[Reader-list] "Then and now...an emotional journey" (Kashmiriyat, J&K Permanent Resident's Bill)

[Shahnawaz Khan]

The problem lies in confusing the bill that deals with citizenship rights
with women's rights. Many of you are not comfortable with the fact that J&K
has its own state subject laws, that bars Indian citizens from getting j&k
citizenship rights.

So when you talk of PRC  bill, which in its crude form was implemented in
the state since Maharaja rule, and also during the times you are talking
about, is about state subject laws.

Do foreigners who marry Indian women get Indian citizenship by default. What
about their children. Are they Indian citizens.

All countries have their own set of citizenship rules, dealing with inter
national marriages. Some grant citizenship to either genders, most are
gender sensitive. that is they grant citizenship to foreign spouses of their
men only (Like Sonia Gandhi).

Whether you like it or not, J&K is a like a sovereign state when it comes to
its citizenship laws. these are in fact more severe, as unlike any other
country, nobody can acquire a state subject in J&K by procedures like
prolonged stay, request, etc.


As for the bill,  it has in fact tried to put in safeguards of women;s
rights, like women will continue to have their citizenship rights after
marrying outside the state, they can own immovable properties,  what they
cannot do, if the bill is ever passed,(which it will not be) is to transfer
the property rights to their children who happen to be the J&K citizens. (i
guess India also grants citizenship by paternal descent only, so do most of
the third world)
she can however, dispose off the immovable property and pass off the money
to her children. This is just a rider put in to secure the  state subject
laws.

Again, the practise is not new to J&K. It  was implemented, since Maharaja
Hari Singh introduced  the law  after lobbying by Kashmir Pandits - yes
Kashmiri Pandits- who were growing insecure by the Muslim (afghan, pathan,
etc) immigration and marriages in Kashmir then.

Sorry if I am not clear enough.














On Sat, Mar 27, 2010 at 2:49 PM, Kshmendra Kaul <kshmendra2005 at yahoo.com>wrote:

> from the blogspot "Searching for laughter around and inside"
>
>
> Friday, March 26, 2010
>
> "Then and now...an emotional journey"
>
> It is a little emotional. You can consider this as musings of a Kashmiri
> who has left ‘home’ 25 years back and who measures Kashmiriyat by that
> standard. Let me take you there first.
>
> Remember those days when a lady used to walk on the street, we were taught
> to keep our eyes on the ground while walking past so as to make them feel
> comfortable? I still have a slouch in my back because of that. Irrespective
> of what our background was, when a lady used to board a bus, we used to make
> her sit. We never had 'reserved' seats for women in any buses which we see
> in many other cities because we had a courtesy to stand up for them. I also
> remember when there was a girl's marriage in our locality, we used to go to
> work for that family (to serve or to prepare) and do everything possible to
> receive their guests well. To top this all up; we never used to have food in
> that house to reduce the burden on that family. People from all walks of
> life, all religions and all necessary skills would come, work and go. That
> to me is selflessness which we are known for and that to me is Kashmiriyat
> in simplest terms as I am no scholar or politician.
>
> A small glimpse of where I come from and I want the readers to imagine this
> since many would either have forgotten and some may not have even
> experienced this. It was marriage of my aunts in the family and we had
> Rashid Uncle boiling milk one night earlier. He worked the whole night, made
> my father sleep that night so that my father wakes up fresh in the morning
> and Rashid Uncle served food the next day – hak, I remember with his hands.
> Later, when it was time for my aunts to leave, I remember him crying while
> holding them and saying “I never felt that you were not my own sister and
> now that you are leaving, I will get alone”. Since my childhood I don’t
> remember even a single occasion, be it Shivratri or Eid or any mourning, we
> used to be together – that to me is Kashmiriyat which I am proud of.
>
> Many years and episodes later, when we met in Goa, he forced me and my wife
> (new nosh he had not seen) to have dinner with them and there, for the first
> 30 minutes everyone including his wife, Lauket Mauj (Little Mom) & three
> kids, had huddled up hugging & kissing and remembering how we used to
> exchange food or how I used to play with their youngest daughter and my kid
> sister alike, Syama. Before we left, Rashid Uncle gave Rs 200 as ‘shagun’ to
> my wife saying if she was in Kashmir, he would have received her as a new
> bride in the family. That and much more is Kashmiriyat for me. As I am
> writing this, tears roll from my eyes thinking about those good times of
> Kashmir.
>
> This bill has demolished my ‘dream world’. Till now, it was only migration
> which haunted me and the fact that I have not been home since 1990 but now
> what haunts me more is that as a society to even conceptualize this bill, we
> have degraded. Let us accept that first. Who elected such people with this
> mindset? What culture do we want to give our kids and what would be the next
> similar ‘revolutionary’ bill which gets tabled? Do we have to tell Syama to
> be conscious of this bill while choosing her mate for life? If this bill
> passes, would I tell my sons that they belong to a place where women are
> treated unequally? I rather tell them that they are global citizens.
>
> My prayer to whoever reads this is to please do whatever possible to get
> this bill rejected. We as a community and generation have a lot to answer
> anyway, without this bill as well. At the time of final judgment, each one
> of us will be asked this question – did you do whatever it takes to stop
> injustice? And there everyone has to answer for himself. We all have enough
> black spots to explain and this would be the worst as I consider this bill a
> crime which violates the honor of a woman. Please walk on the path laid by
> our forefathers - of Kashmiriyat, honoring women, saving brotherhood and
> spreading happiness. Let my Syama be free.
>
> Almighty – Please grant us right sense, strengths to counter evil and
> forgive us for our sins due to which we are seeing what we are today.
>
> Posted by RKachroo
>
>
> http://searchlaughter.blogspot.com/2010/03/then-and-nowan-emotional-journey.html
>
>
>
>
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