A wounded valley
Monday, July 12, 2010
Aijaz Zaka Syed
The writer is opinion editor of the Khaleej Times.
Its nearly seven years since I visited Kashmir as a guest of the J&K Tourism. Fond memories of that week-long visit to the land that Mughal emperor Jahangir insisted was paradise on earth remain as fresh as the valleys incredible landscape.
The experience of staying at the magnificent Grand Palace, former residence of Maharaja Hari Singh, overlooking Dal Lake and against the backdrop of the Pir Panjal mountain range, is enough to last for a lifetime. The rich Kashmiri cuisine that reminded me so much of our own and the warmth of my hosts and friends added to the experience.
At the end of that trip in the spring of 2003 I promised my friends that Id visit the valley every year. Its a shame I havent been able to keep that promise. However, Ive stayed in touch with my friends in Kashmir. Some of them write to me now and then commenting on my articles, invariably asking me why I never wrote about Kashmir.
Indeed, for all my love and admiration for Kashmir and its people, I have been running scared of the K word. (Not that an opinion piece in a distant, foreign newspaper by a little known writer really made a difference to the existence of Kashmiri people). Maybe its because of the red lines that Indian Muslims have drawn around themselves.
Having long carried the cross of Partition, the Indian Muslim finds it difficult to talk about his own problems, let alone take on the Kashmiris existential angst. No wonder most Kashmiris despise us. As for the rest of India, Kashmir is like another planet. For all our tolerance and liberal ethos, we still cringe at any discussion involving Kashmir and the appalling humanitarian situation in the state.
The K word has acquired a radioactive nature of its own. India and Pakistan, their media, establishments and armies have fought so long and so bitterly over Kashmir that even the most innocuous, harmless discussion involving genuine concerns and problems of Kashmiri people is impossible today. Except for some solitary, but immensely courageous voices, theres been deafening silence in the media on the humanitarian disaster brewing in the state that has become a matter of great national prestige for us.
But this is no time to hide and remain silent. Kashmir is burning. And if something is not done soon, the heat will be felt by the rest of India and the world. If we really care about India and all that it stands for and represents, we must speak out against the shame of human-rights abuses going on in the valley.
I have watched with growing horror increasing reports of innocent, young boys as young as 13 dying in police firing and so-called encounters with security forces. No week passes without people coming out on the streets even in remote villages over some killing or other.
In Kashmir Valley, writes Kashmir Times Editor Anuradha Bhasin Jamwal, where gross violation of human rights results in anger spilling out on the roads in the form of protests and stone-pelting, the agencies are unsparing, responding to every voice, every stone with a bullet. Young boys and men disappear and one hears about them only when encounters with militants turn out to be fake, the dead men turning out to be missing men and not foreign militants as claimed.
Last week, three young men were killed in police firing and clashes with security forces, one after another, sparking massive protests all over the state. This week, two more people have been killed in police firing and clashes. The valley has been regularly rocked by protests over the killings and disappearances of young Kashmiris for years now.
Nearly hundred thousand people have been claimed by the current round of conflict that began in the late 1980s. Thousands of Kashmiri men and boys have disappeared never to return. But the cost is much higher. Ghastly scars of this long-running conflict are not always visible. From the Shopian rape and murder episode to the brutalities meted out on a daily basis, its a long tale of betrayal and a love affair turning into a nightmare.
International rights groups say that almost every home in Kashmir today has someone either missing or emotionally scarred or both. Hospitals have little clue how to deal with the never-ending deluge of psychologically damaged people. In any case, you cant treat acute mental trauma and scars of the soul with aspirin or those meaningless bottles of glucose.
How did Jahangirs firdous end up like this? Perhaps both India and Pakistan share responsibility for this state of affairs. Their bitter rivalry and many wars for this coveted piece of territory has turned Kashmir into a large prison for its people from which they can neither escape nor hope for release. If Kashmir had been treated as a living people, rather than as a prized piece of real estate, the Kashmir knot would have been resolved long ago.
Personally speaking, as an Indian, I would want nothing better than have Kashmir with us. With its fabled religious and cultural diversity, Kashmir is perhaps the best example of Indias own breathtaking plurality. It has been home to both Hazratbal and the Amarnath temple for centuries. Srinagars Jama Masjid and Shankaracharyas temple have long coexisted in harmony. Look at the map and see how it seems to sit like a crown on Indias head.
But we cant protect this crown at gunpoint.
We cannot continue to claim Kashmir belongs to India even as we drive its people away with our actions. The bulk of Indias security forces a whopping 716,000 are deployed in Kashmir, the heaviest concentration of troops anywhere in the world. Take a walk along the Dal Lake in Srinagar and there are more soldiers on the road than civilians.
With so many soldiers on the march and throwing their weight around, its a virtual battlefront out there. Is it any wonder then theres so much of resentment against the security forces in Kashmir today? That powder keg of anger and frustration blows up every now and then at the slightest provocation. With so many jackboots on the ground, how can we ever hope to win Kashmiri hearts and minds?
During his recent visit to the state, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh talked of creative political and economic initiatives to address the Kashmiri alienation. He also talked of an economic roadmap to put the state on the road to progress.
While creative solutions are welcome, when will our leaders in Delhi realise that its not economic dispossession but lack of political empowerment and continuing atrocities that are at the heart of Kashmiri alienation? Dr Singh also warned of zero tolerance for human-rights violations. Once again, a welcome assertion! But why are those responsible for the shame of Shopian and other outrages still at large?
I dont know if and when the K knot will ever be resolved between India and Pakistan. But if Indias leaders really want to win back Kashmiri hearts and minds, they must get the army out of Kashmir now. Right away. Before its too late! India is loved and admired the world over for its democracy, its philosophy of peace, love and tolerance. Whats going on in Kashmir doesnt gel with these ideals. We can win Kashmir only with love, not at gunpoint. Kashmir is the land of love and peace, the land of Sufis and saints. Lets not turn it into a battleground. Please!
Email:
aijaz@khaleejtimes.com
) people here say its just propoganda. No indian source is true but will any Pakistani source would try to go deep and even if it did, it would instantly become RAW sponsored one!!!. I accept the GOI isn't a heaven sent one, we have people corrupt to the core as leaders here and either for the trouble there or (as for me no kickbacks for getting investments in kashmir) there was no development and job opportunities in Kashmir on par with the rest of India. All i am saying is this until our governments decide on some solution we can keep on discussing about it, but how can u side with terrorists ( a higly vague word since we differ on who should be called so) saying they are fighting a just war. And about the land grab may be Hyderabad wanted to join Pakistan but seriously is that possible, would any sane person allow it?? would Pakistan allow it if some province deep Pakistan had said that they would like to be with us??. So keeping that argument aside regarding kashmir due to the existing animosity between our nations and the four wars (started by your establishment) naturally any indian would feel in such a way.
