Kashmiri communalism in the aftermath of Amarnath

Kashmiri communalism in the aftermath of Amarnath
By
Saurav Basu

The surge of communal unrest in Jammu and Kashmir, over a minor issue of transfer of 40 acres of degraded forest land to the Amarnath shrine board in order to provide meager facilities to lakhs of Hindu pilgrims has been rudely rejected by a large section of the local Muslim population along with those elements who choose to represent them, like the PDP, the Hurriyat and even the NC. Mindless violence on the streets has already claimed a few lives, injured scores of innocent pilgrims, driven off thousands of tourists and cost large scale damage to public property. In Hindu dominant Jammu, counter protests are gathering momentum. The Congress government, in a damage control exercise switched the governor who is officially the chairman of the Amarnath Shrine board so as to declare no claims would be made for the land on its behalf which effectively revokes the order. On the 1st of July, it finally revoked the order itself. Still protests continue unabated and showcase the acute anti-India sentiment prevailing in the valley which had been conscientiously obscured by sections of the media and the government for decades.

Who is to blame for the communalization of one of the most sacred Hindu pilgrimages, certainly at par with the Islamic Haj for which successive Indian governments bend over backwards to provide rebates in order to consolidate the Muslim vote bank. Till date, we have no case of any militant Hindu protest against sponsoring exclusively international Muslim pilgrimages out of public money. But when it comes to Hindus, even a minor concession transforms into a conflagration because of the heat of Muslim fundamentalists. Elements of the so called “secular” media were swift in pretending that sectarian politicians were to blame. While most blamed the communal approach of the PDP there were exceptions like the communist daily ‘the Hindu’ evening out the guilt by having the effrontery of claiming that the Amarnath Yatra has been hijacked by Hindu chauvinists for communal ends, for no criticism is countenanced of the provocative behavior of pilgrims linked to Hinduvta groups. [1] The problem with such mischievously perverted argumentation is that you have no proof to augment your views since the Muslim group themselves have raised no objection on the yatra as such principally out of economic factors, although invention of such imaginary Islamic persecution may provoke the targeted audience sooner or later.

The PDP is a known anti-national organization. Mufti Mohammad, had in fact invoked the idea of applying balm to dreaded militants with scores of army kills in order to soothe the Kashmiri psyche. He had also demanded autonomy for Kashmir, its complete demilitarization coupled with the repeal of Arms forces act. Over 15 years ago, some claim he had personally orchestrated the kidnapping of his daughter Rubaiya and the V P Singh led Indian government had shamelessly caved into the demand of JKLF to release terrorists in exchange. Their role in the current controversy is on similar lines, as they claim the sentiment of the common man has to be respected.

But why is the Kashmiri muslim so paranoid about the government decision. If they are to be believed, the government is attempting to alter the demography of Kashmiri through this decision. This is inexplicable, since the easiest route for such an endeavour would be revoking the unconstitutional article 370. To imagine, that construction of temporary shelters for a period of 2 months would lead to demographic alteration is the height of paranoia. Moreover, it has been Muslims who have launched a demographic siege on the nation. Muslim population has officially increased 3 times since independence in India, while Hindu population in Bangladesh and Pakistan has been reduced 5-10 fold due to systematic genocide and terror. Yet, birth control measures are being consistently shunned by Muslims although the Prophet himself encouraged the only known contraceptive in his time, that of coitus interruptus. [2] Suhrawardy, the man who divided Bengal, had even assured the English governor Herbert that Muslims would soon dominate the population of Western Bengal because of their inexhaustible reproducing capabilities.

Some of our other secular critics and Hindu appeasers contend that environmental issues should dictate decisions, instead of religious ones. Such specious reasoning holds no water simply because those in the vanguard of violent protests have no objections on that count. For when three years ago, CM Mufti Mohammad Sayeed revived the Mughal road at a cost of massive destruction of environment in the Peer Panjal ranges, with destruction of over 10,000 trees, affecting 25 wildlife sanctuaries and endangered species including the Markhor goat, no one uttered a word of objection. Similarly, no hue and cry was raised when the Mufti government similarly transferred 5000 kanals of forest land to Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University at Rajouri. [3] Free land was also transferred to Islamic University at Awantipora in South Kashmir. Under the very noses of the government, a land mafia flourishes in cohorts with the corrupt district administration. Yet in an obviously anti Hindu move, the project for Sharda Peeth University was scuttled. [Sharda Peeth was set up by the 8th century Hindu sage, Shankara whose ruins lie somewhere in the region of POK.] Moreover, the entire area of 40 hectares constituted degraded forest land only. In addition, the shrine board has assured the government it would set up no permanent structures at the site and all environmental safeguards would be in place. It is hard not to sympathize with the view that the Muslim government in Kashmir, with virtually no Hindu representation (despite constituting more than 35% of the demographic population in J&K) has embarked on a cultural invasion which threatens to outlaw every instance of Hindu identity from the valley, with blessings from successive pseudosecular central governments.

