Of Genocide, Hindutva and Kashmir
Apparently desperate not to be left behind in the increasing cacophony of voices demanding “azaadi” for Kashmir, DNA published this piece today as its contribution to the discussion.
This one though is “interesting” for more reasons than one. For one, it is penned by an “authentic” Kashmiri Pandit (although a Pandit who left Kashmir more than 50 years ago, soon after Partition). For another, it talks about – amongst other things – “…Sheikh Abdullah, a man whose commitment to India was unquestionable…”, “The most unimaginable genocide…committed on the people” and  “Entire generations of its sons were mowed down by an army…”
…and it has words such as “genocide”, “Hindutva” alongside Kashmir (I was waiting for a mention of Godhra)
But the best bit is this: “…you may be surprised at how harmoniously Kashmir’s Hindus and Muslims can live”
Note that Ms Sangghvi does not say when was the last time she visited the Valley and what was the reception she faced at the time.
I am sure what she went through during her childhood must have left deep psyochological scars but I find it odd that she seethes with rage at the audacity of the presumption that Kashmir belongs to all Indians – not just “Kashmiris” living in (or outside) Kashmir.
Curiously, the following words are completely missing from the article: “Islam”, “Jihad”, “Azaadi”, “Hurriyat” etc…but perhaps there absence is compensated by a mention of the “genocide” and of course the “H-word” (Hindutva)
I would respectfully request Ms Sangghvi to please read Cry of the ValleyÂ
and once she has done that, to please share her thoughts with us on this blog…
I have sent her an email…but will not hold my breath waiting for a response.
Some excerpts:
…Growing up dislocated in Mumbai, as a child, it never failed to surprise me when people who often hadn’t so far stepped out of their suburb, would say:â€Kashmir is ours! We will never give it up! Let them try and take Kashmir from us!â€
…And I would find myself seething with rage at the audacity of their presumption. “But Kashmir was never yours,†I’d say in my mind. And sometimes, when more provoked: “You don’t deserve Kashmir!†And then I’d go home to my mother, whose ever present, unshed tears for her homeland, were a leitmotif of our life in Mumbai.
…And on that backburner, Kashmir fermented Sheikh Abdullah, a man whose commitment to India was unquestionable, was humiliated, jailed, alienated. The most unimaginable genocide was committed on the people. Entire generations of its sons were mowed down by an army whose presence was as large as it was unpopular. And in its knee-jerk, misguided, ill-conceived approach to Kashmir the Indian polity revealed its shallowness.
But through this all, intrinsically, those of us who have Kashmir in our bloods, know that the Kashmiri Pandits who have been driven out of their homeland are not enemies of the Kashmiri Muslims, in fact they are both victims of the historic blundering of the Indian government’s Kashmir policy.
Take away Delhi’s political brinkmanship, take away the Hindutva sentiment that has played so neatly into the hands of Pakistan and its fishing-in-troubled-waters game and you may be surprised at how harmoniously Kashmir’s Hindus and Muslims can live.
So, on behalf of my mother, my family, and all those who have loved and lost Kashmir, I beg:  Please. We have done enough damage to and in Kashmir. Enough to last many lifetimes. The chinars are tinged with too much blood. We have failed Kashmir and we don’t deserve her anymore. Leave Kashmir alone. Set her free. [ link ]
P.S. For those of you curious to know more about Ms Sangghvi, she is apparently a former fashion editor and although not “…a believer in things like astrology, palmistry and numerology” has changed the spelling of her name, albeit “…in a lazy kind of way” [ link ] Â
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dear shantanu,
u know this is the most bad luck of my country is we have ppl like Ms Sangghvi in our country(or as hindu). who thinks first for there state not for country. i want to ask her who is happy seeing kashmir like this, who wanted to make kashmir like this, not we indians??i m useing the word indian not hindu cos for me every person who thinks for india is indian.can Madam tell me is there so called kashmiri ppl frighting with pakistani force in kashmir or it is indian army(in her words ppl who never own kashmir)loseing there life so the remaining ppl of kashmir can live happily.we indian always, always wanted to live in harmony & we always respacted other religion. hindu never objacted to muslim on there way of liveing or on there fastivals. infact we always had good bonding with each other.
