Introduction of my
book “Kashmir: The Undeniable Truth”
Unprecedented changes have occurred in the world during past
three decades.
These are prominently visible in international relations,
geo-political strategies
and social configuration.
A great leap forward in technological and scientific
advancement has abridged
distances, shrunk time, opened marvellous opportunities of
economic progress,
and immensely improved the quality of living. While
developing countries had to
refashion their socio-economic structures to accommodate and
even absorb
imperatives of rapid development, technologically advanced
countries with strong
economies thrust much faster innovative options on them. As
a result,
developing societies are feeling the pressure of transition
to ultra-modernism. In
such a prospect irritants are likely to come into view. In
particular, there is
growing demand for social justice and economic parity.
It is curious that economic progress and economic
deprivation, though
contradictory in essence, have both contributed to the
activation of dormant as
well as wakeful social aspirations among underprivileged
segments of developing
societies. Recognition of identity is an urge and an
aspiration.
The most eloquent expression of this phenomenon is to be
understood in the
Islamic revolution of Iran under theocratic dispensation in
1979. Commentators
are still debating why of all the countries Iran should have
chosen to go
theocratic when she had come so close to the fringe of
modernism. We should
not forget that Iranian urge for recognition of her identity
was articulated, albeit
unsuccessfully, way back in 1950s. Did not that failure
suggest that Iranian civil
society recognized national identity not necessarily
conditional to modernism? It
was clear that Iran would look for new and effective options
to realize her urge for
identity? And the option was seized even if it came
belatedly ---- after nearly four
decades.
Soviet Union incursion of Afghanistan was a foolhardy act of
a totalitarian
regime undertaken at a very wrong time. As Iranian
revolution progressed,
Islamic world looked at it with anxiety and with an air of
expectancy. In their
thinking Islam was pitted against the greatest power on
earth. Evidently, Soviet
recklessness in Afghanistan could not have produced
consequences other than
what it did. It boosted Islamic orthodoxy and it facilitated
casual camaraderie
between extremist religious forces and powerful western
democracy. The Soviet
Union had to pay a heavy price; it broke.
The urge for recognition of identity among the Muslims world
over has become
almost contagious. Some commentators try to dig into the
history of western
colonialism to look for the causes of Muslim resurgence.
Today the US and her
allies witness with anxiety the harsh consequences of a
movement in whose
resurgence they had a pivotal role. Those whom they once
proudly called
mujahedeen have now come to be patented as terrorists and as Theo-fascists
People are divided, societies are divided and countries are
divided on the basics
of this phenomenon and means of tackling it.
Muslims and Islam are at the centre of this phenomenon. But
notwithstanding
Iran’s show of determination, the difference in the
resurgence of Islam in Iran on
the one hand and in Afghanistan-Pakistan on the other is
vital. In Iran, popular
Islam rose against American imperialism whereas in
Afghanistan-Pakistan,
political Islamic revival drew succour from the same source.
As we see, the
Muslim world stands divided between supporters and opponents
of western
imperialism. To put it crudely, one may say that imperialism
became an
instrument of causing polarization of Islamic communities.
This divide has run into Muslim polity in another form ---
revivalists and
reformists. Curiously, the divide exists despite the proviso
of ijtihad or re-
interpretation. However, the divide is not of recent
history; it has been there since
the days of Caliphate. Exploiters count on this yawning
chasm.
In no other religion do we find a fiercer controversy like true
and fake Muslim.
Both aspects are variously interpreted. Essentially, the
approach is of attaching
purely ecclesiastical connotation in one case and economic,
social and cultural
parameters of assessment in the other.
How and why did this debate rise in Muslim scholastic
circles? A very vital issue
of far - reaching consequences was raised by the great
Muslim historian-scholar
Ibn Khaldun in late 13th century in Baghdad.
Known as father of the science of
Philosophy of History, he said that Arabs had conquered and
Islamized a vast
part of Asia where established societies with splendid
civilizations existed prior to
the advent of Arabs and the faith brought by their Prophet.
A day would come, he
asserted, when Muslims will have to consider how to adapt
Islamic teachings,
traditions and ways of life to many healthy and pragmatic
socio-cultural trends of
the conquered people. Ibn Khaldun was a profound scholar of
social history and
a visionary, who shuddered at the thought of Muslims not
willing to come out of
their cocoon, and bask in the of prospective synchronized
civilizations that would
inevitably take shape.
