So it seems there are those who would prefer I be a little more classy, a little more compromising, a lot less outspoken, more mellow in my criticisms, & more focused on just one issue. I’ll be 75 years old this year & my indignation has only grown with the feeding so fat chance that I will mellow out. Either you accept it or you shove off. There ain’t no way I’ll accommodate those who want a kinder, gentler radicalism just for more likes or followers on social media.
As for being single issue, that isn’t how I see the world. I’m a socialist & see the world in chaos because of the predatory nature of the economic, political, & military system of capitalism. There’s a connectedness to all the wars, occupations, genocide. If you don’t share my holistic view of things please don’t hang around my wall being annoyed or appalled. There are many who’ve tried to change me, including through firing, ostracizing, or badmouthing me. But after over five decades as an activist, I am one tough cookie & don’t give a damn about all that. My life commitment is to speak the truth as I see it & stand opposed to oppression which I detest & know so well. If that doesn’t work for you, feel free to unfriend or unfollow me.
An interesting article on the political & military relationship of India with Israel–& just as importantly, the affinities & solidarity of Kashmiris with Palestinians:
Lest I appear cavalier about the return of the downed Indian fighter pilot, my older brother was a fighter pilot in the Vietnam War. I loved my brother but at no time was I confused that my loyalties were with the Vietnamese he was bombing.
“Pandit” is not a race, an ethnicity, a nation or a people. The race/ethnicity/nation/people is Kashmiri, most of whom are Muslims. The Pandit identity signifies nothing besides a Brahminical caste identity. And in a democracy, caste is not something to take pride in identifying with. This means the identity assertion of Pandits, if done democratically, can only be as Kashmiris, not as Pandits. Otherwise it is an assertion of Brahminism, which incorporates the Tamil Brahmin and the Kashmiri Pandit into a common mythology of ‘Kashmir to Kanyakumari’. What makes this India ‘one nation’ is the millennia-old Brahminical-colonial system called caste — the unity of Brahmins and other caste elites against the societies they dominate and subjugate.
“I was born to a Brahmin family and my father did not give me the family surname because it served no purpose other than declaring the caste as if it were something to be proud of, whereas it should have been a tag of shame among people oppressed and separated from each other by Brahminism.”
While India celebrates the return of downed fighter pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, Kashmiris still grieve & wait for India to release the remains of freedom fighters Maqbool Bhat & Afzal Guru who were hung in an Indian jail & buried in unmarked graves. They demand the return of the honored freedom fighters for a respectful burial. Maqbool Bhat was hung in February 1984 & Afzal Guru in February 2013.
The photo is Martyrs’ Graveyard in Srinagar where two gravesites have been reserved for Maqbool Bhat & Afzal Guru.
MC Kash rapping about the return of the bodies of Maqbool Bhat & Afzal Guru:
“It is funny how Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah are celebrating the return of captive Indian pilot Abhinandan because ‘they could not imagine the pain his family must have been going through’. Mehbooba, you jailed my mother. Every single day I spend without her love is on you. Omar, you prolonged the imprisonment of my father to death. You cost me the guidance of my father. And your late grandfather is why Kashmir has had over 100,000 war orphans. You turned our home into an orphanage. You know nothing about the pain. You are just power-hungry politicians who provide impunity to bloodthirsty occupational forces.”
Since Pulwama attack in which 49 Indian soldiers were killed, India multiplied its hostilities against Kashmiris by arresting hundreds of activists in Kashmir, persecuting Kashmiris across India and then followed it by aerial strikes in Pakistan. Nobody talked about Geneva Conventions, international humanitarian law & justice. Ofcourse we want Indian Airforce pilots to be released respectfully by Pakistan, but why should hundreds of Kashmiris continue to suffer in jails. Activists in India & Pakistan, don’t just hypocritically say #NoToWar, but ask for cessation of all hostilities, from all sides and more importantly against Kashmiris, who have been facing the brunt of this mindless war from last 70 years.
