When the comments of Ilhan Omar were mentioned in The Hindu newspaper, it was noteworthy that the article explicitly stated that she is "one of two Muslim members of Congress". As if to suggest being Muslim is a contributing factor to demonstrating sympathy towards Kashmiris. As if her Muslim-ness has one iota to do with standing up for democracy, human rights and UN resolutions. The normally balanced newspaper disappointed me today. It's as though the entire media and civil societal spectrum has shifted into an autocratic Hindutva frenzy, with traditional left wingers and right wingers trying to outdo each other in their sycophantic gushing over Modi and the abrogation of 370. Once impartial or counterbalancing voices have moulded together with Hindutva in their relentless saffron crusade.
It is telling and at the same time symptomatic of India's underlying ills that there quite simply is no dissenting voice to the abrogation of 370 within Hindustan proper. The media, "civil" society, celebrity classes and probably anyone able to vote are aligned 100% on their obsessional fetishised land grab.
That nobody objects may be out of fear of being immediately villified by a calculating and sinister fascist government, leading to career-ending labels as pro-Pakistani or anti-national - we have seen Modi throw democratic ideals of non-interference in freedom of press, expression and opinion straight to the dogs as the illiterate chai wallah drags Hindustan down an abyss of regressive dictatorship, far removed from the supposed "democracy" he inherited. The medieval draconian ordinances in place in Kashmir that allow arrest, detention, extraction, rendition, suppression of civilians and destruction of property without charge or reason other than "security interests" and under the apparent condition of nothing other than "good faith" of the security forces themselves will only serve to further grind democracy into the dust.
But apart from the fear of retribution from an all pervasive and interfering government, it may equally be true that the whole of India genuinely is so far detached from reality, that the citizens of Hindustan have become so immune to neutral or objective ideas and opinions about the Kashmir issue, that the sinister machinations of Hindutva fascist brainwashing have become so ingrained in this ancient land, that Indians somehow genuinely believe their own propaganda...that the democratic and human rights of Kashmiris and the UN mandated self-determination that is due to Kashmiris are somehow entirely meaningless and inapplicable. There is no room for debate on the matter in the fascist land. The disease has taken hold and is terminal in terms of its prognosis.
Future generations will look back at the Kashmiri saga and they will come to study it, as a rare moment in human history when the narcotic, addictive effects of fascism drove a billion people into a delusional state of self-perpetuating denial of reality.
The reality is simple - Kashmiris deserve their right to freedom, their shot at self-determination, their dream of justice.
It really doesn't matter that Ilhan Omar is Muslim. She believes in the simple ideals of democratic process and self-determination. Anyone who believes that, Muslim or otherwise, would feel the same. And conversely, for its draconian endeavours, Hindutva will only find succour and support from those nations or individuals for whom democracy has no meaning, Muslim or otherwise.