wht is wrong now is the muslim or to be presize the hard liner islamic ppl(commonly know as terrorist)never understood this love & bonding of hindu with muslim. they always wanted to rule & can’t see anyone else following other dharam.if u look in histroy u will find many muslim ruler came to india & destroyed it, but u will not find a single hindu ruler/king who went on to other countries to kill muslim or other ppl. we hindu accept all religions, we respact all religions, but it doesn’t means other will not respact our dharm. now when we are fighting to save our country, our place, our religion,everyone is haveing problem. we hindus need to be united this time. it is like an emergancy for hindu dharam , and wht we are doing we are fighting between us only. we are bl;aming eah other or killing each other.
i really feel why we hindus can’t come together, why we always fight within ourself, why we don’t think abt our culture, our gr8 past, our gr8 vedas or our gr8 knowleadge. all other religion is nothing if u compare them with hindu dharam, but sadly very few ppl understand this. we hindus are very good ppl and wanted to live in peace & harmony, but nobody let us live like that.we are fighting for our peace not for any land or money. this fight is for our rights, not for makeing other slave.and every indian irrespative of his religon shd take part in this fight to save our nation india.
No mention of any “terrorist”. Wonder if she does live in mumbai at all. I hope garbage like this does not get any readership. That is the only way to force these idiots out.
Dear Friends
I don’t know if you know of a book called, ‘Captive Kashmir’ by Aziz Beg, the editor of Star magazine, published in 1957. I got it from a second hand bookshop in Melbourne in 2003 and scanned through it casually at that time – but my interest has been revived by ongoing incidents. I’m compiling and trying to read through a number of books and articles on this subject.
I checked out on the internet yesterday and it turns out that this book is banned in India! Even now! That is a real shame since banning books by your opposition is the surest way to not know what the opposition is thinking: a sure way to form ill-informed policy decisions. In any event the ban on all books should be lifted.
As I was reading yesterday on the bus on my way back from work, one event shocked me. On page 32-33 it describes a report by two ‘foreigners who visited the subcontinent and were commissioned for this purpose by the Governments of India and Pakistan.’ [Unfortunately there are no citations – like the work of a typical journalist, the quality of academic referencing is very poor in this book].
In this report, quoted verbatim – so I assume that such a report was indeed filed by someone – a genocide of 3,100 Muslims from Jammu is cited on November 5, 1947.
4000 Muslims were assembled on the parade ground in Jammu under the orders of the Maharaja of J&K who had fled from Srinagar to Jammu. These 4000 muslims were taken in trucks to a place called Mawa in lorries.
At that stage a mob comprising of (a) armed jathas of Sikhs, (b) State troops and (c) volunteers of the RSS reportedly massacred 3,100 Muslims. Only 900 finally reached Sialkot in Pakistan.
According to this book, the Maharaja had imposed significant taxes on Muslims and there was a genuine revolt against him which led to ‘Azad Kashmir’.
I’m not convinced these are entirely true facts, but it is something to investigate. More importantly, it is important to know that this is the information people in Pakistan read about (this book is not banned in Pakistan and elsewhere in the world!)and form their opinion of the Hindus who claim to be tolerant.
Perceptions matter a lot. The reality is that most Muslims do not see at least some Hindus in a charitable and noble light that they like to paint themselves in.
Since the involvement of RSS in most communal riots in India is well documented in academic journals and Judicial Commissions, I suspect that this particular genocide of Jammu muslims did happen in some form or manner, but I’m hoping to trace out the facts through further reading. Don’t mind being guided to good books and articles on this subject.
Without understanding both sides clearly, no solution can be found. Empirical, critical thinking must be applied by our generation for a problem created by our forefathers, not emotional thinking.
