THE DEAD MAN’S THESIS

87 year old Samuel Huntington’s demise coincided with two important events. The first one, Israel’s military onslaught against Hamas controlled Gaza strip, vindicating intensification of the conflict that strengthened the dead man’s thesis for years. The Palestine question that was erupted with dawn of the historic cold war, continued to be one of the central concerns of world polity even if the history has reached to its conclusion, as Francis Fukuyama told us. Huntington-Fukuyama stood on the same side all these years, hand in glove with the imperial powers of today’s world, that kept the layman guessing how could it be the End of History when fault lines among the civilizations have just been sketched conceiving the long drawn global war. Non-resolution of the Palestine issue has become essential for the alliance of imperial establishments to mobilize resources to their command in furtherance of world domination agenda. Israel has paid perfect tribute to Huntington as its punitive strikes have endangered security and freedom of its own citizens. The fear acts as a fuel to keep alive the fire ignited by so called civilisational clashes.
While Israel has given a promising adieu to Huntington’s soul, people of Jammu and Kashmir must have robbed all the smiles from the ghost’s face when they democratically elected representatives to install a government in the troubled Indian state. This development, the second coinciding event, has the potential that would not allow posthumous honours to the late strategist. Flash point of conflict in the South Asia has been painted with Huntington’s verbatim for long since that served his masters’ interests in terms of pulling the Indian rulers on its side. The answer to chaos, terror and hatred in the region could not be found in the authoritarian, militaristic and hegemonic response. The people of J&K displayed matured and far-sighted collective conscience when they had throbbed the polling booths to cast their choice for governance. The enthronement of young Abdullah through popular means has brought a ray of hope for the bloom of democratic culture in the state. The mandate indicates desperate desire of the people to establish their right of good governance. Beyond that, the people also signal the world their unwillingness to be the pawns in the international politics. It is a matter of caution for some, while warning for others.
The Kashmir, among few other issues, has twisted independent India’s logical journey to the dream destiny. Attainment of great nationhood is impossible without the consent of the Kashmir. The notion of India synonyms with the Kashmir’s aspirations. Dignity, livelihood, freedom, equality, secularism, composite culture, federalism and democracy. Do they differ with each other? Problems with Kashmir are problems of the country. Their resolution is essential for the sustenance of grand project of nation building. Realization of idea of India is equally important for the creation of peaceful world at large. The composite nations are the ardent deterrence to the imperialist expansions and obscurantist terrorism; the two common products of Huntington’s theorization. Even though, his imagination will continue to haunt the nations of the world for quite a time, the people of J&K have issued a bold obituary that progressive and peace-loving people will emerge triumphant to witness progress of the history.