[Reader-list] Re: [peace initiative] Kashmir Quake, Delhi Bombings and Our Response

[Yousuf]

Its true, very few people seem to be serious about
Kashmir earthquake relief, compared to what happened
around Tsunami. UN and other agencies have declared
that the damage by Paksitan/Kashmir earthquake is much
worse than Tsunami. At the time of Tsunami, almost
every institution, including schools, colleges and
offices had gathered money to send, but this time is
very different. Is it really the sectarian bias.


--- Sherwani Mustafa <sherwanimk at yahoo.com> wrote:

> 
>   I was shocked by the revelations made in the
> article
> of Mr. Yogi Sikand as how some people tend to view
> even the victims of  such a devastating natural
> tragedy in terms of 'Muslims' and 'Hindus'.The
> religions are a reality, and so is the distinct
> affection of their respective adherents. However, we
> must not forget that 'humanitarianism' is the
> integral
> core of every religion, and those who ignore it
> cannot
> be described in terms of the religious convictions.
> It
> must be specially so in a country like ours which
> has
> been, and still is the cradle for different
> religions
> and thousands of cultures, customs and traditions -
> all integrating into a single abstract notion, named
> as India.
>       In the midst of all these bitter experiences
> which I have also encountered, it is my conviction
> that still the moral majority of the country is a
> staunch believer in human values, cutting across all
> the religious barriers.The most appropriate lesson
> for
> the Indian masses may be derived from the following
> couplet of Dr. Iqbal.
> 
>   "Shakti bhey shanti bhey bhakton key geet mein
> hai, 
> 
> 
>    Bharat key vasiyon key mukti hey preeti mein
> hai."
> 
>  Dr. M.K. Sherwani
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --- yogi sikand <ysikand at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > Kashmir Quake, Delhi Bombings and Our Response
> > 
> > Yoginder Sikand
> > 
> > 
> > If Indian newspapers are to be believed, all is
> well
> > in Tangdhar, Uri and in other parts of
> > Indian-administered Kashmir devastated by the
> recent
> > quake that took a toll of some 1500 lives and
> > rendered
> > around 100,000 people homeless. Relief has been
> > provided, so the government claims and so the
> press
> > reports. Such, indeed, is the shocking
> indifference
> > of
> > ‘mainstream’ India to the continued plight of tens
> > of
> > thousands of people living in this remote corner
> of
> > the country straddling the Line of Control that
> > separates India and Pakistan that they no longer
> > merit
> > even passing mention in the press. Hussain, a
> > teacher
> > I met in Tangdhar on my visit there last week,
> > remarked how Indian NGOs and corporate houses had
> > responded generously in the wake of the quake in
> > Kutch
> > and the Tsunami in south India, and contrasted
> this
> > with their reaction to the quake in Kashmir. He
> had
> > a
> > point when he noted that this indifference
> probably
> > owed to the fact the victims of the quake in
> Kashmir
> > were almost all Muslims, and Kashmiri Muslims at
> > that.
> > 
> > 
> > A neighbour in Bangalore had virtually slammed the
> > door on my face when I approached him for clothes
> > that
> > we were collecting for the victims of the Kashmir
> > quake. ‘They are all Muslims, so it is not our
> > problem’, he told me, shamelessly. I heard similar
> > explanations from several other people I had
> > approached, who all uniformly declined my appeal.
> > The
> > fact that most of the few people in my locality
> who
> > sent me material for the victims happened to be
> > Muslims saddened me, because it provided more
> > evidence
> > that the quake was seen by many in essentially
> > communal terms. Yet, this was hardly surprising.
> For
> > many people in my largely middle-class and ‘upper’
> > caste Hindu locality in Bangalore, the Kashmir
> quake
> > was not a human tragedy but, rather, simply a
> Muslim
> > affair. One of my neighbours was so brutally frank
> > as
> > to tell me that the quake victims deserved their
> > fate
> > for allegedly supporting terrorism and advocating
> > secession from India. 
> > 
> > Such deeply-rooted prejudices also probably
> account,
> > in no small measure, for the fact that few Indian
> > NGOs
> > have responded to the quake at all. While several
> > Muslim organizations, from Kashmir as well as from
> > other parts of India, in addition to some
> Christian
> > groups and larger international NGOs, are active
> in
> > providing relief in the quake-affected parts of
> > Kashmir, one gets the distinct impression that the
> > victims of the quake are not a pressing priority
> for
> > most Indian NGOs. This explains their virtual
> > absence
> > in the ongoing relief efforts in the region. 
> > 
> > Tarring all Muslims with the same brush, branding
> > all
> > Muslims in Kashmir as ‘terrorist sympathizers’,
> > little
> > do my bigoted neighbours and others like them know
> > that the militant movement has hardly any support
> > among the people living in the regions most badly
> > affected by the quake, Uri and Tangdhar. This is,
> of
> > course, not to argue that the urgency of providing
> > them humanitarian assistance would be any less if
> > their political proclivities were different. The
> > vast
> > majority of the inhabitants of these remote parts
> of
> > Jammu and Kashmir are Punjabi/Pahari-speaking
> > Muslims,
> > ethnically and culturally quite distinct from the
> > Muslims of the Kashmir Valley. As numerous army
> > personnel I met in Tangdhar themselves stressed,
> > militancy has failed to take root in the region
> > despite the fact that it straddles the Line of
> > Control, on the other side of which live people of
> > the
> > same ethnic communities. In fact, I was told, many
> > locals have actively assisted the Army in
> combating
> > infiltration from across the border, and several
> > families also have members working in the Army.
> That
> > the vast majority of the locals have stayed away
> > from
> > involvement in the ongoing militancy in Kashmir
> owes
> > to various factors, including awareness, due to
> > living
> > along the Line of Control, that the economic
> > conditions on the Indian side of the Line are
> > considerably better than across; the role of the
> > Army
> > in sustaining the local economy; the fact that the
> > locals have Backward Class status, which has
> enabled
> > a
> > number of them to secure government jobs; and the
> > fact
> > that the non-Kashmiri communities of the state,
> > non-Muslims as well as Muslims, tend to see the
> > militant movement as a means to sustain and
> promote
> > Kashmiri domination. Arguing that the victims of
> the
> > quake do not deserve relief because they are
> > allegedly
> > supporters of ‘terrorists’ is not just inhuman. It
> > is
> > also factually incorrect and only reveals the
> > ignorance of those who make this claim.
> > 
> > In contrast to the dismal response of the NGO
> > sector,
> > the Army has played an active role in providing
> > relief
> > to hundreds of families, particularly in the
> > immediate
> > aftermath of the quake, as many locals I met
> 
=== message truncated ===



	
		
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