[Reader-list] Introducing the Jewish-Kashmiri Dialogue Group

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear all,

I have observed with some amusement, the efforts of those who lambast  
what is 'sickularism' on this list to build the occasional  
overarching alliance based on the idea of a common animosity towards  
all, or most things Islamicate, or even notionally Muslim.

This occasionally leads today's Holy Hindutva Warriors, and some  
other unreconstructed contemporary Indian patriots into a  
wholehearted embrace of Zionism, and all things that they think are  
Israeli. Their logic is as follows. The Israeli state finds itself  
threatened by Palestinian insbordination. Most Palestinians are  
Muslim, some are Christian. Therefore, Jews, (the raison d'etre of  
the Israeli stae) must be Anti-Muslim and at least to some extent,  
Anti-Christian. Therefore, Hindu and Jewish extremists must have  
reasons to form an alliance, on the basis of the principle of 'my  
enemy's enemy is my friend'. Hence all Hindu Indian patriots and all  
Jewish Israeli nationalists are natural allies.

So much so that implicit in many of their utterances (including on  
this list) is the theme of the fond hope of a  Hindu-Jewish bulwark  
against Islam. Occasionally, these fond hopes meet with some  
reciprocity in the untra-zionist fringe, in organizations like Kach  
and Meir Kahane, which are considered extremist, even in Isreal. And  
weblinks between sites like Hinduunity.org and Kach/Kahane websites  
are not unknown. Perhaps the links, fostered on a common animosity to  
the Muslim within, go deeper than just cyberspace. Only time can tell  
exactly how much Hindutva warriore and extremist Zionists have learnt  
from each other.

This is notwithstanding the strident and colourful anti-semitism of  
Hindutva's founding prophets, such as M.S. Golwalkar, who  
wholeheartedly approved of what they thought was the sensible Nazi  
approach to the Jewish question. Golwalkar sincerely believed that  
the Nazi decision to gas Jews stemmed out of a 'noble race pride'  
that he himself hoped to emulate, circumstances permitting,  on  
Indian soil. We are all lucky that the RSS sarsanghchalak madcap  
ideas never achieved fruition.

Much water has flown down all sacred rivers since then, and it is not  
surprising that yesterday's anti-semites, are today's arch zionists.  
Identity based enmity is inscribed deep into the foundations of  
fundamentalisms of all kinds, be they Hindu, Muslim or Jewish. All it  
takes for a switch to occur is a variation in the identity of one's   
adversary. To many different kinds of anti-semites, the target of  
anti-semitism has just shifted a few degrees, from Jew to Muslim.

I find it interesting, and necessary to disturb these neat and  
abstract patterbs abd alliances. I have said before, i am far more  
interested in those who are called traitors than to those who call  
themselves patriots. Because, in the end, I believe that it is the  
traitors on either sides of an endemic conflict who carry with  
themselves to make peace. And that is why I take the ethic of treason  
seriously.

I want to draw all your attentions towards an initiative, which  
though small, I find interesting. And here, I would like to introduce  
you all to the 'Jewish Kashmiri Dialgue Group' which brings Israeli  
and non Israeli Jewish activists together with Kashmiris resisting  
the military occupation of Kashmir by the Government of India.  
Contrary to the popular stereotype, especially as it is current  
within the Hindutva milieu, these are Israeli (and diaspora) Jews who  
make common cause with those in Kashmir who are not necessarily happy  
with Indian hegemony. The report I am forwarding is from the  
respectable and mainstream Israeli newspaper, the Ha'aretz.

I hope that this makes some non-sickular stomachs churn. Indeed,  
there are traitors everywhere, even in Israel. I am well aware that  
it will not make Hindutva apologists alone uncomfortable, it will  
also raise the hackles of the Islamic fundamentalists who desperately  
try and lay a monopolostic and proprietorial claim to the 'Azaadi'  
sentiment in Kashmir. To think that Jews and Muslims are sitting  
together to make common cause on the matter of Kashmir, and that too  
against the Indian occupation, is sure to make both Panun Kashmir,  
and Kashmiri Muslim Fundamentalists fret and fume under the collar.  
It would also displease militant Zionists no end.

  I must say that the consequence of this displeasure -  the common  
chagrin of Hindu as well as Muslim fundamentalists and Militant  
Zionists does not make my wicked sickular soul unhappy in the least.

What else can you expect of someone affected by the malady of  
sickularism.

regards,


Shuddha
___________
Jewish-Kashmiri Dialogue Group
Ha'aretz, June 02, 2009

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1088812.html

Last update - 12:03 28/05/2009  	 	 	
What does a Jewish-Kashmiri dialogue group have to talk about?
By Aatif Ahmad and Alex Stein
Tags: kashmir, israel news

When we tell people about the Jewish-Kashmiri Dialogue-Group (JKDG),  
their reaction is usually one of bewilderment. "There are Jews in  
Kashmir?!?" they say. Or, "Where's Kashmir?" At best they ask, "What  
do Jews and Kashmiris have to talk about?" The answer is: A lot. One  
of us, Alex Stein - an Israeli - traveled to Kashmir during his post- 
army trip to India. While there, he wrote an article about the  
Kashmiri struggle for independence from India on The Guardian's Web  
site, attracting attention from local people who were heartened by  
outsiders supporting their call for autonomy. This prompted Alex to  
forge a connection between Kashmiris and Diaspora Jews.

