[Reader-list] Have Kashmir Pandits lost their Kashmiriyat? An observation by an ordinary protester

Thu Aug 12 16:24:57 IST 2010

It is rather bizarre that ‘Kashmiriyat’ - what ever it meant then, that saw its demise with the systematic ethnic cleansing of hapless Kashmiri Hindu Pandits in Kashmir two decades ago…..is being searched for faraway in the streets of Delhi now home to many of  Kashmir Hindu Pandits living in exile in their own country…. ???.....

In absence of any ‘prose’ or ‘poetry’ on the plight of  the ‘lost tribe’ of Kashmir………hounded out,... their pain that was inflicted on them becomes no less…………….

It is not to trivialise the continued loss of lives of gullible Kashmiris in the mindless cycle of violence unleashed to achieve what is unknown. Our heart goes out to those who mourn for their loved ones. 

This is how Journalist Kuldip Nayar, a well known face of the self acclaimed civil society supporting pan Islamism inspired separatism in Kashmiri, laments in DAWN in ‘Kashmir without a soul’: 

DAWN.COM
COLUMNISTS

Kashmir without a soul 

By Kuldip Nayar

Friday, 23 Oct, 2009 

It is unbelievable but Srinagar has changed beyond recognition in the past four years since I was there last. Right from the swanky new airport to the hotel, a distance of about 10 km, there is modern construction. 
However, trees have been cut down mercilessly to accommodate fancy thoroughfares. Walls running along the road have been demolished and the rubble is there for all to see. As I covered the journey to my hotel, I missed the old Kashmiri houses from where women with long trinkets would peer out.
Shops are well stocked and full of customers. Too much money is flowing in and the guess is that it is from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and India in that order. The number of cars on the road is many times more than before. There are traffic jams and one has to keep the snarls in mind when one plans a trip. People move freely. I saw many women on the road without burka or headwear. 
Militancy is by and large over. Some terrorists strike once in a while. They attacked the police at Lal Chowk recently. But I get the feeling that the media magnifies stray incidents. When attacks were a regular feature, there was curfew after sunset. Now the people are on the road even at 11 pm.
I did not see a single policeman on the road from the airport. Bunkers are mostly gone. I found one at Lal Chowk where some policemen stood with their fingers on the trigger. Papa One and Papa Two, the interrogation centres, have been closed. But detentions still take place. The biggest worry is the occasional disappearance of youth. Incidents like the rape of two women at Shopian are rare. But whenever they take place, they infuriate the people to the extent that they come out on the streets. 
The mode of search, whether of a vehicle or a person, has changed. Policemen are more polite and less intrusive. Still a member of a very respected family told me how he and his wife were stopped on the road. A policeman wanted to search the woman but on his insistence a female officer did so. 
The anti-India feeling is there beneath the surface. People are not afraid of saying so. However, pro-Pakistan sentiments have practically disappeared, more because of the Kashmiris’ perception of the mess in which the country is.
I found the Hurriyat leaders sober. One leader told me that they had vibes from Delhi that something positive would emerge. They are looking forward to talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. There is an effort to have a consensus among the different parties, including the Hurriyat, before the prime minister’s arrival. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah wants New Delhi to talk to all political parties but has also emphasised that India should have a dialogue with Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir problem. 
It was an interesting talk which I heard when I was sitting with the Hurriyat leaders. A young Pakistani American told them that what had surprised him after the span of three years since his last visit was that Kashmir was ‘being assimilated by India quickly’. They were embarrassed but did not want to reply to him in my presence.
Born in Kashmir, this young man is a member of a think tank in Washington. He told them that free state elections, watched by a large number of Americans on televisions, had made a great impression. He said they were beginning to believe that the problem was ‘more or less over’.
Former chief minister Farooq Abdullah is more candid than his son, Omar, who is losing his popularity fast. Farooq says there are ‘paid lobbies’ in the state to keep the problem alive. He accuses security forces, politicians and bureaucrats of having ‘a vested interest in the Kashmir crisis’. He has a point when he says that New Delhi has failed to make headway in resolving the problem. Not many solutions are hawked about now. 
There is a suggestion that both Kashmirs should be demilitarised, India withdrawing its forces from the valley and stationing them on its border and Pakistan doing likewise and pulling out its forces from Azad Kashmir. But this depends on India and Pakistan reaching a settlement, supported by the Kashmiris.
The problem of Jammu and Ladakh has become ticklish. They do not want to stay with the valley. Jammu wants to join India and Ladakh wants a union territory status. True, the Hurriyat has never tried to woo Jammu and has seldom cared for the Kashmiri Pandits languishing there. Still both Jammu and Ladakh can be brought around if they were to be given an autonomous status by the valley within the state. 
I have no doubt that the Kashmir problem will be solved sooner or later. But too much has happened in the state in the past. This makes it difficult for the old Kashmir to come back to life. Familiar symbols are dying. Sufism has been replaced by assertive teachings. Kashmiri music is dying out because society has been forced to acquire a religious edge. Old crafts attract fewer artisans because there is a race to earn a quick buck. The wazwan, a string of Kashmiri dishes served at one sitting, is still there but new cooks are hard to get.
The reintegration of Muslims and Pandits appears difficult. An Islamic identity has taken shape, reportedly more in the countryside. Kashmiriyat, a secular ethos, is beyond repair. The animosity among the three regions Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh, may dilute but will remain. It may still remain the state of Jammu and Kashmir. But its soul would be missing.
The writer is a leading journalist based in Delhi.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/columnists/09-kashmir-without-a-soul--szh-01 
Copyright © 2010 - Dawn Media Group

