This blog seems to be centered on the Jammu-Kashmir divide and seems to portray a picture that this is the problem facing the state/region. While the issue (Shri Amarnath land transfer) has invoked strong sentiments on both sides, I see it only as an effect of what has been going on.
Protests in Jammu were a reaction to what happened in Kashmir.
It is thus, I believe, important to understand why Kashmir reacted the way it did.
For a start, there are two basic issues-that of identity and of recognition, that must be considered if one honestly seeks to understand the ‘people of kashmir’, keeping the biases aside.
Identity
I am a Muslim. I am a Kashmiri. Am I an Indian?
I envy the confidence with which Omar Abdullah asserted that he is one and that he did not see a problem with it. I wish I could say that too.
What is my identity? On what equation does a Kashmiri identity stand when juxtaposed with a Muslim and an Indian identity?
The question is not an easy one to answer. I have been looking for answers. I have been trying to discover my identity. Do I look for it in Islam, in the preamble of the constitution of India or just confine myself to Kashmiriyat? Or is it a blend of them? If it is indeed a blend, is there a hierarchy between them? If not, are they totally unconnected and/or mutually exclusive? Most of all, why am I faced with such questions?
I am facing a major crisis. The issue that I hold closest to my heart has been that of Kashmir. It is a tragedy that I do not have an opinion about it. However hard I might have tried.
Is the Kashmir problem a result of this confusion that I am also facing(if it indeed is, what is the reason for this confusion)?Is a majority of Kashmiris(if not just everyone) facing the same problem as I am? The picture that the past few decades have presented about us..undecided, confused, one moment for azadi, the other for Pakistan and yet another for India, is pathetic. Is this nature inherent in our genes? Is that what I am, a hypocrite?
There is one answer I do know. It is not in my genes. It is not in Our genes. We are not hypocrites. We want peace and we want democracy.
It is not the confusion that is the cause of the problem. It is the way Kashmir has been handled that has given rise to this confusion-of identity, which is inextricably linked to the fact of recognition, of recognition of the simple fact that Kashmir belongs to the people of Kashmir also and it is the people of Kashmir who belong there.
Recognition
I was born a Kashmiri. Something I have always been proud of and a fact that I cherish. Like any other individual, right thinking individual, I am terrified when I see what I see in Kashmir and have often thought about why the situation is so.
I do not propose to delve into any philosophical analysis of the problem. I only wish to bring forth one single experience of mine that shattered me as an individual(not just as a ‘Kashmiri Muslim’) and invoked the abovementioned and various other questions, some of which I find myself incapable of articulating .
I had just finished college and had invited my friends home. To Kashmir. Since I was the one who belonged to the place, they trusted me with the task of planning the trip. Morning of day 3 was booked for Shankar Acharya Mandir.
I was the early riser in the group. That day too, I woke up, offered my namaz and woke everyone up. I got into the drivers seat and set out.
I was really proud of being where I was. Each and every word of praise that I heard about Kashmir from my friends elated me so much as if it was me who was being praised. This was not to be.
There is a barricade about 3 kms before the temple. We were stopped, like all other cars. I stopped and greeted the ‘army wala’. Still proud of the fact that I was in my motherland. Her beauty was still captivating despite the years of turmoil.
The ‘army wala’ asked us where we were headed. I answered. He asked me who the ‘local’ were. I, swollen with pride, declared it was me and a cousin of mine who was sitting behind. All the pride, the self worth, a sense of belonging, the identity, was reduced to ashes when the ‘army wala’ ordered-dono niche utar jao.
It was the two of us who were frisked. The others, my friends, my hindu friends, received a warm greeting and the army wala waved them off with a smiling face.
It was their turn to be proud. I was shattered. Was it not I who belonged to the place?
I needed recognition. I needed respect. I needed the army wala-the state, to, at least, acknowledge the fact that I belonged to the place. The least I needed was to be treated at par with my friends. I have not been at peace ever since. The incident has left a deep scar on my soul. The greater tragedy however is that I see no signs of it healing-not now, not any time in the future.
One can not be but amazed at the linkage between the two incidents. Of Amarnath and of Shankar Acharya. Of a Muslim driving his Hindu friends. But it is the third aspect of the similarities that needs introspection.
