The Algerian resistance movement and Kashmir

Regarded as one of the world’s most militarised places, Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K) is fast becoming an immutable anamnesis of an unachievable struggle for self-determination. Forced demographical changes, uncensored torture mechanisms forced disappearances, indiscriminate targeted strikes and raids are just a few of the ways to describe the adversities the Kashmiris are enmeshed in. The UN has so far failed to adequately respond to the propaganda being pushed by those in India who dream of establishing a Hindu Rashtra. Despite various meetings, powerful rhetoric, diplomacy — backdoor or otherwise — no tangible result has so far been realised.

Over the years various comparisons have been drawn to the Kashmiris, including the Northern Irish, Basque Spanish, and of course the Palestinians. Another analogy rarely discussed is the correspondences to the Algerian resistance movement, which represents revolutionary paragons for the past and present and displays the spectrum of one of the world’s most uncompromising stands against freedom of expression.

The Algerian resistance, the apex of which was the Battle of Algiers (well documented in a 1966 movie of the same title) involved various Algerian independence groups that fought for 160 years against French rule. Though the movement had many aspects, it was essentially ideological warfare as well as a rejection of French colonialism.

On July 5, 2020, coincidental with its 58th independence day, the Government of Algeria received the skulls of 24 resistance fighters who had been executed during France’s arrogation of Algeria. In the 19th century, these skulls had been taken to France as trophies and later put on display at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. Till now, the Algerians’ persistent demands for their return had gone unanswered. This gesture came two years after France’s President Emmanuel Macron, during a speech invariably admitted to how his country had sanctioned the use of torture during the Algerian war. Many purport the motivation behind such an admittance — after nearly 60 years — was to achieve increased international standing under the hue of humbleness.

In 2017, it was estimated that victims of French colonial rule numbered over 10 million. During French control, various demoralised and depraved torture techniques were carried out — the most widespread method documented was the gégène, a powerful apparatus that administered shocks. One journalist even likened the Algiers prison of El Biar, to “a school of perversion for the French nation.” Algerians also accuse the French of endeavouring to annihilate Algerian identity by waging wars against mosques and other religious faculties. Moreover, discriminatory laws that permitted the colonisers to seize Algerian lands were also passed. Supplementarily, another sensitive issue is the appropriation of thousands of Algerian artifacts, books and maps by the French. Paris has blatantly rejected Algerian demands for their return.

In February 1957, the UNGA opened the first debate on the Algerian issue. Unsurprisingly, the French protested that this was an internal matter. Subsequent UN debates were quelled by the French who kept stating their ‘willingness’ to devote all efforts to an essential settlement. As usual, the UN finally reclused to its customary line where it ‘hoped’ for a fair solution to the problem, in line with the principles of the UN Charter.

The mere fact that even after five decades the Battle of Algiers holds a bearing on contemporary issues, is unambivalent evidence of the folly of an international order bent on keeping such stories germane even today. It shows us how even now, the ubiquitous goal is to attain world domination. Hence, as a corollary, revanchist powers are constantly engaged in violent campaigns to achieve their objectives. Objectives that will no doubt eventually culminate into international hara-kiri.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 21^st, 2020.

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