Regards
Sanjeev
very good point sanjeev that without understanding both sides clearly, no solution can be found. empirical, critical thinking must be applied by our generation for a problem created by our forefathers, not emotional thinking.
sanjeev u raise a good point that hindu masscared muslims in kashmir, i agree we hindu did that but can u tell me wht made we hindu to take that step. if u ask any elder person, who is a witness of 1947 dividation, u will come to know trains not one train but trains carrying bodies of hindus from pakistani side came to india. from india we gave safe passage to many muslim who want to go to pakistan, but from pakistan wht we got is only bodies of hindus who want to come back to india. this is not mention in many books or we don’t want to read more on this, but this is the fact.
nobody want to kill anyone unless ur very emotionally charged up.in islamic countries they made u read all this stuff to keep burning that fire in every muslim youth. in india we are trying to forget that past and want to move on with life with peace. that is why we have ban books like this and pakistani still reading those books.if you really wanna see islamic brutality go and visit some ayodha ashrams, if u find any lady who is victim of 1947 riots victim just talk to her, u will come to know abt real story. i have seen many hindu ladies with “allah who akber” or other islamic words written on there pvt. parts. is this ppl deserve any mercy. they raped our hindu ladies,mothers, sisters killed our mans, childrens,destroyed our temples, vedas.but nobody says that or think abt that.
when Rss or VHP ppl kills them or stage any dharna or morcha we hindus says this is all politics.when one muslim leader of hurriyat was killed in jammu, muslim went on rampage and media said it was right. in orisa saint laxminarayan was muddered, but police and we hindus are unaffected. media is only showing vhp , bajrang dal is protesting for nothing. did any of us knows wht is going in southern part of india, some cristian ppl are converting large number of hindus . by every means, by hook or crook they r converting hindu ppls. either by giveing money, or by takeing advantage of there poverty or by political presure they are converting hindus. but we hindus are not doing anything cos this don’t affect us or it is there wish.
but i wanna say is it is not there wish it is there only option to survive cos when they change there name from jay to jone he will get job, his children will get food, he will have some social security. if he don’t agree to convert everything will be against him. and the most sad part is all this is happining with the help of hindus only, who for there personal benifit selling our brothers and sisters.”mazi jo nav budoyey usey kon par lagey”???
Revealing excerpt from a Q & A with Hurriyat chairman Syed Shah Geelani
The ‘Past’ only exists in one’s head as memory. The idea of going into the ‘Past’ is more to know what’s in people’s heads which comes in the way to their behaving peacefully.
Its precisely this re-telling of massacres that happened over 50-60 years ago or for that matter centuries ago that needs to be handled as clinically as a therapist whose role would be to settle troublesome past memories in the healthy perspective of the ever present Now. The same ‘Past’ material can be used by the politically corrupt and ambitious to churn and burn and keep alive a steady hatred and bitterness.
I’m little confused now. I would recommend a straightforward focus on what’s to be done now in Kashmir using golden rules of Fundamental Rights and Duties enshrined in our Constitution, and in the spirit of reason and logic that led to it being formed. But there always remains the issue of handling a people (could be from either side of the divide) who wish to use Democracy to push agendas aimed at chipping away and eventually destroying the pillars and foundations of this very same just democracy
The central problem to this is – how does one deal with people who insist on seeing things through the prism of the ‘Past’, particularly where religion is considered paramount, and so called Faith (which actually is blind belief)is all that’s required to justify a thought and action. In reality, such a people cannot live in a democracy unless they are subordinated to Democracy’s principles. So friends, what does a democracy do to protect its pillars and foundations? The answers may be easier vis-a-vis an individual or a small group. But we baulk when faced with religious communities, don’t we? Our great ‘secular’ state….
Dear Sanjeev,
If you want to talk about the past, i am sure hindus can bring up a lot of things too. Islamic rulers were not dishing out gifts to hindus either. Nor were muslims giving a warm sendoff to hindus from pakistan during partition. Let us move in to the present. If we are going to dig up all the past and use it as an excuse, this conflict will never end.