There is another group of the politically correct crowd which sheds tears at the alienation of the Kashmiri Muslim because of the current imbroglio. They have been living in their own dream world of secular fancies which includes our English media who continue to propagate the myth of Hindu Muslim brotherhood in Kashmir when all empirical evidence is to the contrary. In order, to construct a secular identity, separatist agitations in Kashmir have been consistently facing media blackouts.
The fact of the matter is Hindu Muslim unrest in Kashmir spans a period of an entire millennium ever since the Turks captured power in the valley. A sustained period of Hindu persecution was met with respite under a couple of benevolent and enlightened Muslim rulers in the 15th century. Yet, in the 20th century, the Hindus had captured both power and administration and the Muslim population under Sheikh Abdullah was howling slogans of Islam in danger. [4] Some historians question that under such trying circumstances how come Kashmir remained free of communal violence? The answer lies in the fact that administration in Kashmir was completely in the hands of the Hindu government which was a big deterrent to Muslim fundamentalists. Similarly, Sindh was spared large scale violence because of the composite character of security and administrative agencies in place whose members were not given any option to serve either in India and Pakistan, thereby preventing the communalization of the services unlike what happened in Punjab. [5]

Prevalence of this anti Hindu sentiment could be perceived even by non political icons like the little master, Sunil Gavaskar. He recalls that in the summer of 1983, while playing the first one day international in Srinagar just after winning the world cup, the team was booed in the ground by sections of the crowd. “This was unbelievable. Here we were in India and being booted even before a ball had been bowled…..Moreover, there were many in the crowd shouting pro-Pakistan slogans which confounded us, because we were playing the West Indies and not Pakistan” [6].

What a cricketer could conceptualize, our political leaders could not. The situation kept on progressively deteriorating and terrorism was the next logical situation Kashmiri pundits had to face. Till date, more than 200 pandits have lost their lives due to Islamic terror, and 10,000 others been rendered refugees in their own nation. The casualty figures would have exponentially multiplied had the then governor, Jagmohan, a brilliant administrator in his own right, not shown the presence of mind to facilitate Kashmiri migration away from the valley. It is pathetic to find petty political commentators like Ram Puniyani or the self conferred ‘secular ‘fundamentalist in Mani Shankar Aiyar blaming Jagmohan for the exodus. In their opinion, the kashmiri pundits should have brazenly brushed aside bullets to prove their Kashmiriyat. However, in a refreshing manner of honesty, Omar Abdullah, the NC leader and grandson of Sheikh Abdullah has publicly confessed that Kashmiri Muslims are to blame for the Pandit exodus as he sadly recalls that “None of us was willing to stand up and be counted when it mattered. None of us grabbed the mikes in the mosques and said 'this is wrong and the Kashmiri Pandits had every right to continue living in the valley'," he said. "Our educated, well-to-do relatives and neighbours were spewing venom 24-hours a day and we were mute spectators either mute in agreement or mute in abject fear but mute nonetheless. “ [7]

Even more recently, in a telling commentary of the state of affairs and the mindset prevailing in the valley, the hardline separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani demanded the right to self determination in the valley amid pro-Pakistan and pro-freedom slogans. Quite conspicuously, the main attraction of the rally was flags of the terror outfits Lashkar-e-Toiyaba and Hizbul Mujahideen which were seen flying from different directions. [8] Perhaps, it was for this reason that the fanatical lawyer A G Noorani demanded the release of Afzal Guru, the mastermind of the attack of Parliament which resulted in killing of 4 security personnel only in order to appease the feelings of Kashmiri Muslims [9]

Quite unsuspectingly for the government, the Amarnath controversy has brought to national focus the nature of Kashmiri separatism which is evidently anti-India, if not Anti-Hindu. A sustained propaganda by pro Pakistani forces and media has accentuated the gravity of the situation. Afterall, in Kashmir, it is easier to access PTV than Doordarshan, and Pakistan Radio than AIR because of the callousness of those in charge. These events have also punctured the socio-historical myth that economic dependence keeps communal polarization in check since Kashmiri separatists are taking the damning of tourism and trade in their stride, perhaps believing that the material loss will be more than compensated by the spiritual gain. To sum it up, we believe it is high time the Indian government and the secular crowd wakes up from its slumber and stops fantasizing on both the magnitude and nature of the Islamic insurgence in the valley and the reasons for its popular support being anything other than religious.

REFERENCES
1. Sense Prevails in Kashmir, The Hindu, June 30, 2008
2. The Demographic Seige, Koenraad Elst, Voice of India, 1998
3. What Mughal Road didn’t that shrine land transfer plan did, Kavita Suri, The Statesman, June 30, 08 http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?clid=2&id=237467&usrsess=1
4. See Divided Kashmir, Mushtaqur Rahman , Lynne Rienner Pub, 1995; Although heavily biased in favour of Muslim separatism and partially untrue, it sheds good light on the prevailing separatist anti Hindu sentiment in the valley under Hindu rule
5. Understanding Partition, Yuvraj Krishan, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 2002, Page 21
6. Runs ‘n Ruins, Sunil Gavaskar, Rupa, 1984, Page 62-63
7. Omar Abdullah blames Muslims for pandit exodus, Rediff.com, May 15, 2008 http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/may/15jk1.htm
8. The Statesman, Geelani foray into the valley, 23-4-2007,

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.arcview.php?date=2007-04-23&usrsess=1&clid=1&id=181747
9. The Hindustan Times, 24-10-2006, Popular feeling in Kashmir is valid ground to grant Afzal pardon

Source:http://saurav-basu.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/07/kashmiri-communalism-in-the-aftermath-of-amarnath.htm