If possible, forget that Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani is viewed by India as a pro-Pakistan separatist leader pushing for self-determination in Kashmir. See him as an elder of pre-Partition vintage desperate to visit an ailing daughter in Saudi Arabia. In order to travel, he needs a passport and whether he likes to admit it or not, he lives on Indian soil, even if in his heart he hates the thought of being thought of as ‘Indian’.

Geelani’s outpouring scorn over being forced to declare himself an Indian in the passport application form smacks of poor politics from his side, and worse diplomacy. As it is, he doesn’t have too many friends in this country. But he would win brownie points if he were to acknowledge that the Indian government has done him a huge favour – and that clearly is what it is – by issuing him the document on humanitarian grounds. It’s understandable how the situation must rankle: not only did Geelani have to subdue his ego, the act also gives the Indian government leverage to possibly put him on the mat for engaging in treasonable activities while being a citizen of India (after all, he’s admitted on paper that he’s an Indian national).

Still, signing for the passport and then railing against the process is churlish to say the least and it certainly doesn’t leave a good taste. He would do well to remember Aung San Suu Kyi: incarcerated by the military junta in Myanmar/Burma, she lived under house arrest in Yangon/Rangoon, with her husband and children in faraway UK rarely being allowed to meet her. In fact, even when it was known her husband was dying of cancer, the military government refused to give him a visa to let him meet his wife. In Geelani’s case, the Indian government, despite everything, has given him what he wanted.

Showing grace in accepting the favour is a small sacrifice in the big struggle he’s waging.

Deputy Editor

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW