Kashmir its beauty and culture.
Ravi Speaks:
UPDATED ON 12.03.2023.
This article was written around two years back. Therefore, the context relates to that period and the circumstances arising out of the developments of that period. The ideas and expressions are purely related to my way of evaluating the inferences- arising out of that time situations and may not be taken as the generalised expressions.
Kashmiri Pundits, Kashmiriyat & Surrounding Developments.
Some days back, I received a call from my school-time friend, Anil. He wanted to have a get-together after forty-four years of the gap where my two more school friends would join, namely Naresh and Susheel. I was thrilled, and we met on the weekend in South Delhi at ‘Aerocity’ for a lunch. It was a very memorable moment for all the four of us and seeing each other after so many years in person was a real treat to the eyes. All of us touched sixty and the two of us recently retired as well. It was a moment of pride for all of us that by the grace of God, all the four of us had well-settled families and looked to be satisfied career-wise as well. We had a lot of general discussions for almost three hours and suddenly I posed a question to the three of my friends regarding filling out the forms for the registration and domicile certificate for our (earlier state) Jammu and Kashmir. I told them the last date for submitting the duly filled forms at ‘Prithvi raj Road’ New Delhi. One amongst the three Anil asked me to send the forms line-whereas the other friend-Susheel had come from Jammu and he mentioned nothing about the same. The third friend of mine, Naresh, simply raised a couple of questions as to a) what would happen to the ‘State subjects’ which were already with all of us? b) What did we achieve after the abrogation of 370 articles and 35A? & c) Where is our Kashmiriyat-now?
This question gave me a lot of thoughts and I realized Naresh was perfectly right in expressing his annoyance mixed with apprehension. Since a lot more questions came to mind after his raising so many queries. Our community suffered like hell right from 1989 onwards and especially our new generation, which took birth after that unfortunate exodus. That struggle is continued even after thirty-two years of our exile in our own country. In this struggle how each family has somehow tried its utmost to settle down in the new demographic setup and started its livelihood again from a scratch.
Despite 32 years in exile, we remained a ‘state subject’ under 35A. Removing this law willy-nilly has exposed all cultures of all Kashmiris, regardless of religion, to erosion. How does it matter for all the Pundits who were already the state subject of the earlier Jammu & Kashmir State? Even if they had been there in the state, they did not get any special benefit from that state Subject Certificate except maybe ‘property-related matters.
Now just to keep the technical records intact, the government has yet again put all the scrambled Kashmiri Pundits into action by arranging the old papers (having no value) and going all the way for the submission of the same with the forms. The difference simply would be that we shall have yet again a paper in our name called the Domicile Certificate of the Union Territory-Jammu and Kashmir.
If the government and the people of India care so much, why have we never had a judicial commission to establish the facts–which should mean the killings of all Kashmiris, both Pandits and Muslims during what they call insurgency?
Some people take great pride in Kashmiri culture, yet want a ‘demographic transformation’ by flooding the Valley with outsiders. Himachal, the northeastern states, and other tribal areas have legislative protections to preserve their identity. Why not think on those lines for Jammu and Kashmir also?
Naresh was even right to some extent with, of course, certain points of reservation from my side-when he said about our losing the Kashmiriyat.
We lost our Kashmiriyat on the day we started struggling out of our motherland. In the years since 1990, the substantial loss of the Kashmiri Pandit community has been the dissolution of their cultural world. People say Kashmiri Pandits have done well and have comfortable lives across India and abroad. But this comfort is undermined by the actual loss that exile brings.
One of the biggest affects has been the linguistic culture, which has to fight terrible odds to survive if it has no locality. We lost it to a greater extent when our own Kashmiri language was an unknown language for our new surroundings. I am reminded of a beautiful incident when I had gone to Kashmir two years back in May. I saw children playing cricket on the ground and talking loudly in the Kashmiri language -which was a real good treat to my ears since I could recall my earlier school days when I would be surrounded by my Kashmiri little friends around and talk in the local Kashmiri language, giving a very special feeling of belongingness to the motherland. Thus, the value of any language is multiplied infinitely when it is used only in the motherland to which it belongs. This confirms to a greater extent the fact that the only place where Kashmiri Pandits’ language and culture are at home is the Valley.
Now with the developments happening in Afghanistan-many questions are being raised what would be the impact of the same to Kashmir and on the process of rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pundits. Are these Taliban going to enter directly our boundaries around Kashmir with the help of Pakistan forces-which might use them if they wanted to disturb India?
For India, the whole investment breakdown of the 20-year-old Afghanistan development addresses a stinging embarrassment. Since 2001, India has spent a whopping $3bn. It constructed streets, dams, electrical cables, centers, and schools the nation over. The tactical institute prepared Afghan officials. It offered grants to thousands. India even introduced an extravagant new parliament, complete with wellsprings and a goliath bronze arch. All such good work by India in bringing further development into Afghanistan seems to be an exercise in futility and return. The Taliban have nurtured even more hatred and enmity with India. They might use Pakistan indirectly to escalate terrorism in the valley. Only the time would show the further course of developments about Kashmir and that way indirectly in the Indian initiatives for the minority settlements in Kashmir.
Doesn’t this unfortunate happening of Indian good work of 20 years and investment proving as an exercise in futility in Afghanistan reflecting to be the exact repeat of what happened to Kashmiri Pundits in 1990-exodus? Today thousands of Afghanis and other people also have the mega exodus being enforced upon them by the Taliban.
In a clear clarification of their stance on Kashmir, days after taking over Kabul in a literal power shift of governance in Afghanistan, the Taliban called it a “bilateral and an internal matter”, news agency ANI posted on Twitter quoting people familiar with the development. As per the experts also there is likely to be no indulgence from the Taliban at least for the time being.
In J&K, the most concerning issue is that we can’t differentiate between “Terrorism and Insurgency” or in milder terms between illegal intimidation and uprising. The issue there is an insurgency. Under the present circumstances, the surrounding developments inside the country in terms of the steps being taken for the rehabilitation of Kashmiri Pundits or the impact of the outside developments on India would surely define the pace and the concrete results. Thus, these strange developments taking various turns finally should not add to the further plight of the Kashmiri Pundits while being in exile and still not knowing which way finally the wind blows for them.
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