In all probability, Ibn Khaldun took the cue from Ismaeli
thinkers and outstanding
philosophers of the 10-11th century A.D. who
attached supreme importance to
logic as the instrument of arriving at the truth. Foremost
among these great
Islamic intellectuals was Abu Ali ibn Sina (Avecinna), the
philosopher-physician of
Turkistan, and the celebrated author of al-Shifa and
al-Qanun. His al-Shifa is part
of the syllabus of medical studies at Sorbonne University of
France today. Ibn
Sina argued that the proof of even the most sensitive
subjects like the prophet-
hood, the divine message, the revealed book etc. could be
brought forth through
inductive and deductive process. This revolutionary idea
indirectly challenged the
entrenched attitude of blind faith. Ibn Sina initiated the
great debate on the
subject of belief and reason, which has seized the mind of
the Muslims ever
since.
This takes us a couple of centuries back in Islamic history,
and we mean the
days of the Abbasid Caliphate. (7/8th century
A.D). In the days of Haroon ar-
Rashid, a bureau called baitu’l-hikmat (meaning the House of
Knowledge) was
established in Baghdad. Actually it was a bureau where the
works of great Greek
masters like Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Galen, Hippocrates
and others were
translated from Greek into Arabic. Great scholars not, only
Muslims but of
different faiths too, particularly the Jewish and Zoroastrian,
who were polyglots,
assembled at the bureau to make their contributions. Mansoor
ar-Rashid ordered
that remuneration for each great work translated into Arabic
would be gold equal
to its weight. This priceless fund of knowledge passed on to
the Roman Empire,
and later on, got disseminated to various European
societies. Renaissance of
mid - 16th century in Europe was a sequel to this
transfer of scientific fund of
knowledge. On that base, ultimately came up the powerful and
magnificent
structure called modern European or western civilization.
The crux of this unique service of the Muslims to human
civilization was to
establish fecundity of the faculty of reason and rationality
in comparison to blind
faith. Ibn Sina tells us that he had access to this great
fund of knowledge at the
library in Khwarazm, and he rummaged box after box of
manuscripts to drink
deep from the works of great masters.
In centuries that followed, Muslim scholars of eminence took
up the challenging
task of interpreting the thoughts of great Greek masters now
available to them in
their own language. At Alexandria (Iskandariyah) in Egypt,
scholars engaged
themselves in mighty debates on basic issues touched upon by
the masters. It
was here that differences of opinion on various issues
surfaced among Islamic
scholars, theologians and liberals. It was not too
surprising. Controversy on
crucial issues had raged for a long time till Ibn Sina
pronounced the historic
judgment. He said that there was no controversy in the
thoughts of Aristotle or
Plato; the problem was with the interpreters who interpreted
according to their
understanding.
Reverting to the theme of logic versus blind faith logjam
that gripped Muslim
society in early Middle Ages (11 - 13 century A.D.), the
rise of dominant satraps
in Khurasan (11-12th century A.D.) --- the semi -
autonomous but crucially
important eastern province of the Caliphate --- and their
support to and
dependence on feudal structure of society came as a shot in
the arm of Islamic
orthodoxy. Thinkers following Greek school of thought, or
the logicians
(istadlaliyun) became the target of the wrath of
traditionalists, the upholders of
the ideology of blind faith (muttakallimun). Ghazali, the
traditionalist, wrote
Tahafatu’l-Filasafa in which he strongly underrated those
who called logic the
mother of all sciences. Thus from 12th century A.D. onwards,
feudalism and
orthodoxy became complementary to each other establishing
inseparability of
religion and politics for the inheritors of Caliphate. This
marked the beginning of
the decline of the age of reason in Islamic societies;
belief and tradition attained
over reached the institutions of Islamic state. Industrial
Revolution in Europe towards the second half of the 17th century gradually
reduced the power of the church. With that, rational argument that had been
almost banished from the Islamic world, found a fertile ground in to flourish
in European societies with new and fascinating dimensions.
Martin Luther’s
reformative agenda had opened great vistas that strengthened
the position of the
age of reason. Alas, neither an industrial revolution of
sorts nor a thinker of
Martin Luther’s vision was thrown up by the Muslim society
for many centuries to
come. The fund of science and knowledge, which Muslims so
painstakingly
brought into limelight, illuminated the houses of others
while Muslims relapsed
into darkness. With each passing century, the gap between
the two grew wider.
No wonder, therefore, that 21st century, a high
watermark of socio-economic
development in Western societies, is seen as potent threat
to cynical disregard of
creative faculty of the best of God’s creation (ashrafu’l-makhluqat).
