Understanding Kashmir Roundtable: A Viewpoint From Jammu

It is very right to say that the concept of autonomy should go beyond Kashmir and not restrict to giving more powers to the Kashmiri politicians to play with the lives of people. Enough has been done by the abdullahs and Muftis to destroy the state of Jammu and Kashmir while warming their own chiefministerial seats, now its high time that the Union govt gets out of this appeasement policy.

The people of Jammu, both Hindus and Muslims have suffered and they should be given their due share , not to forget Ladakhis. The Kashmiris cant look beyond the Jawahar tunnel and they consider even the Muslims of Jammu, Poonch and Rajouris as inferior.

#7 by nasah

Nasah Sahib,

An excellent analysis.

#8 by ranjit

Ranjit,

I feel nothing artificial should be done to foster a sense of unity amongst Hindus and Muslims. Anything artificial will be seen as imposed and resisted fiercely, which is a natural human instinct and could lead to further problems. Just as Hindus and Muslims have become more tolerant of each other over the years without the government`s efforts (or rather despite its efforts), similarly, if enough economic opportunities are made available to all Indians without discrimination based on religious grounds, the economic links in themselves would make Hindus and Muslims too inextricably linked to resist each other. In that sense, despite pockets of discontent, Mumbai stands out as a prime example for other towns and cities to emulate.

Re:nasah#7

Very interesting!! Most of the time we are so engrossed in Indo-Pak squabbling on this forum that I rarely see hindus and muslims of India having a discussion with each other.

Your statement - ``Hindus are a tolerant community -- reciprocate friendship with friendship easily -- make good friends -- and actively seek Muslim company.... `` - this is a very intriguing observation. A couple of generations back, hindus and muslims would not share a meal together or fraternize with each other. The situation has certainly changed dramatically from that strict segregated past. Hindus have developed a lot more open mindset, perhaps due to their majority status and control of economic resources. While this openness has certainly cut across caste and language lines, I wonder if it has penetrated the religious divide.

Nevertheless, there is still ``informal`` segregation for e.g. muslims not being able to buy property in some areas etc. And I am sure, there is subtle discrimination for job opportunities, although it is less visible due to the booming economy.

What do you think needs to be done at a social level or government level to take hindu-muslim relations to the next level? Should we leave things the way they are and let it evolve along natural lines or do you think any steps should be taken to bring the people closer? And where do you think lies the boundaries of this relationship? For e.g. a generation back, inter-caste marriage or marriage across regions were very unusual. Today, no one even bats an eyelid at such events (except in rural bihar :-)). However, inter-religion marriage is still very are. Can we ever reach a stage when hindus and muslims can actually intermarry without having riots? That would be the ultimate rebuttal to Jinnah. :-)

Ranjit, good question -- in terms of inter community ratio of poverty and deprivations versus prosperity IMs are not very different from Hindus -- in terms of education that is reading writing and math -- Hindus are ahead because education and calculation is part of their religion -- she is one of their goddesses!

besides Hindi is easy to learn and easy to write -- it imparts literacy on Hindus hundred times more easily than the elitist Urdu for the Muslims -- for the Muslims -- of course now most of the Muslims can read and write in Hindi which has helped their literacy percentage to rise a lot...

and of course calculation and arithmetic is an inborn trait even in rural areas among the Hindus -- is an acquired taste for the Muslims....

when nationalism is not in play -- then everybody complains about everything in India -- whether Hindus or Muslims, Christians or Sikhs --

dissatisfaction with the current status of priorities is endemic among all communities -- besides the `natural` minority- born feelings of insecurity and suspicion of presumed persecution and a victimization-complex -- as far as real persecution of Muslims by Hindus or by the government is concerned -- no, I find little evidence of that in India.

Hindus are a tolerant community -- reciprocate friendship with friendship easily -- make good friends -- and actively seek Muslim company....

Hindus are religious and very ritualistic -- being ritualistic they have succeeded in compartmentalizing their religion and pursuit of science and technical knowledge apart -- almost like keeping science and math in the left lobe and delegating religion and esoterics to the right lobe --

each functioning independently most of the times...

Muslims are too emotionally drenched in religion with the capital R that seems to occupy both the rational left and emotional right lobes of their brain -- leaving little space for commonsense and uncommon science and math....for them.

at least this is how I see the two communities -- barring of course the hopelessly deranged fanatics on both sides......

hope this answers part of your question....

Re:nasah#5

Very well said!! Pakistanis and their Kashmiri agents will always have ill-will towards India. Most Indians realize that and do not blame Indian muslims any more. Note the lack of any riots or violence against IMs after 7/11.

Having said that, what is your take on the state of IMs? Are IMs happy in India? Are they getting integrated in the mainstream as compared to their counterparts in European countries? Is there still residual anger from Gujarat? If so, how intense is it and how widespread is it?

If the Kashmiri Lashkariyas dream that thru bombings of Indian railways, mandirs, Delhi markets and killing Indian scientists they will compel India to give up Kashmir they are are definitely smoking Afghani Hasheesh --

the end result of these peurile pursuits will only hurt the Muslims in Kashmir and Muslims of India -- not the Hindus --

if such stupid dastardly mindless acts of killing innocent continue -- there will be a massive backlash from both right and left -- that will sweep away most of the Muslim interests and `privileges` (to remain backward) in Kashmir and in India into the dustbin of retaliatory extremism.