It is the problem of recognition and assertion. Perhaps, everyone is not a coward like me. There are some people who would risk their lives to give it back to the ‘army wala’. I could not. I regret. Pehaps some years of living in kashmir would instill that courage in me(I must clarify that ‘give it back’ does not necessarily imply violence.It takes more courage to lodge a non violent protest-just as the Mahatma did)
It is not the mere fact of land transfer, in vacuum, devoid of any history that is causing havoc. It is a million incidents of dissimilar treatment like the one I faced en route Shankar Acharya Temple that build up a psyche. It is this fact that needs to be taken care of.
To say the least, WE also want a right to live with ‘human dignity’.
(The topic derives its name from the book of the same name authored by Amartya sen)
Protests in Jammu were a reaction to what happened in Kashmir.
It is thus, I believe, important to understand why Kashmir reacted the way it did.
For a start, there are two basic issues-that of identity and of recognition, that must be considered if one honestly seeks to understand the ‘people of kashmir’, keeping the biases aside.
Identity
I am a Muslim. I am a Kashmiri. Am I an Indian?
I envy the confidence with which Omar Abdullah asserted that he is one and that he did not see a problem with it. I wish I could say that too.
What is my identity? On what equation does a Kashmiri identity stand when juxtaposed with a Muslim and an Indian identity?
The question is not an easy one to answer. I have been looking for answers. I have been trying to discover my identity. Do I look for it in Islam, in the preamble of the constitution of India or just confine myself to Kashmiriyat? Or is it a blend of them? If it is indeed a blend, is there a hierarchy between them? If not, are they totally unconnected and/or mutually exclusive? Most of all, why am I faced with such questions?
I am facing a major crisis. The issue that I hold closest to my heart has been that of Kashmir. It is a tragedy that I do not have an opinion about it. However hard I might have tried.
Is the Kashmir problem a result of this confusion that I am also facing(if it indeed is, what is the reason for this confusion)?Is a majority of Kashmiris(if not just everyone) facing the same problem as I am? The picture that the past few decades have presented about us..undecided, confused, one moment for azadi, the other for Pakistan and yet another for India, is pathetic. Is this nature inherent in our genes? Is that what I am, a hypocrite?
There is one answer I do know. It is not in my genes. It is not in Our genes. We are not hypocrites. We want peace and we want democracy.
It is not the confusion that is the cause of the problem. It is the way Kashmir has been handled that has given rise to this confusion-of identity, which is inextricably linked to the fact of recognition, of recognition of the simple fact that Kashmir belongs to the people of Kashmir also and it is the people of Kashmir who belong there.
Recognition
I was born a Kashmiri. Something I have always been proud of and a fact that I cherish. Like any other individual, right thinking individual, I am terrified when I see what I see in Kashmir and have often thought about why the situation is so.
I do not propose to delve into any philosophical analysis of the problem. I only wish to bring forth one single experience of mine that shattered me as an individual(not just as a ‘Kashmiri Muslim’) and invoked the abovementioned and various other questions, some of which I find myself incapable of articulating .
I had just finished college and had invited my friends home. To Kashmir. Since I was the one who belonged to the place, they trusted me with the task of planning the trip. Morning of day 3 was booked for Shankar Acharya Mandir.
I was the early riser in the group. That day too, I woke up, offered my namaz and woke everyone up. I got into the drivers seat and set out.
I was really proud of being where I was. Each and every word of praise that I heard about Kashmir from my friends elated me so much as if it was me who was being praised. This was not to be.
There is a barricade about 3 kms before the temple. We were stopped, like all other cars. I stopped and greeted the ‘army wala’. Still proud of the fact that I was in my motherland. Her beauty was still captivating despite the years of turmoil.
The ‘army wala’ asked us where we were headed. I answered. He asked me who the ‘local’ were. I, swollen with pride, declared it was me and a cousin of mine who was sitting behind. All the pride, the self worth, a sense of belonging, the identity, was reduced to ashes when the ‘army wala’ ordered-dono niche utar jao.
It was the two of us who were frisked. The others, my friends, my hindu friends, received a warm greeting and the army wala waved them off with a smiling face.
It was their turn to be proud. I was shattered. Was it not I who belonged to the place?
I needed recognition. I needed respect. I needed the army wala-the state, to, at least, acknowledge the fact that I belonged to the place. The least I needed was to be treated at par with my friends. I have not been at peace ever since. The incident has left a deep scar on my soul. The greater tragedy however is that I see no signs of it healing-not now, not any time in the future.