Man’s
absolute surrender to the Supreme came in clash with his
innovative and creative
potential. Iqbal subtly alluded to this fundamental
contradiction:
Main khatakta hun
dil-e yazdan main kante ki tarah
Tu faqat allah hoo allah hoo allah hoo
It means that introspective minds within the Islamic fold
did recognize the role of
human intellect and reason in the process of social
evolution. But their
circumspection is a baffling question that dogging the
Muslim community.
But the proposition has another vital dimension. Quite
understandably, in a
society steeped in unending controversy over predestined and
freewill (jabr wa
qadr), acceptance of western view that leaves the future of
mankind to the
interplay of forces of intellect, is almost outlandish. In
their view it is tantamount
to questioning the omnipotence of the Supreme: it undermines
the entire
structure on which Islamic concept of relationship between
Man and his Creator
rests.
For western existentialist reason remains a prescription for
ascent to higher
levels of temporal life. For them, each passing century
proved the veracity of
logic being the mother of all sciences. Great scientific
discoveries that followed
Industrial Revolution of A.D. 1688 in England established
the fact that science
and technology were the arbiters of the destiny of mankind.
While veering to this
inference, western societies left the divine and divinity to
benign negligence.
But to the Muslims, ultimate power rests with Allah and the
ultimate arbiter of
destinies is Allah. Therefore in Islamic culture, the source
of a victory and an
achievement is Allah. Absolute surrender to Allah is one of
the basic tenets of
Islamic teaching. He is the arbiter (jabber and qahhar).
This then is one of the basic hindrances in Islam’s
interaction with the western
world and its ideological tributaries.
But the struggle is not necessarily between the technology
savvy west and
tradition dominated Islam. Apart from this dilemma, a major
part of the struggle
lies within the broad Islamic fold itself. It is the revival
of the long drawn struggle
between the istadlaliyun and muttakallimun of 12the century
in its new avatar of
pure and fake Islam.
Ordinarily, no external player is either interested in or
qualified to settle this
domestic dispute of the ummah. Awakening has to come from
within. It is
important to realize that overt or covert role of an
external entity is only for its self
aggrandizement. It is for the Muslim leadership of
contemporary times to lead the
community out of the labyrinth of conflicting convictions
and debilitating
contradictions. The question of settling score with the West
will recede once
internal conflict is set at rest, and a cosmopolitan system
of Islam at work with
other civilizations is produced. It should be possible to
evolve a viable formula of
reconciling to the imperatives of contemporary scientific
age without eroding
pristine principles of faith. It is also equally important
to come out of the cocoon
of a fossilized mindset, and give new direction, vitality
and animation to the
process of socialization.
More than twenty million Muslims of Asian and African
continents have migrated
to the western countries including the US. Millions more are
waiting in the wing.
These migrants have adjusted to the western way of life
without losing their
identity. This means that for Muslims adjustability in
non-Muslim environs is
neither elusive nor discordant. Therefore the question of
discrimination, drilled
into the heads of youth in seminaries, has economic or
political but not religious
trappings. Governments of western countries are prepared to
remunerate Muslim
families handsomely if they volunteer to return to their
countries of origin bag and
baggage. But why they do not want to leave is a very
profound question, which
Muslim ecclesiastical authorities must answer.
Two non-Semitic regions that came under Islamic sway with
Arab invasion,
namely Iran and Central Asia, converted fully to the faith
of the invaders. But the
case of the Indian sub-continent is somewhat different.
India of those days was
identifiable not necessarily with Hindu religion but surely
with sub-continental
civilization. The vast land mass of India accommodated many
nations and their
indigenous cultures but at the same time it supported an
over-arching civilization.
Muslim conquerors coming from abroad primarily focused on
raising an empire
and ruling over the subjugated nations. Conversion of local
people to the new
faith was a by-product of this goal. The concept of
providing civilizational base to
the empire was conspicuously absent in their philosophy of
statehood. It has
already been said that the concept of victorious Muslims
kingdoms and
principalities adapting to indigenous traditions of a
conquered region with deep
rooted symbols of civilization was raised as early as the 12th
century by Ibn
Khaldun. Except for Jalalu’d-Din Akbar, no Muslim authority
in the sub-continent
tried to translate Ibn Khaldun’s remarkable vision into
practice. But Akbar too
failed in his half-hearted attempt because his radical
socio-cultural reform was a
super structure without a base. Carving a Muslim State in
India in 1947 was a
practical expression of the ideology of separatism,
something unusual to the
history of state building in Islam. It was the outcome of
the chronic ideological
conflict dogging the ummah for many centuries: its managers
rejoiced at the
triumph of orthodoxy.
