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

Thu Aug 12 17:21:42 IST 2010

Dear Friends
agreed, that ' kashmiryat ' or its other expressions  died in 1990 and also
in 2010. Shall it continue to bleed if its has something saner embedded in
it ? if yes, then it perhaps suits all of us to live in hate.

if 'no' then we must discover a new word for a new life. Let it be KASHROUT
( difficult to write in english ) another word, already existing.

But then, who cares about words, which is akin  to boarders, and other such
things which divide.

Are we here on earth for thousands of years.  And we know how history
celebrates those voices which speak about oppression, injustice and love.
So, it is perhaps high time for each one of you ( on both sides ) to decide
what is that which defines life....

with love
is

On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 4:24 PM, Lalit Ambardar
<lalitambardar at hotmail.com>wrote:

>
>
> 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
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > 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!”
> >
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________
> > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> > Critiques & Collaborations
> > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> subscribe in the subject header.
> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
> >
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________
> > reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> > Critiques & Collaborations
> > To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> subscribe in the subject header.
> > To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> > List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>
>
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with
> subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>
>

-- 

http://indersalim.livejournal.com