A new future for Kashmir
Rajni Shaleen Chopra
My Sunday musings began with a tweet by a Kashmiri who writes under the pen-name Ibnebattuta. His comment: ‘Damn the system, label it everything you can, and then seek help from it. Love your hypocrisy’.
If the same had been stated by a mainland Indian, Kashmir would have been outraged. The sarcasm of a fellow Kashmiri may evoke some introspection.
Meanwhile, comments of Kashmiris on social media have made me introspect. A popular Kashmiri poet noted after the Friday namaz: ‘Just met a person who said, We don’t need azadi, our area is always peaceful.’ Then followed the poet’s comment: ‘I think my namaz is going to be half-hearted’.
Why would his namaz be half-hearted, I questioned him. Pity the minds, he said, that take temporary peace in one particular area as a solution and think people who lose their dear ones are idiots.
People who lose their dear ones are not idiots. They are shattered. But why should peace in some areas of Kashmir be temporary. Why can it not be permanent?
I know that an overwhelming majority of Kashmiris is going to laugh at my statement. Some are going to wonder if I am actually serious in posing this question. But my query remains. Why can peace in parts of Kashmir not be permanent? Why can this peace not extend to the whole of Kashmir?
Kashmir, the land that yields such abundance, is Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth. Kashmir, that gives birth to men and women of such sharp intellect, is Saraswati, the Goddess of Knowledge.
I seek forgiveness of all the readers who may assume that I am trying to Hinduize Kashmir. I am not. Culturally, from my Hindu roots, this is the highest devotion I can offer to a land that blesses its children with such amazing richness – material, intellectual and spiritual. If I knew how to express my devotion in Islamic terms, I would gladly do so in the name of Allah (SWT).
It is tragic that this blessed land is today marked by a bloody conflict. Kashmir, the land of such abundant, breathtaking beauty, should be what Goa is to India. Back to back flights early morning to late evening, full to capacity.
Kashmir can be the land where no Kashmiri has to ever leave his house. The entire world comes to his homeland to live for some days in paradise, and return with fond dreams of the next visit.
It is heartbreaking to see Manasbal, the breathtaking Lidder Valley, or Aru Valley, Betab Valley and a hundred other magnificent destinations almost barren of tourists in peak season. This newspaper recently reported that nearly 40 per cent of tourist bookings to the Valley were cancelled following violence in Handwara and Kupwara.
Is the prolonged, heavy Army presence the cause for civic unrest and bouts of militancy in Kashmir? Or is it this civic unrest and bouts of militancy which necessitate the prolonged, heavy Army presence in the Valley?
We have a Catch-22 situation here. In the meanwhile, Kashmir bleeds.
My great nation gives me space for dissent. I have often spoken on the need for partial thinning of the Army presence in Kashmir. The comments of Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd), who has headed the Army in Kashmir, made me ponder.
Lt Gen Hasnain recently wrote that this is not the time to reduce footprint of the Army in the Valley. “Much of the Army’s headquarters and units are located within towns or their outskirts. This presence helps in many ways and limits the ability of anti-national elements having a free run,” he noted.
If the presence of the Army is needed in Kashmir in the interest of national security, care must also be taken that civic liberties are not tampered. I urge my beloved nation – if Kashmir feels that it is colonized by India, as the head of the family, the Government of India must work towards greater integration, so that this notion is dispelled positively and constructively.
In Kashmir, brother is fighting brother. Thousands of young Kashmiris join the Indian Army, the J&K Police, and other security forces. By pitting mainland India against the Kashmiris, vile powers are making brothers fight brothers.
Kashmir’s leading hoteliers, tour operators and others in the economic sphere blame the Indian media for playing a highly negative role, and projecting Kashmir in a hostile manner. Their chief complaint is that the Indian media creates a scare on every issue and projects that the Valley is unsafe for tourists.
As an outsider who often visits Kashmir, I vouch that I have always found Kashmir safe. The warm, loving hospitality of the Kashmiris has to be experienced to be believed.
My dear Kashmiri brothers and sisters, my heart cries when I see your frail economy and the dismally low tourist inflow. And life is not a question of the economy alone.
Every human being deserves a peaceful, joyful living space. The happy, bright lives of our children cannot be dulled on account of what their fathers and grandfathers suffered. The child deserves his life. He deserves his future.
I am a proud daughter of my nation, and I apologize to my Kashmiri brothers and sisters. I apologize for the indignities and atrocities you suffered. My apology comes from a true heart.
I also urge you to protect your children from this vicious cycle of violence which poisons the Valley. Our Creator gives us human life to live it in happiness and grace. The past can never be erased. There are many who are happy seeing Kashmir burning, on both sides of the border. They want to keep these fires ignited.
Let us not shove our innocent children into this fire. We have a responsibility towards our children. The responsibility that their happy eyes are not dimmed by violence and brutality. The responsibility that their joyous smiles are not erased. This is the responsibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, of every Kashmiri who calls this blessed Valley his/her homeland, and of every Indian who loves his/her nation.
Let our past not poison us so much that it consumes our future too.
