Srinagar, August 26: A day after Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi praised to the skies the Gupkar Declaration calling a “political resistance movement,” Kashmiris around the world took to social media and expressed their displeasure in no uncertain terms about Qureshi’s “ignorant and ill-informed” statement endorsing pro-India politicians in Kashmir.
“Mr Pak FM, this startling ‘understanding’ of Kashmir politics is, well, a state of imbecility barn donkeys would heehaw at,” tweeted Kashmiri journalist Najib Mubarki, “Perchance lessons from a Kashmiri school kid on resistance and collaborators would be in order. Or, one can keep up with the heehaws.”
“Poor understanding of Kashmir issue he has,” tweeted Shinyah.
Many Kashmiris expressed their doubts if Imran Khan’s PTI government has any idea about what exactly is going on in Kashmir.
“I don’t know how to react but, yes, absolute bullshittery,” tweeted another angry Kashmir.
“What a shame! I’m shocked. You could’ve cross-checked, @SMQureshiPTI, before making this extremely ignorant and ill-informed statement,” tweeted Rajiv Kumar, a Kashmiri professor in Germany.
The general belief in Kashmir is that ‘Gupkar declaration’ is New Delhi’s ploy to give some kind of legitimacy to the discredited and demoralized pro-India politicians whom the BJP government treated in a manner they were not used to for a long time. Since New Delhi is keen to orchestrate elections in J&K despite extremely grim and in conducive atmosphere, they needed something to se t the ball rolling. So all of a sudden, the petrified politicians who thought a number of times before issuing a mild statement got together and formed an alliance and put out a strongly worded declaration. Kashmiris and Kashmir observers believe that it is almost impossible without New Delhi’s consent given the post-August 5 scenario.
Something that Prof. Rajiv Kumar echoed in his tweet, “The so-called Gupkar Declaration is a new ruse set afoot by New Delhi to create an atmosphere for sham elections and you – Pakistan’s Foreign Minister – are endorsing it. The signatories to this fraudulent declaration can’t take a breath without @AmitShah’s permission. And let me also tell you, each one of these stooges hates Pakistan like sin. WTF is going on, @ImranKhanPTI?”
Qureshi’s disconnect with Kashmir has also angered many young students who believe Paksitan can ill-afford to be so ignorant about matters related to Kashmir.
“I’m so disillusioned. I don’t want to lose faith but if this is their understanding of Kashmir, how can we pin any hopes on them?’ said Shadab, a PG student.
“Mr. Qureshi needs a brush-up course on Kashmir. Ignorant utterances like these will only hurt Kashmiris and strengthen the stooges who have always done the bidding for India in Kashmir and hurt the Kashmir cause,” said a scholar from the University of Kashmir, preferring not to be named.
Many Kashmiris believe that the pro-India politicians will use Qureshi’s statement as a tool to reach out to their cadre and motivate them to get back into the Indian electoral fold.
“We know how smart these pro-India stooges are. They desperately needed a shot in the arm and Pakistan’s foreign minister gave them exactly that. They will now reach out to their workers and tell them they have Pakistan’s support. This so called Gupkar Declaration should be called New Delhi Declaration. After humiliating them and showing them their place, New Delhi has brought them back into the fold and hence this drama. Sadly, Pakistan walked right into the trap,” said Mohammad Zahid, a Kashmiri IT professional working in UK.
