Op Ed: The Voice of Kashmir, An Untiring Freedom Fighter

by Dr Aslam Abdullah

He often finds himself lost in his childhood memories in what was then a quiet and peaceful hamlet some 16 K.M. from Srinagar, the capital of Jammu and Kashmir. The green pastures,  the tall trees, the running ravines, the talkative prairies, simple living, and the love and affection among less than 100 families chase his imagination every time he stands to speak about his country.

In Geneva, Paris, Istanbul, Makkah, London, or Washington, you name a capital hosting an international conference on peace and justice. You can see him running the corridors with a briefcase packed with documentation about his people trying to convince the rulers, religious leaders or other dignitaries that the people of Jammu and Kashmir deserve dignity and the right to self-determination accepted by the United Nations and denied by the government of India.

The Hindu nationalists want him eliminated. India’s intelligence agencies wish to have him alive. But the people he grew up with in the sober and serene Valley of Kashmir in the 50s and 60s remember him with tearful eyes and utmost respect for the work he has done for the cause of Kashmir.

Some of those who grew up with him are still alive. Many have left this world suffering humiliation and persecution from an army that treated the Muslim people of Kashmir as enemies and a political elite that thrived on their helplessness. The younger generation did not see him. He is a legend in their mind, a freedom fighter, a faithful servant of the Kashmiri people, a brave man who has worked tirelessly to give hope to millions who have been living the life of enslaved people in the Valley under the occupation of a democratic and secular India that has denied Kashmiris the right to choose their future.

Since 1981, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Feh, the executive director of the Washington-based Kashmiri American Council, has been living a self-imposed exile serving the Kashmiri cause. At 75, his enthusiasm for motivation is not less than when he was in his early 20s. To him and his elder Syed Hussain Geelani and many others go the credit of organizing the most effective campaign for the right of self-determination in Kashmir. That was when the so-called official leadership of Kashmir had almost thrown in the towel and was ready to accept the control of the Indian government against all international norms and resolutions. Jamat Islami, Jammy, and Kashmir invited the Imam of Kaaba to its conference on the life of the Prophet. Feh was instrumental in taking the revered Imam to almost every district in the Valley, inspiring people to remain steadfast to their right of self-determination. In these grassroots gatherings, hundreds of thousands of young boys and girls, older men and women, heard the chants of freedom, self-dignity, and justice once again. The Valley woke up, and the hope of a new Kashmir ignited.

It was one of the most extraordinary. Grassroots movements in Kashmir that took everyone by surprise. It shocked the intelligence, panicked the administration, and frightened the politicians. They all pointed their fingers at Feh and issued his arrest warrants. Luckily, he knew about the raid and left the Valley quietly with a vow that his love for his people and dedication to their cause would always be a priority.

It was a decision he knew he would always make. He was one of those few young Kashmiris who had the opportunity to go to college and complete a Bachelor of Science degree. A lucrative teaching job waited for him. However, he was impressed with his mentor, Syed Geelani, and decided to work as an advertisement manager on a meager salary for a magazine published by the Jamat e Islami, an organization different in its charter and objectives than its namesake in India and Pakistan. His father, who had seen the misery of his people for decades, felt disappointed, but Feh was convinced of the cause, and he persuaded his father to give his blessing to his new venture.

Feh was aware of the sentiments of his people. He identified with them and made many friends in different parts of Kashmir. Together, they all dreamt of a new Kashmir comprising highly educated people living with dignity and freedom without being suspected in the country they lived in for centuries.

During this journey, he completed his Ph.D. in communication, led movements for interfaith reconciliation on U.S. campuses, and served as an undeclared ambassador of people’s Kashmir in hundreds of conferences worldwide.

During the last 45 years, he met hundreds of rulers and higher officials seeking a peaceful resolution to the Kashmir issue. The Indian intelligence followed him like a shadow. They tried to buy him, persuade him to return to India, and even threatened to harm him. With the help of the U.S. intelligence agencies, they wanted to prosecute him for being an agent of Pakistan, a charge the U.S. government dropped later. He was under house arrest for two years, yet not a single day passed when he did not sing the glory of his cause and people.

During these long years, the government of India tried to entrap him several times. Its leaders tried to hold secret talks with him to persuade Kashmiris to abandon the cause of self-determination. But he remains committed to his ideals. He did not compromise his principles. He never left the part of peace and was the first to question the legitimacy of violence against non-Muslims in the Valley. Even when Hindu nationalists showed their determination to paint the Muslim population of Kashmir as terrorists, he appealed for a peaceful resolution.

Now, he devotes 14 to 16 hours of his daily routine to his cause, focusing on his cause with the hope that a day will come when his people will be free. In several subsequent articles, you will read about his struggle to understand the history of his people, his vision, and his contribution to a cause that many people have forgotten or consider a territorial dispute between India and Pakistan. It is a struggle for self-dignity and determination, a reason that every international law supports and God endorses.

Through these articles, you will learn how movements for freedom face obstacles and challenges at all levels. Be prepared to read a fascinating story, a history of a living freedom fighter, and the biography of Dr. Ghulan Nabi Feh.

His Work