Rgds all
LA
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> Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 02:16:48 -0700
> From: kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com
> To: reader-list at sarai.net; gowharfazili at yahoo.com
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Have Kashmir Pandits lost their Kashmiriyat? An observation by an ordinary protester
> 
> Dear Gowhar
>  
> To such a trite remark (made along divide lines between Kashmiri Pandits and Kashmiri Muslims), there would be in response a pertinent and not so trite question:
>  
> "If Kashmiri Muslims lost their Kashmiriyat 1989 onwards, why should it surprise a Kashmiri Muslim if Kashmiri Pandits have consequently lost their Kashmiriyat ?"
>  
> Some of the slogans (reportedly) raised at the Jantar Mantar rally were not exactly suggesting that there is a nurturing environment for "Kashmiriyat". Were they? 
>  
> There are various meanings and interpretations given to "Kashmiriyat" with no one being certain what exactly it means that would be mutually acceptable and whether it has any ennobling aspects at all.
>  
> The fact though is that amongst Kashmiri Muslims and Kashmiri Muslims, both, there are still significant numbers who subscribe to the, nebulous it may be,  concept of "Kashmiriyat". They might not make propagandist slogans out of it but it is a feeling resident in their hearts. 
>  
> Kshmendra 
> 
> --- On Thu, 8/12/10, gowhar fazli <gowharfazili at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> From: gowhar fazli <gowharfazili at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [Reader-list] Have Kashmir Pandits lost their Kashmiriyat? An observation by an ordinary protester
> To: "reader-list at sarai.net" <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Date: Thursday, August 12, 2010, 11:56 AM
> 
> 
> 
> 
> A remark by an ordinary participant Shadab Bashir at the  Delhi Kashmir protests 
> 
> 
> on his facebook notes: 
> 
> 
> “Have Kashmir Pandits lost their Kashmiriyat?
> 
> It is really sad and surprising to see Kashmiri Pandits  shouting slogans and 
> waving Indian flags to provoke Kashmiris who were at  Jantar Mantar, New Delhi 
> to protest against the ongoing human rights violation  in Kashmir.
> More than 50 people died during the past two months due to  high handedness of 
> the Indian troops. Bullets were triggered out not only  against stone pelters 
> but also on innocent youth, children and women. A nine  years old boy was beaten 
> 
> 
> to death by Indian ‘security’ forces. This may be the  highest kind of human 
> rights violation for the rest of the India but Kashmiris  are witnessing these 
> incidents very often.
> 
> Indian Army is displaying their arrogance against innocent  Kashmiris, but even 
> Kashmiri Pandits have no solidarity towards people of  Kashmir as was witnessed 
> by us at Jantar Mantar. Instead of joining hands with  us for a good cause they 
> tried to disturb our peaceful protest.
> 
> When a person from their rally came waving an India flag and  shouting 
> provocative slogans towards us we refrained ourselves and shouted back  that 
> “You are our brothers”. It appears that they have no sympathy towards  innocent 
> killings of young people in Kashmir, being Kashmiris they should have  joined 
> our hands against this tyranny. 
> 
> Alas they have lost their Kashmiryat!”
> 
> 
>       
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