Just because some one has not been physicaly to Kashmir it doesnt means any Indian cannot express its feelings.
I myself and many people from Mumbai and Maharashtra must have not visited Amarnath or Kargil.. the reasons could be numerous… but our feelings for Kashmir cannot be undermined.
Some of the intelligent People laugh,ridicule when Shri Balasaheb Thackeray talks on Kashmir and about sending his partymen to Kashmir if required.. saying what has he done for Kashmiris?… I pity their political knowledge… As Maharashtra under the Balasaheb’s rule (Sena-BJP govt) is the only state govt In India to provide reservation Quota for J&K people in education at all levels.
I read in couple of the above post that.. the matter should be heard from both the sides??…
J&K Indians is one side… but which is the other side we are talking about?.. are we suppose to listen to the traitors side too??..
जय हिंद! जय महाराषà¥à¤Ÿà¥à¤°!!
At the risk of sounding flippant (and perhaps arrogant), I would like to reiterate what Arun Jaitley said in a recent Devil’s Advocate interiew :
***
I am keen to everyone’s views on this statement.
Do you agree or disagree with it?
Hi Shantanu,
Fully endorse Arun Jaitley’s statement regarding India’s inalienable sovereignty over Kashmir as non-negotiable with Pakistan or Kashmiri Indian.
I’ve always wondered given the rigidity of Islamic theology, what a moderate Muslim is…also whether it is truly possible to have religions diverse as Islam, Sanatana Dharma, Christianity et al to co-exist peacefully under the aegis of a democracy (the likes of which is seriously abused in Kashmir)…
Have come across thru Daniel Pipes website a 10-Commandments created by a Dutch parliamentarian Naser Khader, a Muslim, which is highly encouraging. He recommends this as a criterion to evaluate who a Moderate Muslim is but I feel we could equally recommend this as a Rules for engagement for all religious groups to function Secularly under a democracy. They are:
1. We must all separate politics and religion, and we must never place religion above the laws of democracy.
2. We must all respect that all people have equal rights regardless of sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.
3. No person must ever incite to hatred, and we must never allow hatred to enter our hearts.
4. No person must ever use or encourage violence – no matter how frustrated or wronged we feel, or how just our cause.
5. We must all make use of dialogue – always.
6. We must all show respect for the freedom of expression, also of those with whom we disagree the most.
7. No person can claim for themselves or assign to others a place apart, neither as superior persons, as inferior persons or as eternal victims.
8. We must all treat other people’s national and religious symbols as we wish them to treat ours – flag-burning and graffiti on churches, mosques and synagogues are insults that hinder dialogue and increase the repression of the other party.
9. We must all mind our manners in public. Public space is not a stage on which to vent one’s aggressions or to spread fear and hate, but should be a forum for visions and arguments, where the best must win support.
10. We must all stand up for our opponent if he or she is subjected to spiteful treatment.
As you can see – the Golden Rule – Treat the other as you would have him treat you…brought up by Bill Warner in your Political Islam article. This is the fundamental tenet for any dialogue. Insist on a dialogue underpinned with something like this or else the State asserts its inalienable sovereignty using all its powers, just like in a war. Or we’re fooling ourselves.
Yes, Kashmir is an integral part of India. There is no discussion here. The problem in Kashmir is an internal security issue. Under no circumstances, should India involve the UN or any other foreign govt including pakistan in to the kashmir problem. The discussion with pakistan must be only about the terrorists crossing across the border and PoK.
The only way to solve this problem is to
1. give more benefits to Jammu region, have more constituencies, fund allocation etc
2. improve infrastructure in jammu and valley and enable easy movement to kashmir from south.
3. slowly settle more and more hindus in the valley slowly and establish a good mix in the religion in 2 years.
4. catch all the seperatist’s and hurriats and put them behind bars for life.
Then tell pakisthan to shut up and throw any muslim who revolts for azaadi across LOC.
This link is also worth reading in this context.
http://specials.rediff.com/news/2008/aug/27sld1.htm