Article 370 could evaporate in thin air -- and Jammu and Kashmir incorporated into the Indian union as one of the regular provinces of the Indian Union (which I oppose) -- Muslim personal law will be torn into pieces and thrown in the trash can (which I wholeheartedly support) --

Muslims will live under one constitution, one court, one law like everybody else.

What the Lashkariyas criminals are doing is not serving the interests of the Kshmiris Muslims -- they are cutting the very limb on which they are walking.....

What these people don`t understand -- that there is not a chance even in a million to one -- that a country where 150 million Muslims eat, drink, work, and earn their living -- are born daily and die daily for thousand years -- will let a small Muslim majority enclave offered on a platter to a Muslim Pakistan -- because the `paak` Muslim Kashmiris don`t like to associate with `napaak` Hindoos`......

...poor things can`t live with even themselves either without destroying each other`s masjids.

well if the 150 million Muslims can live with the Hindus so WILL the 5 million...like it or not.....train bombings or no train bombings....

From the BBC web-site

---

Radhakrishnan, 74, is a Kashmir Hindu migrant who has been living in a refugee camp in Jammu for the past 13 years. Originally from the border district of Kupwara, in the Kashmir Valley, he fled along with hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri Hindus after a sharp increase in separatist violence in 1989. He lives with his wife, two sons and their wives in a tiny one-room house on the outskirts of Jammu.

I left the Kashmir Valley, and my home, 13 years ago.

My family used to live in Kupwara, not very far from the Line of Control. Despite being so close to Pakistan, we never had any problems.

I was 18 years old in 1947, when all the trouble over our state erupted. But we lived with our Muslim neighbours with little to fear.

I was born in Kashmir - it`s my home. Why should I be asked to go away? Why can`t I die there?

But in 1989 all that changed.

As the violence broke out in the valley, we became increasingly insecure. People who we had lived with for years suddenly turned their backs on us.

Our neighbours told us not to worry - not to think of leaving. But they also said they would be unable to intervene if outsiders came to attack us.

Young men, who I had seen grow up from the time they were little boys, began threatening us. They wanted to declare an Islamic state, they said. It was quite clear that there would be no place for us.

Life in the camp

When the violence began spreading, and some people we knew became targets, we decided to leave. That`s how I came to stay here in Jammu.

We live in one-room houses provided by the government. We left everything behind. Our home, our possessions, everything. Soon after we left we heard our house had been burnt down by militants.

Life here in this camp is unbearable. The government has provided us with one room homes. I used to live in a two-storey house. We had rich farmland and a little shop as well.

But now my wife and I share a room our sons and their wives. We have no room to cook, no place to change. We cannot entertain guests. It`s uncivilised.

When my wife or my daughters-in-law want to change clothes they go outside and use a dark corner in the alley - this is how we have lived for the past 13 years.

Elections have been declared and we are being asked to cast our vote. In all these past years, in previous elections, I haven`t seen a single candidate.

Nobody has come here to ask us to cast our vote for them. That`s how much they care for us.

The point is that there is no political leader we can trust and who has the vision to take us out of this misery.

What we need is a visionary - a saint to lead us out of this darkness. Someone who is pure inside so that his deeds are clean.

We are constantly being told by Kashmiri politicians that we should return to our homes, that it is safe to do so.

These same leaders travel around in bulletproof cars with armed bodyguards because they are afraid they`ll get killed by militants.

The day they think it is safe to move around without all that protection is the day I`ll consider moving back. Not before.

`Kashmir is my home`

I`ve heard that some people are thinking of carving up our homeland - and creating a small place for us Hindus.

Maybe that`s best - we live separately from the Kashmiri Muslims since we have nothing in common anymore.

But it also makes me sad to think that this is what it`s come to. I was born in Kashmir - it`s my home. Why should I be asked to go away? Why can`t I die there?

Re: # 1

BJK,

Art 370 was supposed to be short-lived. It can be repealed with a simple presendential notification but it needs recommendation of J&K Assembly. So the interlocking was made this article very long-lived.

We need repeal of several articles in Indian Constitution that resrticts settlement of people of other states in those states eg. Kashmir, HP, Sikkim etc.,

The most annoying ascpect of Kashmir is that people who still carry their ancestarl Hindu Pandit and non-Pandit Hindu surnames speak for Pakistan and secession from their ancestarl motherland i.e India. I am yet to undestand whether it`s Islam or Pakistan that is responsible for this in Kashmir.

It is time to do away with Article 370. Every Indian should be allowed to live in every part of India. Article 370 has done nothing positive to promote harmony or integration – rather it has been a means of segregation. Why should the Kashmiris be allowed to go to other parts of India and not vice versa?! The agents of violence and their troublemakers will continue with their nasty deeds anyway, so why bother! The Kashmiri politicians who claim to represent the population are powerless and have never delivered.