Kashmir, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent, has been  
a melting pot for millennia. Culturally and ethnically, it is a  
mixture of the ancient Persian civilization of Central Asia and  
Indian civilization. Kashmir was an independent kingdom throughout  
most of its history; from 1845 to 1947, it was ruled by a maharaja  
(king) under British protection. After the British left India in  
1947, a dispute arose between the two successor states of India and  
Pakistan over Kashmir. Following a war between these newly  
independent countries two-thirds of the region coming under Indian  
rule, with the rest going to Pakistan.

The catalyst for establishment of the JKDG came in November 2008,  
after the horrific terror attacks on Mumbai, one of whose targets was  
the Chabad House. After he wrote an article on the subject, Alex was  
contacted by Aatif Ahmad, a London-based Kashmiri lawyer, who wrote:  
"The people in Kashmir are horrified by the targeting of Jews ...  
Nothing could be more against Kashmir's cultural ethos and its  
tradition of coexistence than the heinous actions in Mumbai."  
Although Aatif was expressing his own personal opinions, they are  
shared by many Kashmiris: An ethnic Kashmiri has never committed a  
Mumbai-style attack anywhere in the world.
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Alex was heartened by this unequivocal condemnation of the terror  
attacks. As our correspondence continued, we both decided that it was  
important to formally establish a group that would promote dialogue  
between Jews and Kashmiris around the world. It met for the first  
time in February in London, at the Moishe House, a Jewish community  
center dedicated to innovative educational programming. At that  
meeting we explained our traditions to each other and discussed  
Jewish and Kashmiri history, as well as the current situation in the  
Middle East and Kashmir. The encounter was challenging and valuable,  
and both sides learned a great deal.

Our group aims to meet twice a year in London, and to help raise  
awareness about the Kashmiri issue in the Jewish world. Further down  
the line, we also hope to provide services to Jews and Israelis  
visiting Kashmir, such as home hospitality and guided tours.

As Aatif writes, Jews are and always have been welcome in Kashmir.  
Israelis have for a number of years constituted the largest number of  
foreign tourists there. Unlike many Muslim countries where Jews face  
hostility, they have been met with only hospitality and tolerance in  
Kashmir. In fact, in 1991, when Jews were taken hostages by Islamist  
militants in Kashmir, it was a local group - the Jammu Kashmir  
Liberation Front (or JKLF, which supports a secular independent  
Kashmir) - that rescued them.

Kashmir's fabled natural beauty and its relative proximity offer  
Israelis tremendous opportunities for tourism. Since the incident in  
1991, Jewish tourists have visited the region for years and have not  
faced any problems there. Our group aims to strengthen this link, to  
encourage more Jews to visit and perhaps, one day, to stimulate  
Kashmiri travel to Israel as well. Kashmir's handicrafts and other  
exports have yet to be fully marketed in Israel.

There is another dimension to Jewish-Kashmiri cooperation, stemming  
from the similarities in the cultures and various traditions, which  
claim that one of the lost Tribes of Israel ended up in Kashmir.  
While scholars have yet to unearth solid evidence to substantiate  
this claim, there is nothing fantastic about the possibility of  
ancient connections between the two civilizations. Kashmir was, after  
all, located on the Silk Road, and Jewish communities flourished  
along that route and in Central Asia as late as the 20th century.  
Kashmir is also famous for its unique culture of tolerance and for  
the peaceful coexistence between its various communities, known as  
Kashmiriyat ("Kashmiriness"), which underlies its nationhood.

The national poet of Kashmir, Mahjoor, once wrote: "Muslims are milk,  
Hindus are sugar." While the rest of the Indian subcontinent was  
consumed by violence between Hindus and Muslims after 1947, Kashmir  
was one of the few places where the Hindu minority lived safely. The  
recent upsurge in religious fundamentalism has threatened the  
cultural values of Kashmiriyat, but they have not destroyed it, and  
these values are witnessing a revival. It is these values that enable  
Jews to feel at home in Kashmir.

Naturally, the rights of the Palestinian people and their struggle  
for self-determination are dear to the hearts of the Kashmiri people.  
However, true to their ethos and principles, Kashmiris believe that  
tolerance and coexistence, values embodied in Kashmiriyat, are the  
best means for fighting injustice and achieving national  
independence. The JKDG aims to promote such goals.

Aatif Ahmad is a Kashmiri lawyer living in London. Alex Stein lives  
in Tel Aviv and currently works in fundraising. He blogs at http:// 
falsedichotomies.com. For more information on the Jewish-Kashmiri  
Dialogue Group, e-mail: alex.stein at talk21.com




Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net