By: Madhav Desai
Kashmir, an issue of pride for India and Pakistan has been burning
since the both countries got their independence from the British Raj.
Its a sensitive issue to talk about on a blog, especially by an
Indian, as the sentiments that prevail in India, can easily result in to
burning my effigies just for expressing my views here.
Do not get me wrong, as I am pro-Indian and I love the Indian Nation more than anything in this world.
Okay coming back to Kashmir, there has been a problem there for long
but since last couple of weeks its been a chaos. Many of you will
remember that about a year back, Kashmiris were up in arms when the
Govt. decided to give away some land to Amarnath Temple Board. People in
Kashmir proclaimed that the Yatra has been taking place since many
years without any interruption so why give away Kashmiri land to Hindu
Temple. Well they easily forgot that right in heart of Delhi, Mumbai,
Kolkata, and other towns / villages / cities of India acres of Land
have been encroched by Waqf Board, Mosques, Mouselleium and other Muslim
institutions, and its a pity and really low of Kashmiri people to ask
this back.
Now, there is another observation, the native language of Kashmir is
Kashmiri, Dogri, etc but the guys who claim to be Kashmiris and are
pro-Pakistani speak and write URDU which has nothing to do with Kashmir.
Secondly, the whole lifeline of Kashmir works through Hindu / Sikh
Jammu and other parts of India. They dont understand that they will
starve if there is no India to support them. At the time of Amarnath
Land issue Kashmiris started walking towards the border in hope to join
Pakistan. Well, if they really had guts to do that then they should join
Pakistan, but let me give you guys some facts so that general Kashmiris
can make up their mind.
Pakistan is a failed state and their Foreign Minister had to recently
go to NATO to ask for monies to fund their armies and government
institution. Anything that Pakistan has is either made in PR China or
USA. Moreover they hate USA who are really “anna-datta” (Feeding God) of
Pakistan. They never had a good stable government in their history and
the militants there thinks they can take on the world (well they think
like this but they actually forget that they fight from caves).
States fail, States succeed; there was even time in India when Indira
Gandhi went towards declaring an emergency. the Indian state failed
(its another thing that it rebounded and made in to one of the most
successful states of 21st century). The point here is that Kashmiris
dont think things through. They take emotional decisions based on some
uneducated, class-less leaders who happen to be a separatists.
While being in NCC for couple of years, I attended one of their
National Camps and met a few Hindu Kashmiris as well as Muslim Kashmiris
back in 1996 they all seemed friendly. My Hindu Kashmiri friend who
used to live in Doda district told me that on the day of independence
the Pak-supporters come and put Pak flags on their houses and they cant
remove them. This is not done.
98% of Kashmiri Pandits are out of Kashmir, still 13% of Indian
Muslims live in safety and prosper everyday in Majority-Hindu India, how
is this fair. I strongly believe that any majority whether Hindus or
Muslims should protect the minority that live side-by-side with them.
India would be colour-less without all the Muslim that it has, as you
can clearly see that Kashmir is colour-less without any Hindu Kashmiri
Pandits.
Another good example is Pakistan, they got rid of majority of
non-muslim population at the time of Partition, even though I believe
Jinnah was a democrat and was secular. Pakistan has not seen a day of
peace since independence and if Kashmiris reject India, they wont see a
day of peace either as they would be crushed by China, oppressed by
Pakistan and would never be again accepted or protected by India.
I feel sorry for Kashmiris who dont see that the Pakistan Occupied
Kashmir should really be independent, if Pakistan was really
pro-Kashmir, instead they gave 1/3rd of POK to China as a gift (didnt
even fight for it – as it was integral part of Kashmir before
independence and during the British / Mughal Raj). Even today there is
no government and 100s of issues in Azad Kashmir, there are militant
training camps being run and bred there. If this is what youth of
Kashmir wants then be it, let them enjoy that sort of life instead of
democratic living.
For Kashmiris there are only two options, stay with India and join
the wave of economic and social reform that country is going through
(instead of pushing it down) or join Pakistan and share their misery
(from food shortage to international begging), but remember there is no
third way as Pakistan can never let you guys be independent.
For India there leaves only one option whether they solve it today or
100 years down the line, if Kashmiris hate calling themselves Indians
and dont want to be recognised as Indian (and also dont support our
secularism), then its better to let them go, instead
of spending billions on them – we can easily find a decent cause in any
of our states from Jammu (+ Leh and Ladakh) to Kerala.
Whatever all concerned parties decide they should look at their Wives and Kids and see for their better, prosperous future.
