Dear Chak Bamu, Excuse me if I cannot address yourself appropriately. (I do not anything about you)
You can call me Zahid. But Chak Bamu is the village near Jullundher from where my Father and Grand Father migrated to Pakistan.
Please also excuse the fact that I cannot go into certain details(not a cop out but I have to restrict certain things for the greater good of the people of Kashmir)
I can not imagine why you feel the need for circumspection. I do not think anyone would really care. You are anonymous as it is.
I will regret writing the points below because they will be misinterpreted here.
Have no fear. Many will misinterpret, it does not matter.
1) on your first point, the people of Kashmir valley are victims of alien ideas, and there is almost no blame on the past insurgency on their part. In fact the average Kashmiri does not know how to react to aggression. I am making the point that they have known only peace for most of their existence protected by the mountains and the dwellers of the hills. It was called paradise on earth not just for its natural beauty but because it was a melting pot of philosophical thought.
So no the people have not sustained an insurgency. I know its hard for you to believe but the insurgency was/is and will be foreign.
In mid-90s I read a report on the Kashmir situation in Janes Defence. It described the transformation of local boys from being timid to being able to engage Indian troops. It also quoted a local Mullah taking pride in the fact that the local lads were not afraid anymore. It did note however that 'foreign' fighters were more hardcore and fearless in their engagements.
Nothing is fixed. During pre-1947 Dogra Raj Kashmiri Hatus were so timid that they would put up with any abuse from Dogras. Times change, circumstances change, thinking changes. Nothing is fixed. Kashmiris of the valley and adjoining areas may have been timid, but those from Poonch, Rawalakot, Mirpur, Bagh, Muzaffarabad were and are different. Kashmiris could well have continued to be the harmless and peaceful lot. But when a people is forced to demand rights, things begin to change. In the space of three generations you could have a drastically different mind-set. History has shown that again and again. When you talk about Kashmiris, you have to talk about all of them. While you may point at Hindu Pundits, I would point at those who rid themselves of Dogra raj in 1947. But we have to consider them all.
Hard core Wahabist ideas would likely be foreign to Kashmiris who converted from Buddhism. They incline more towards Sufi thought. I hope it stays that way.
2) On your second point, "In your travels" however I am part of Kashmir I live and breathe the people. I cannot expect outsiders, yes some maybe disenfranchised, to be able to voice an opinion when they are of course going to voice their grievance. They are no longer there and see it through the looking glass or (not in your example) rose tinted glasses.
After all they left for various reasons. Here I may bring up the Kashmiri Pundits, How many of them did you interview in your travels?
I did come across a Kashmiri pundit family, but apart from some mundane conversations, nothing was said about Kashmir. I had not known that they were Kashmiri Pundits. I only came to know later.
I have known Kashmiris who worked for civil rights, ****** groups, from the valley, not from the valley, etc.... Not one of them wanted to stay with India.
BTW any attempt to erode the Sufi/Hindu/Buddhist/Secular/Spiritual/Atheist (and any other you may like to add) freedom loving make up of this land will be met with immense resistance.
Understood.
3) On your third point if you believe its stubbornness then good for you. I have witnessed Pakistan and if I do not wish to engage its demands then you may call it stubbornness or whatever. As far as apathy goes. All the people of Kashmir regardless of their name cast or creed are under protection and giving them freedom from a single minded identity is paramount. It is the will of the people, I care not if it against your personal wishes. Freedom is not being single minded(Religion) its being allowed to do as the heart wills and cannot be imposed on another.
You are right in this. I agree. I hope Kashmiris manage their affairs as best as they see fit.
One point that I am not going to tire of making again and again is that Kashmiris do not wish to stay with India. Their forcible inclusion in India is not to long-term Indian benefit. As the centrifugal forces gather momentum sometime in future, Kashmiris would be among the first ones to split, Pakistan or no Pakistan.
Long term danger to India is not from outside, but from within. Indian leaders did their country and the whole region a disservice when they declared Kashmir to be a part of India.
