and provoking British Jews and frequently, resulted in violence. In our own country, police often intervene to ban demonstrations when they believe they could lead to violence. For instance, a Muslim religious procession will not be allowed to go through Hindu areas at a time of communal tension.

 

   The truth is that the national flag is raised in Jammu and Kashmir on Republic Day. The difference is that it is raised at a formal function which is well-guarded. Omar Abdullah said that the BJP leaders were welcome to attend that function. His problem was with a flag-hoisting in Lal Chowk, which he regarded as needlessly provocative.

 

   And yet, despite the battery of arguments against the flag-hoisting, the fact remains that many Indians were deeply dismayed by the events that surrounded the abortive flag-hoisting. Those who were upset were not just BJP supporters. Even those with no party political loyalties were outraged. Moreover, many of those who were angered by the detention of Arun Jaitley and Sushma Swaraj would have no difficulty in admitting that the BJP leaders were acting out of political opportunism. They would also concede, I suspect, that there is an element of hypocrisy to the BJP’s position: why not raise the flag when Omar was your ally and why only embarrass him now that he has allied with the Congress?

 

   Ultimately, it comes down to perspective. In purely political terms, the arguments against the BJP leaders are strong and convincing. But that’s not the only perspective that matters. For many educated Indians, politics is a nuisance. Patriotism, however, is a reality. We may have little respect for politicians and may be leery of their motives. But we also regard the unity of India and our identity as a nation as being sacrosanct.

 

"The overwhelming emotion felt by Indians outside of Kashmir for their brothers and sisters in the Valley is not hostility. It is bewilderment. Why do you hate us so much?"

   If this was not so, then the Republic Day parade would not be so wildly popular. Year after year, intellectuals tell us that it makes no sense for a liberal democracy to celebrate the anniversary of the founding of the Republic with a display of military pride. Year and year, we disregard this argument. Indians are a patriotic people. We like the symbols of our patriotism, no matter how corny or outdated they may seem to cynics. And we react with outrage and anger to any insult to our patriotism.

 

   The problem with the political perspective on which the arguments against the BJP Yatra are based is that it requires us to accept that there are parts of India where the simple act of hoisting the national flag on Republic Day is considered a provocation. This perspective requires us to admit that the situation in Kashmir is so bad that merely by waving the Indian flag, you can provoke a riot.

 

   Few Indians like accepting this. We believe that Republic Day is a day of national rejoicing. We do not see how by raising a flag we are provoking anyone or driving him or her to violence.

 

   Of course, we admit that Kashmir is a special case. But we are told by our government that the problems in the Valley are caused by militants sent over by Pakistan and by a few fundamentalist elements. Nobody ever tells us that the average Kashmiri is so anti-Indian that he will be provoked if the tricolour is hoisted on Republic Day. But, for the Omar Abdullah position to have any validity (‘needless provocation’ etc.), anti-Indian feeling must be so high among ordinary Kashmiris that a simple flag-raising is seen as an invitation to violence.

 

   What all of those who make reasoned arguments against the BJP and its Yatra forget is that there is a larger perspective. Are we telling the citizens of an essentially patriotic country that things are so bad in Kashmir that you can’t even raise the national flag in a public place?

 

   The problem is that when the question is framed in such bald terms, the political establishment hums and haws. Well, actually, things are not that bad, we are told. It is just that matters are poised at a delicate stage. Why give the separatists a new provocation, etc. etc.

 

   This may or may not be true. But in its own way, these responses contain as much hypocrisy and doublespeak as the BJP’s own position. The average Indian has nothing against the average Kashmiri. The overwhelming emotion felt by Indians outside of Kashmir for their brothers and sisters in the Valley is not hostility. It is bewilderment. Why do you hate us so much?

 

   Most of us will be happy to make compromises in an effort to solve the Kashmir problem. But there’s one issue on which Indians are reluctant to compromise. That issue is basic patriotism.

 

   The reason that the abortive flag-hoisting touched such a chord across the nation was not because all of us love the BJP or hate Omar Abdullah or because we did not recognise the strength of his arguments.

 

   It was because the events surrounding the end of the Yatra made us ask ourselves a troubling question: where have we gone so wrong that over 60 years after the founding of our republic, there are still parts of India where to hoist the national flag is to provoke a riot?

 

   Alas, it is a question that yields no easy answers.