A KASHMIRI HINDU PERSPECTIVE At the very outset we affirm that we dont recognize the contention that Jammu and Kashmir is a dispute between India and Pakistan. We recognize accession of Jammu and Kashmir with the Union of India as perfectly legal and irrevocable. We also reaffirm that the unity of Jammu and Kashmir with India is non-negotiable. We want to state with all confidence that the partition of India in 1947 was strictly confined to the division of the British India. The partition plan did not extend to the Princely States of India which included the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The principle of population ratio on the basis of religion that provided the basis for partition of the British India did not apply to the Princely states either in respect of the dissolution of the British Paramountcy over the states or in respect of the determination of their future disposition. So Jammu and Kashmir can never be the unfinished agenda of partition. We dont accept any position which tries to rationalize the claim of Pakistan on Kashmir, or its locus standi to arbitrate the future of the Jammu and Kashmir state on the basis of its Muslim majority character. We also do not accept the claim of the Muslim separatists of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to alter the accession of the state on the basis of the numerical majority of the Muslims of the state. Creation of a separate relationship between Jammu and Kashmir and India on the basis of the Muslim majority character of the population will only sound the death of a secular India. We cant countenance the creation of a separate relationship between India and Pakistan in which Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir constitute a third party. We call upon you to recognize the imperative of reversing the genocide of the Hindus of Kashmir. The genocidal attrition on the Hindus of Kashmir continues. Their properties, temples and institutions in the Kashmir valley have been plundered, burnt, destroyed, fraudulently usurped or eaten up through distress sales. The entire community is being squeezed out of the socio-economic life of Jammu and Kashmir. The marginalization of the Kashmiri Hindus from the state administration has reached a climax. Soon, there will be very few Kashmiri Hindus left in the state services and undertakings. Pressures of diaspora are building up. Declining population of Kashmiri Hindus due to high mortality and negative growth rates should be a matter of concern for everybody. The standards of living in the camps continue to be degrading. The ongoing Islamist terrorism in Kashmir is the consequence of; a. Cross-border terrorism directly instigated by Pakistan and aided and abetted by global pan-Islamist movement which dreams of creating a new Islamic Caliphate. b. Fallout of situation in Afghanistan c. Desire of the Western powers to promote their geopolitical interests in the region since 1947 d. Legitimization of Muslim identity politics, constitutionally through the instrumentality of Article 370 and politically through recognition of Kashmiri Muslim precedence. The Government of India and the political establishment needs to recognize the fatal consequences of according legitimacy to religious sub-nationalism as a denominator in sharing power in Jammu and Kashmir. This recognition has been responsible for the emergence of a politics of blackmail, secessionism. Communalization and fundamentalization of the Kashmiri society. The ongoing terrorism has bred on the underlying substratum of this communalism. Destabilization of Kashmiri Hindus and their religious cleansing was its logical first fallout; second partition of India would be the next consequence. The glaring flaws of the Centres Kashmir policy over the years have been the following a. It has been Kashmir centric - where J&Ks diversity is underplayed. The pro-India people of the state are rendered hostage to a section of population. b. It has remained lukewarm to the creation of a genuinely secular and nationalist alternative in the valley Instead; it has been engaging groups which pursue one or the other variant of Muslim sub-nationalism. c. In the present context, the erroneous approach is that violence in Kashmir can be addressed through engagement with Kashmiri separatists or Pakistan. It is overlooked that Pakistan and separatists remain relevant only so long as violence persists on the ground. We believe that any weakening of Indias position on Jammu and Kashmir, even if it be only symbolic, will contribute towards the entrenchment of Jihad in the Himalayas. Having expressed our views and concerns we put forward the following: The Government of India should elaborately counter the international intrigue which projects Kashmir as the unfinished agenda of partition. This intrigue manifests in flaunting variants of Dixon plan, such as greater autonomy, Kathwari plan including self-rule proposal, etc., as solutions to Kashmir problem. The Government of India has to delegitimize the pursuit of religion based identity politics in Jammu and Kashmir and build heavy stakes for communalists and secessionists. The Government of India must pursue strategies aimed at stabilization of Indias northern frontier by strengthening the patriotic base along it, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. The Government of India should recognize elimination of terrorist violence as a foremost objective and not keep it subservient to any political expediency. The Government of India should recognize the paramount imperative of comprehensively reversing the genocide of Kashmiri Hindus. In our firm view, Indian vision, its sovereignty and integrity in Jammu and Kashmir, can be strengthened by politically reorganizing the state. As a part of this reorganization a centrally administered union Territory must be carved out in Kashmir Valley where there is free and full flow of Indian Constitution, where people live as equal citizens. Kashmiri Hindus, with centuries of political and religious persecution shall return only to this dispensation and perpetuate for all times to come. In the environment of present intolerance creation of this pocket of tolerance is a national necessity.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 05:03:37 +0000
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