Kashmir...

Kashmir for most of its history was a peaceful land. Its beauty unparalleled, its majesty unquestioned it truly was 'Heaven on Earth'. In ancient times this was the land where the buddhists , the hindus, the jains lived and thrived . Where the sages meditated and pondered over the questions of morality, of truth , of life itself.

Beginning with the 13th century a new movement 'Islam' had begun to enter the valley and by the beginning of 14th century had established itself firmly in the valley embedding itself in the culture and future of the valley. The meeting of civilizations began with influx of Sufism and led to a peaceful cohabitation for the Sufi and the HBJ(Hindu, Buddhist,Jain) way were essentially the same based on mutual understanding, sometimes worshipping at the same shrines and even the same saints.

But this did not lost , the Sufi way gave way to the orthodoxy of Islam. Some of the rulers like Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin were tolerant of all but most believed in only the truth of Islam none more so than Sikander Butshikan were not. Idols, temples were destroyed. Followers of other faiths killed, forcibly converted , some committing suicide while many decided to leave their land , most prominent among them were the Kashmiri Pandits. Here in began the core of the problems affecting the Kashmir Valley today. Later the Mughals, the Sikh warriors and finally the British annexed the land.

Now lets move on to the year of 1947. India had just achieved its freedom after years of colonial rule. But it had come at a price. The Motherland had been ripped into 2 based on faith - India and Pakistan. The princely states were given a choice between India, Pakistan and Sovereignty. Among others J&K decided to join India. On 26th October the then ruler of Jammu and Kashmir Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accesion in the face of a sort of Guerilla War undeclared yet carried out by Pakistan. The Indian Army got them out of all but a small area (Now called "Azad" Kashmir) with aid of the people of J&K especially the popular leader Sheikh Abdullah. A UN intervention led to ceasefire and called for plebiscite under UN supervision to decide on J&K's fate. But Pakistan refused to let go of AZAD Kashmir and this resulted in the plebiscite never actually to be conducted. There have subsequently been 2 wars between India and Pakistan for kashmir .

The period after this went by in relative calm. The Tourism sector saw growth and economy of the region improved and remained stable. However with militant insurgency beginning in 1987 sponsored by Pakistan it resulted in state of chaos that J&K especially Kashmir finds itself in.

Arundhathi Roy created a furore recently when she commented that Kashmir was never historically a part of India. Well for her my answer is very simple. Historically there never was a concept of India. India was conceptualized only during the reign of the British Empire. Up unil then there was only Kingdoms....some Great...some feeble. Britishers had control over the area and after independence as mentioned above J&K acceded to India ! If she questions Kashmir as part of India then she should each and every part of India because India simply did not exist up until the British rule. But she merely is a publicity hogger. Surely 1 successful book a couple of decades back does not qualify one to call herself a writer and even less so to call herself an intellectual ! A command over the English language and wearing of sarees or fashionable salwars( for women) and a kurta and beard (for men ) with dishevelled hair seems to be the only criterion for Intellect-hood in India where we get them for "Paise a Dozen". Lets just move on to the real issue now.

Now as all have seen on TV and read in newspapers "peaceful" stone pelters..oh I mean..protesters were brutally attacked by the Indian armed forces. The Seperatists like Hurriyat leaders , Geelani have condemned the Indian State and the troops deployed , to get the militants out, in the strongest of voices. We have been shown gruesome pictures of young kids killed during the protest rallies. We have been told of the number of youth to have died at the hands of the indian armed forces, of the atrocities of the troops in kashmir. The media has lapped it all up just like a street dog would when given a piece of roti.

But what I want to know is 'What were the young kids doing participating in the protests where stones where being pelted at the security forces?'. ' Why do we just talk about the number of people who have been killed when the number of army men dieing is just as great?' I ask 'What should the security forces do when an angry mob throwing stones marches forward?' Should they just keel over and let these "protesters" hurt them, kill them and never retaliate??? They question the need for such a large number of troops in the valley.The Indian Army is possibly the only large army in the world that has never attacked another country 1st. It has always fought as a form of defense and never as offense.  I ask them  another question " Can they guarantee the safety of all from the extremism sponsored by  Pakistan?" Let the militancy stop and the government will have no problem in removing the forces.

Geelani and others are sponsored by the other side so they wont stop from instigating violence but dont the people of  Kashmir understand Geelani's hypocrisy when he sends his own son to foreign but urges the youth there to take part in the agitation?

Another question that arises here is 'Why is jammu so much more peaceful when its ruled by the same government ?' The answer is simple its just not that the government has failed the state. If it were so then would not the people of Jammu , comprising of 65% Hindus and 30% Muslims, want to seceed from India just like there Kashmiri protesters??The fact is - This is not a political issue much..its more of a Religious issue though not on as large a scale as the media and the seperatists would have you believe.

The protests are violent and are hyped up to be shown all over India and the world by the media as the "Dissent of the Kashmiri people". If this were true why would the voter turnout in the last legislative elections reach as high as 65% much higher than many of the other states in India ?? The truth is only a section and very vocal and aggressive section of the people actually create all the mayhem. The Sunni muslims constitute about 20% of the population of Kashmir and it is this section which wants "Azadi" and who we see pelting stones, shutting down shops in the media space. The rest of the population comprising of the Shia muslims, the Hindus, The Jains and Buddhists, the Gujjars etc. firmly wish to remain with India. Pakistan which is a Sunni dominated state (Go Figure) sponsor the seperatists ( as evident from the recorded conversation between ISI and them) who are happy to create as much trouble as possible in the valley.

The voice of all the other parties involved in this matter gets drowned because of this and an image of a tyrannic India gets propogated by these so called "Freedom Fighters". And what of the Kashmiri Pandits who were ruthlessly converted, raped, exterminated folllowing the 1987 invasion resulting in the 2nd mass migration of thrs from Kashmir?? Is it not right to show thr plight to the world as well and not just of those killed by the indian army??? But sometimes being a majority in a country does not aid you. I guess it always makes for a better story to show the suffering of the minority and ignore the rest!

I urge the indian media, rest of the people of India to talk to the true Kashmiris and not these seperatist leaders who know of thr weak support that thy are not ready to even to contest the elections. I hope the media takes up the responsibility to show the truth for once and discard "sensationalism" once atleast on the matter of Kashmir to fight the seperatists. I also ask the people of Jammu and Kashmir to give voice to their opinions and ensure that hardliners like Geelani don't rise in the future..a future which can be as prosperous as the people of J&K want it to be and even as pathetic as the other side wants. Its finally upto you !!  And if the right path is tread then  maybe in the near future Kashmir will again become "Heaven on this World"!!!!