With the crackdown on Naxalite sympathizers by Maharashtra police in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, the anti-national stand of those ‘intellectuals’ has again become a subject of national debate. And it is no surprise that the ideology of these people often seems to align with other forces trying to break India, and the prime among them is the Kashmiri separatists. We have often seen that people who support the Naxalites also take the side of Kashmiri separatists.
One of the persons detained by police in the ongoing crackdown is Varavara Rao who is a poet, journalist, activist, and Naxalite sympathiser. An interview he gave to Tehelka magazine in 2010 gives us an insight into how deep the relations between Naxalites and Kashmiri separatists go. He said, “I feel azadi [freedom] is the only way for Kashmir. Self-determination is the right of every nationality. Being a Maoist, I support revolutionary and independent movements of people. On that Marxist-Leninist principle, I support the nationality struggle of Kashmir and of the Northeast.” He adds that Hyderabad and Kashmir were ‘invaded’ by India. According to him, Hyderabad had Muslim ruler (but majority Hindu population) and Kashmir had majority Muslim population (but Hindu ruler) so these two regions should secede from India.
Another important point to note is that, when he was asked about views of Kashmiri Pandits, he labelled the Pandits as Sangh Parivar people and completely ignored the question of their views. Talking about the “Azadi: The Only Way” conference in Delhi that he attended along with Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Arundhati Roy and others, he said “There were around 700 people at the conference, most of them supporting azadi. Around 200 of them were Kashmiris. The Sangh Parivar people, including Kashmiri Pandits, were not more than 70. That means the people of Kashmir are not alone in their struggle.” He basically meant that Kashmiri Pandits also support secession and those who do not belong to Sangh Parivar, only based on attendance in a conference calling for breaking India!
When asked about tie-ups between the Maoists and the separatists, he categorically replied, “Right from the days of Charu Mazumdar, we have supported the struggle for azadi in Kashmir and the Northeast. That support remains.”
Hence a prominent Naxalite activist confirms that Naxalites and Kashmiri Separatists have a deep relation for a long time. And the both these groups share a common objective, breaking up India, a large country with substantial standing and presence in the international stage, into several smaller nations, each much weaker and vulnerable to aggressive forces of both western military muscles and middle eastern ideological forces.
