[Reader-list] kashmiri Encounter

[syed bismillah]

In Delhi there are many Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Pandits. Each one has a different reason for living in Delhi. But all of them are linked in various ways to Kashmir even though these links get weaker and weaker with time once they settle in Delhi. So far as the Kashmiri Pandits are concerned they have many committees, places and programmes where they can meet and find ways of bonding and preserving their community. But if we talk of Kashmiri Muslim and Kashmiri Pandits there are some links with each other and some meeting ground to discuss various matters relating to Kashmir. The strange thing is that the Kashmiri Muslims have no common organization, meeting place or even a welfare society. It not that the Kashmiri Muslim does not feel the need for some common organization.

If you meet them, talk to the Kashmiri Muslim you will soon realize that they are longing for some place where they can meet together in an organized way. They feel the need to share their thoughts, feelings and even to support each other in times of need. So often a Kashmiri may fall short of money, may need medical help or visit a relative in the jail but cannot find accommodation. There is no organization he can turn to there is no telephone number which he can dial to get help and each one faces their problems and difficulties alone

There was this militant I interviewed who said when he was released from jail he had no where to go. He stepped out of Tihar jail and then was lost. In jail one of the inmates had given him the number of a cousin. This militant or should I say former militant went to the nearest police station at Hari Nagar and phoned. The cousin arrived at night. Immediately the police arrested the cousin as well on the ground that he was the first contact after coming out of jail. It took a long drawn and night long argument before they could get out of the police station and then they found a ricksaw.It was already late and the police was checking. The cousin who had lived in Delhi for some time took him to Nizzamuddin Dargah and bought a topi. He told the police that he had gone with the Tabligi Jamaat to Bhopal and he was going home to Kashmir.

This was just one instance of the need for an organization for Kashmiri Muslims to help them in the especial problems they face on a daily basis when in Delhi.

Students in Jawaharlal Nehru University also expressed the need to form some loose organization and some even tried to contact the Kashmiri students. However, the main reason for this lack of organization is the fear of the intelligence agencies. 

These are the reasons why the Kashmiri community gets divided against itself and there is no way to have nature ways of communicating between the Kashmiri Muslims. They are estranged from each other even when they live in the same colony.. 




		
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