Change May Bring About A CHANGE
By: Gowhar Geelani
Whether we want to accept it or not the truth remains that our world is witnessing some positive changes; all our troubles notwithstanding.
Yes, there are problems galore. Yes, there is lot of trouble. Yes, there are lots of wrongs. Yes, our very basic rights are being violated, day in and day out. Yes, there are excesses and there is violence too, but there is also a ray of hope.
Some changes have taken place and some changes are taking place and some more changes may take place. We can describe these as positive developments. We can hope these developments will bring about a real change in the status quo.
This year on January 20, Barack Hussein Obama took oath as America’s first black president. ‘CHANGE WE NEED,’ was Obama’s slogan during the presidential campaign. From Obama’s election as the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review to winning the nomination for a seat as the US senator from American state of Illinois, and then his successful race to the White House as first African-American. Isn’t this a good change?
We bid goodbye to Mr George W Bush. Wasn’t that a good change?
Obama promises change. He promises to bring US troops back from war-ravaged Iraq. He promises to shut down Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp in Cuba by next January. He promises to use diplomatic means to resolve the issue of Tehran’s controversial nuclear programme with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Isn’t this is a change?
Yes, we know Obama is sending more troops to Afghanistan, but he says that the issue can’t be solved by militarily means only. He is in favor of dialogue. Isn’t this a change?
Our strife-torn state of Jammu and Kashmir also witnessed a change.
This January, 38-year-old Omar Abdullah took oath as Kashmir’s youngest-ever chief minister. Abdullah promises a different approach toward solving different issues at different levels. Unlike his father, Omar Abdullah acknowledges the significant role of All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) in the final resolution of Kashmir conundrum.
“What else do you want to see? Kashmiri students of 10 th and 12 th classes from missionary schools on the rooftops of buses are shouting pro-freedom slogans,” said Omar Abdullah once during an interview with Karan Thapar in the programme Devil’s Advocate on CNN-IBN.
In yet another television debate on NDTV 24/7, Mr Abdullah admitted the fact that he or any other leader from the mainstream political parties cannot pull even one-tenth of the crowd the Hurriyat leaders managed to during the last year’s unprecedented wave of pro-freedom rallies in Kashmir.
Mr Abdullah has made such candid admissions on more than one occasion. Isn’t this a good change?
We have almost, I repeat, almost; got rid of theatre of Farooq Abdullah. Isn’t that a change?
World is witnessing severe economic recession, the worst since Great Depression of 1930s. The US banking and automobile industries are on the verge of near-collapse. Many companies are filing for bankruptcy and some are seeking economic bail-out from the government. General Motors (GM) and Crysler –the two giant American automobile companies- have already announced massive job cuts.
The situation is no different here in Europe. Opel’s German-based company is longing for government help. Hypo Real Estate, German bank, is in dire need of government aid. Amid huge financial crisis, 64-year-old Michael Glos–widely criticized for his low profile during the crisis- resigned as Germany’s economic minister.
But then, there was a change.
On February 10, Dr. Karl-Theodor Freiherr zu Guttenberg assumed office as the new federal minister of Economics and Technology. Dr. Guttenberg is the member of German Bundestag (Parliament) since 2002 and represents Christian Social Union (CSU). The 38-year-old CSU leader promises a change. His good profile backs his promises.
In Thailand we saw British-born Abhisit Vejjajiva winning the tense parliamentary vote and then becoming the new Prime Minister. Oxford-educated 44-year-old Abhisit Vejjajiva also promises to bring Thailand’s struggling economy back on rails. With his reputation of being Mr. clean, Vejjajiva entered Thai Parliament when he was just 27. He was country’s youngest ever member. Politician from opposition Democrat Party, Vejjajiva is now country’s prime minister. Isn’t that a change?
United Kingdom has David Milliband as its Foreign Secretary. He is also young and dynamic.
Obama, Abdullah, Guttenberg, Vejjajiva and Milliband-all of them are young and dynamic. All of them take a different approach and all of them promise a change. Let’s back them all and give them a chance to prove themselves.
Let’s hope that India also gets a young and dynamic prime minister when the country goes for Lok Sabha polls this year. The possible young Indian prime minister may take a different approach while dealing with Kashmir problem.
It would be too naïve to believe that everything will change all of a sudden, but why can’t we hope?
Let’s hope and wait for the CHANGE! Let’s hope for a MAY BE!
Gowhar Geelani is a Kashmiri journalist based in Bonn, Germany; is working as an Editor with Deutsche Welle (Voice of Germany).
