It amused me to no end when several years back leaders of various political parties in a rare show of unity passed a resolution declaring that JK and POK is integral part of India.It seemed so very Don quixotic.On one hand political leaders were bending backwards to condone terrorists attacks in our cities and papers were full of articles that advised us all to understand the religious sensitivity behind such attacks and warned us of serious repercussions if India dared to retaliate .In such a situation suddenly out of the blue came this resolution from cosy comforts of the parliament which was full of bravado which was not seen on the ground .It was like a joke .Naturally it amused me.
The reception of Indians since the inception of terrorists attacks whose link was always traced to Pakistan to such horrifying events was lauded for their spirit of tolerance and our capacity to forgive endlessly and forget immediately and move on with our lives instantly .Maybe the family of the innocent victims of this Pakistan sponsored shadowy war [the papers and govt kept saying that Pakistan was behind all attacks] thought the rest of us to be callous and brutally indifferent, but we were all lulled into belief that it was our noble spirit shining through and we wore this as our badge of honour.We did wear it for years together.
All those who made fun of our fatalistic attitudes and Hindus belief in Karma' that our suffering at present life is owing to some dark sin committed in our past lives, were now happy to endorse it .It came in handy.
When the present Govt Abrogated article 370 i couldn't believe that it actually was done.Do political leaders in here have so much gumption so as to touch a sacred holy cow and fell it?Yes the leaders who decided and acted were from a non congress party whose convictions are different , yet to brave all the odds like the threats that were often dangled over us like that of Arab countries stopping oil or that Pakistan would in hot fury drop a nuclear bomb on us and that riots will take place all over India ,is highly praiseworthy.[none of the so called threats that our papers, TV channels and politicians kept claiming will happen ,has happened .]
The back of India that started bending , straightened up .
Soon after announcing the abrogation of article 370 the HM of India made a passionate reply in Parliament that he would lay his life for getting back POK.At that time i thought that it was the usual theatrics that politicians indulge in the heat of the moment. But subsequently when several senior leaders of the ruling party started speaking about regaining POK from Pakistan's clutches and merge it with JK , i sat up .Even the Vice president said so.!Maybe this govt may actually regain POK .
As of now my views on POK is tepid .It is somewhere up north .After my childhood acquaintance with a Kashmiri family and a brief visit to JK in my youth i have no link or connection to Kashmir.I wasn't even when Kashmir was occupied by Pakistan yet if i read the news one of these days that India has driven out Pakistanis from the land it has taken from us and that it has been merged with India i am sure to feel happy and joyful I,will applaud the move and register my heart felt appreciation .
I often ponder about Pakistan's interest in Kashmir.I ve heard that it is Pakistanis of Punjabi origin who dominate Pakistan .in all fields and that they look down upon Indian Muslims who have migrated to Pakistan after partition from various parts of India,and call them as Mohajirs in derogative manner and treat them like second class citizens.There were also reports of blood shed in never ending conflicts between the two in Pakistan.Hence it makes me conclude that their often mouthed declaration that their heart beats for Kashmiris [whose language and culture is different] and that their heart twists at the plight of Kashmiris is nothing but a drama .Crocodile tears are being shed to cover their real intention , viz their lust for a neighbour's beautiful land.They just want the land.
The fact that Pakistan is intolerant towards their own citizens viz Muslims who are not of Punjabi origin shows that what they want from us is not Kashmiri people but our land inhabitated by Kashmiri people and is trying to take it by hook or crook.
In here there is a group of people who keep insisting that Kahmiris need a healing touch and that their hearts and mind should be conquered by love , compassion, etc , etc and by gently administering all the virtues found in religious texts.
Why should we go out of our way to show such sublime noble part of our nature only to Kashmiris and not to rest of the states and people in India? Weren't we all be made to do this precisely for past some many decades , by extolling Kashmiriyat and ,mutely acquiescing to every concession given to Kashmiris ?But Over the years it seems that Kashmiris have only become more rude, harsher towards us and very head weighted.Should we try winning their hearts for another 100 years?
I can guarantee from my experience in JK in 1982 that this highly pampered 'special'peoples' heart will never be won .The fabled Kashmiriyat which meant interdining, inter marriages between Muslims and Hindu pandits and easy social mobility between the two no longer exists.Iguess it was squashed out within two to three decades after Independance .The culprit being our greedy and sly neighbour Pakistan who has sown the seeds of poison and delusions amongsts Kashmiri leaders and people and watered it .The toxic results of which is being reaped now.
Kashmiris who think that all thier problems will vanish once they become detatched from Indian state and become a autonomous state are living in a fool's paradise. In such a case either Pakistan or China will gobble it up .Would any right thinking person leave a wealthy India for a poor Pakistan?
If China takes over the Fundamental right to protest which Kashmiris are demanding will be replaced by demands for fundamental right to think .The Kashmiri identity that they are so worried about would totally cease to exit .They may all be herded into camps for de radicalising and brain washing.Look around in India is any Muslim in a detention camp? They are living side by side with Hindus in harmony and prosperously.without interfering into each others life and beliefs.
I am from a state where the passion for separate autonomous Tamilnadu was whipped up in my teenyears .I admit even i fantasised about this .To be free of all those people around us and up North dominating over us and looking down upon us.So others thinking in lines of separatism doesn't shock me .Thankfully this absurd thinking that has the ability to stir emotions were dropped by leading politicians ..Now TN is one of the most advanced state in India,
They would be even more foolish if they think that rest of us will start settling in Kashmir.Will any of us leave our cities and towns , far from its comforts and relatives and friends circle and settle in Kashmir? At the most we will visit it for a week to enjoy its beauty .the way we have been doing all these years .It is even more absurd to compare to us to Israelis.Isrealis were landless people for 1000's of years and suffered horribly in the hands of Hitler which has given the determination to brave all odds.We are not in the same category.There are any number of plots available to be purchased by any Indian in tourist paradise like Goa or in Himalayas or even nearer my home in ooty or Kodaiokanal but are we buying them?No .We just visit these places for few days in summer for a break and are back to our usual routine in our cities .
When North and south Vietnam has been merged,East and west Germany has been merged into one why can't POK be merged into Indian state of Kashmir ?Why should this artificial barrier between people of same land continue to exist?
It is time all the politicians around quit being hypocrites mouthing high sounding meaningless words and shedding crocodile tears over the fragility of Kashmiris pshyche and admit openly and frankly that what we want is our land , yes the fight is over our land over which Pakistan has illegally encroached and had the nerve to gift a part of it to China. It is a fight to reclaim our land from Pakistan as well as China.We have every right to do so..This is the truth ..There is no need to feel apologetic or diffident about it .