One can not be but amazed at the linkage between the two incidents. Of Amarnath and of Shankar Acharya. Of a Muslim driving his Hindu friends. But it is the third aspect of the similarities that needs introspection.
It is the problem of recognition and assertion. Perhaps, everyone is not a coward like me. There are some people who would risk their lives to give it back to the ‘army wala’. I could not. I regret. Pehaps some years of living in kashmir would instill that courage in me(I must clarify that ‘give it back’ does not necessarily imply violence.It takes more courage to lodge a non violent protest-just as the Mahatma did)
It is not the mere fact of land transfer, in vacuum, devoid of any history that is causing havoc. It is a million incidents of dissimilar treatment like the one I faced en route Shankar Acharya Temple that build up a psyche. It is this fact that needs to be taken care of.
To say the least, WE also want a right to live with ‘human dignity’.
(The topic derives its name from the book of the same name authored by Amartya sen)
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7 comments:
i am impressed ,saddened but at the same time encouraged for the future.the writeup has hit the bullseye,the problem in kashmir is of identity and identity alone.just a shortwhile ago i was seeing a group of kashmiri children on conducted tour of mumbai.the narrator was introducing the children as if they were from mars or were a new species altogether .he went on enumerating the similarities between them and us which included love for srk and ash.well, this is the mindset out to cure kashmir of its all ills..
i am impressed ,saddened but at the same time encouraged for the future.the writeup has hit the bullseye,the problem in kashmir is of identity and identity alone.just a shortwhile ago i was seeing a group of kashmiri children on conducted tour of mumbai.the narrator was introducing the children as if they were from mars or were a new species altogether .he went on enumerating the similarities between them and us which included love for srk and ash.well, this is the mindset out to cure kashmir of its all ills..
Anybody who reads the above article cannot but agree, and empathise, with the opinion, and feelings, of the author. I say this, with such conviction, because only a person who understands and harbours the feeling of true 'Kashmiriyat', sans religion, would be able to write in a manner that evokes empathy in the mind of another Kashmiri, belonging to a different religion.
I can well understand the author’s identity crisis that is highlighted in the article; and I can identify and co-relate with it, although, in a manner diametrically opposite to it. Having been brought up in a Hindu dominated society I could, for obvious reasons, easily associate with being an Indian. However, a deep-rooted sense of belonging to Kashmir was sadly absent. Now, if a finger is raised at a person who candidly expresses his dilemma of lack of allegiance to India, the same finger ought to be raised at a person who has half-hearted feelings for Kashmir, the land of her forefathers. I see no reason as to why the above two should be treated differentially.
Yet they are treated so, time and again. While one is, more often than not, ridiculed as an anti-Indian sentiment, the other is, almost always, lauded as being a feeling of true nationalism whereby the allegiance to a region is subordinated to the allegiance to a country. And to achieve this objective, some people are prepared to go to any extent. But what they fail to understand is that the only way to expect the allegiance of a region to a country, and bridge the gap between the two, would be not by adopting force, but as the author states, by providing a sense of identity with the country.
We all pray to God to bestow peace and harmony upon the world. But really, where is it going to come from if not from us? The more I think of it, the more I alter my prayers to the Lord Almighty and pray to him to grant us all sadbuddhi instead, the enlightened intellect that enables prudent distinction between the truth and the false, and enables righteous decision making. For only when we are all able to empathise with feelings of fellow human beings, not just on the basis of religion, region or country, but on the basis of humanity itself, will be able to tell right from wrong. Only then can we truly appreciate the author’s sense of wounded pride at being treated as an alien in his own motherland. Only then will we understand the true import of the right of every human being to a life with dignity, enshrined in the Indian constitution itself.
For the above commentor,
"Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious"...Oscar Wilde
Your story is very moving. As an Indian I feel ashamed that such a treatment is meeted out to fellow citizens (if you don't mind me calling that).
citizen, my friend, is a legal term, and as far as the law is concerned, kashmiris are also the "citizens" of this country. so its all good.
and as one would have expected, the incident described above, has managed to evoke the feeling of shame in someone on the other side, of the pir panchal that is. So that day is far then, isnt it, when it will evoke a feeling of anger instead?
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