SRINAGAR: Sheikh Mustafa Kamal , the younger brother of Union minister Farooq Abdullah and the uncle of J&K CM Omar Abdullah , has sparked off a massive outrage yet again. He has slammed the country saying Kashmiris are closer to Pakistan. Calling India the enemy, Kamal alleged, “Time and again India has backtracked from its no war pact with Pakistan.”

Kamal’s controversial comments at a National Conference rally in Kishtwar on Sunday are just the latest in a series of statements that have given Farooq and Omar uncomfortable moments. On the surface, Kamal’s tendency to take potshots at New Delhi seems strange considering his party, the National Conference, is the flag-bearer of mainstream politics in the state. But, a closer look at the history of Kashmir since 1947 suggests there might be a method in Kamal’s madness. Not so curiously, NC has chosen to remain silent.

Beginning with Sheikh Abdullah, mainstream politicians in Kashmir have sought a delicate balance between separatism and being mainstream. Islamist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani is today viewed as the most hardline of separatists, an image fostered no doubt by his unrelenting demand that Kashmir is disputed, an issue he claims can be resolved only by implementing UN resolutions that include a referendum in the state. This position is a replica of a demand made for 35 years ago from a platform called the Plebiscite Front. And who was its leader? Sheikh Abdullah: Mustafa Kamal’s father.There is a joke in Kashmir: A Kashmiri leader’s love for azaadi increases and decreases based on his distance from New Delhi. This pattern is repeated by almost everyone who hopes to earn favour and power. It can be called 50 shades of separatism, from Islamist fervour of a Geelani, the uncomfortable flip flops of the “moderates” to the more nuanced utterances of the “mainstream”.

The discourse shifts seamlessly from ‘Kashmir banega Pakistan’ to ‘azaadi’ and to the nuances of autonomy within the Constitution: self-rule and achievable nationhood. The premise of these slogans is the same: Kashmir is not an integral part of India.Seen in this light, Kamal’s utterances against the Indian Army are just a crude continuation of the two-year campaign of his nephew Omar against AFSPA. Despite being the head of the unified command that controls all the security forces in the state, and being well aware of their concerns over AFSPA, this has been the young CM’s main demand.

This is explained away in New Delhi as an answer to pacify the anger in Kashmir over the killing of some 120 young men in the five months of violence in 2010. The fact that most deaths occurred in firing by the Kashmir Police, which is not covered by AFSPA, is ignored. Also that not one policeman has received any punishment for these deaths, is ignored. Two years later, AFSPA is still in force, and the CM has shifted the blame on New Delhi for being stubborn on a draconian law. And his uncle can accuse the Army of violence on Kashmiris. The message is: “India is the enemy.”

This behaviour is in part a creation of New Delhi’s handling of the situation. From money to power, the generosity of New Delhi is often in direct proportion to the shrillness of the attacks. That’s why many mainstream politicians and separatists travel to and from anti-AFSPA rallies protected by these same AFSPA covered security men. Meanwhile, Omar, appeared to be distancing himself from the comments made by his senior party leader. Omar first tweeted, “Funny thing is I don’t need anyone to make things difficult for me when I have relatives to do it for me.”