KASHMIR

I havent seen Harud yet but it seem to be a movie needed for a very long time now...


Recent unrest in Kashmir for past few months seems to culminate into one of the most serious problems of our times. The blame game of apathy of Indian government towards grievances of Kashmir and hidden agenda of separatist who misuse the idea of freedom to cloak their religious arguments, has grown into serious stone pelting and police firing situations where human lives are lost. I am supposed to have an opinion  and i must clarify i rarely align my versions to official versions of nations and governments so here is mine...


I do not have first hand experience in this issues so my opinions expressed here are limited by that fact, but as i see it, hardliners/fundamentalists are aligning people's anger (generated due to bad political governance over the years and excesses by military) towards creating a strict Islamic state which may easily amalgamate into Pakistan in the name of religion. The "Only" Islamic nature of their demands makes it sound illegitimate from a secular point of view. Fundamentalism turned Pakistan into a rogue state and beggar economically despite having all the potential in its rich culture, heritage and hard working people. Do i want the same fate for Kashmir, NO.

Also issues of human right violation by security forces are valid. There has been excesses and violations.In a conflict zone, this is obvious. When a soldier experiences an innocent looking teenager blowing up his buddy by a grenade, next time he blows up any other innocent teenager without checking properly, which will then be categorized as excess. Some other times, security personals take advantage added powers of immunity from prosecution, to settle personal scores or to get awards and medals. 


This fact is then used by hardliners to instigate general population against the security forces. This vicious circles eat up human bodies which both sides choose to ignore and rather start playing the blame game around the argument "You started it first". 


In any case, a human life is lost and unfortunately human lives are categorized differently based on their affiliations...this vicious circles consumes human lives for sustaining itself... 

The issue of (so-called) freedom is very important here...Pardon me if u feel offended for me using the connotation of so-called before the word freedom, but it feel so hollow to talk about freedom in this context. Text below will explain some more around this idea. 

A minority of Kashmiris would like to have "free" country but fail to state how will this country survive...can tourism support economy?...and whats the guarantee that they will not want to divide further based on regions and religious affiliations, again in the name of freedom?...Leh and Laddhak people never asked for freedom so how will they make a country cut off from Pakistani side by Leh and Laddhak? 


A group of harlined Muslim fundamentalists just don't want a Hindu majority to "rule" them mainly because "their maulanas say so". Their sentiments (based on religion) are as much valid as that of fundamentalist Hindus in Gujarat who ask for India to be a Hindu nation by any means. This is the group i despise the most and this is the group which scream freedom the most, which then feels so ridiculous. 


Now remains the question of Minorities in kashmir. 


Its not surprising that this word "minority" is categorize based on their religion, which indicates the hidden intentions :). Who should they support. Hindus and Sikhs would like to remain being part of India for their religious reasons which makes them feel to have a secure future. They also control a appreciable portion of economy so their demands have a economic "feel" too.

This is all about Kashmiri opinions. Indian opinion is against further divide, based on religious and egoistic issues. 


The most amazing point in the whole argument is the hidden part of "religion" but thats rarely accepted or even acknowledged. Even though Kashmiris boast brotherhood across religious lines but past performance of this brotherhood is so fractured that it seems hard to believe them with any confidence.

So its right to say that the real problems/solutions do not lie in economics and genuine aspirations for true freedom. Its actually RELIGION. Both sides tries to avoid this arguments for the sake of loosing their secular face which makes them internationally accepted as a "valid" party in the argument. After-all in the era of religious fundamentalism "it no more cool" to have an argument based on religion. So the arguments are hidden under the cloak of more "appealing" universal ideas like freedom, democracy etc.

Since rationality is not so popular way of life amongst us as a specie, so its impossible for me to state a solution. Otherwise it would have been as easy as rational symbiosis. India and for that matter of fact any country, do not make sense in parts. We make sense only as a one country. 


Without central India's ores, industries in Gujarat, Maharashtra and south will die of starvation, without tourism in Kashmir, Goa and Kerala, we would have little to show in "incredible India" campaign. Without North east India we would loose the true variety which is the essence of "Indian character". We don't make sense in parts, we make sense together. This reason is not based on some irrational faith, rather its based on pure logic that we, as "independent" parts can't survive by present standards of prosperity. "Genuine" good intentions would have attracted kashmiris over other parts of India and the problems would have dissolved over few generations (definetly by now). We would have reduced separatist support to bare minimum if good governance would have made them feel comfortable with India. Separation of religion from state as a habit, would have had a contagious effect by now and Kashmir could have come up as a secular place. Economic packages are usually defines as aids to beggars and beggars cant be choosers. That is a fault of both the beggars and aid providers. Economical self empowerment of kashmiri people would have had different effect.


Its pretty hard to define a solution now. UN resolution calling for plebiscite presents another problem, Kashmiri demography was changed by Islamic terrorists when they killed non-Muslims in mass numbers and hence dragged the remaining out of the state making it easier for them to win a vote based on religious argument.


Good governance with rational way of judgement could be a solution but it doesn't seem to be possible in coming times :(


So i feel bad to conclude that unless people on both sides of argument adopt rational ideas, its hard to solve and pretty easy to move in circles running along with swords in hands aiming for each others neck.