The work in hand is a collection of my essays on
contemporary situation in
Jammu and Kashmir State, which is contiguous to the newly
formed Islamic
State of Pakistan. We have a majority of Muslims in the
State and their
predominance to the tune of 98 % in the region of Kashmir
Valley. Islam came to
Kashmir around 1339 A.D. not through invaders but through
missionaries from
Iran and Central Asia. They were proselytes, volunteering
for a mission of
proselytization in Kashmir.
For nearly two thousand years of her pre-Islamic history,
Kashmir was ruled by
autocratic and mostly imbecile Hindu kings. Kashmir polity
under the Hindu rule,
and particularly towards its fag end, was groaning under
oppressive Brahminic
nobility that drew strength and influence from feudal
chiefs, daring warriors and
villainous ministers. For long Kashmir peasantry was the
first to bear the brunt of
state oppression. The advent of Islam that promised new
ideas of social behaviour
and new norms of intra-community relationship was, historically
and
psychologically, bound to have a strong impact on the masses
of Kashmiri
people.
But some fundamental questions remained. Did the replacement
of an
authoritarian culture by the culture of fraternized
relationship (ukhawwat) mean
much in terms of material reconstruction of Kashmirian
society? Did Islamic
mission in Kashmir end with the conversion of the
non-Muslims to the faith and
their temples to mosques? Was Kashmiri Islam to remain
perpetually entangled
in small and mundane theological controversies and not think
of a wholesome
policy that would infuse new blood into the social, economic
and political veins of
the nation?
An entirely new phenomenon of Kashmir history, after the
advent of the Muslims,
was that ultimate ruling authority passed into the hands of
non-indigenous actors.
When in commanding position, their treatment of the locals,
subordinates and
camp followers, repudiated the much touted theory of
fraternized relationship.
Conspiracies and Machiavellian statecraft galore at the
royal court worked
canker in Kashmirian society. In a sense the rot that ate
into its vitals during the
last two centuries of Hindu rule, continued in its full fury
even though royalty had
changed hands and civilization transition had happened.
Something was wrong
with Kashmirian psyche.
Physical geography of Kashmir hindered, rather virtually
blocked, its brisk
interaction with the mainstream Muslim world at this point
of time. The rise of
ferocious Mongols, warlike Central Asian satraps and
adventurous warriors and
their bloody exploits disrupted traditional network of trade
and trade routes in the
Asian region. It choked Kashmir’s trade arteries to the
ancient Silk Rout.
Kashmir’s economy crumbled.
For this and other reasons indicated above, Muslim polity
under the Sultans
soon degenerated into a specter of misrule and
mismanagement. The rise of
powerful kingdoms and principalities beyond the southern
borders of Kashmir
posed serious threat to national sovereignty and territorial
integrity of Kashmir
kingdom, now steeped in a milieu of social disorder and
economic depression.
To make this situation more precarious, sectarianism raised
its head in Kashmir
Muslim society. In 15th century, Iran, after
having left behind its long era of
fragmented sovereignty, was inching towards the
consolidation of State and
centralization of power. A viable social support - structure
was desirable and
welcome. This marked the beginning of stirring up Shia'
sensitivities in Iranian
social milieu, which ultimately led to the establishment of
official Iranian Shia
state und the powerful Safavis in the second half of the 17th
century A>D..
Reverberations of rumblings in Iranian society could not be
missed in sections of
Kashmirian Muslim society that had, by now, got acclimatized
to the cult of early
missionaries from Iran. Division of society on sectarian
basis prompted some
fixated elements to seek support from external actors who
dominated political
scenario at that time. This was the beginning of the most
painful phenomenon of
Kashmir history --- people and leaders looking beyond
physical borders of their
native land to get their political differences arbitrate by
a third party. Little did
they know that in their neighbourhood lay strong imperial
powers coveting more
lands and more resources? Did Kashmir’s voluntarily opt for
their enslavement?
Did they abysmally lose faith in the independence of a
nation? Were they
condemned to eternal degradation and isolation? This is the
core issue that has
unfortunately overflowed to our times.
After passing through millennia of darkness, oppression and
destitution, after
braving tyranny and coercion by repressive Rajas and
despotic Sultans, after
passing through the rapacity and avarice of feudal lords,
petty chieftains, and
highland robbers from the times of her known history to the
beginning of the 19th
century, Kashmir was drawn into the vortex of regional
political game plan of two
European imperial powers --- Great Britain and Tsarist
Russia--- vying for
supremacy in Asia. In a bid to check the march of Tsarist
legions south of the
Hindukush --- the Central Asian watershed between the
territories of Tsarist
Russia and British India --- the British policy planners
decided conversion of the
north-western region adjoining Punjab into a separate entity
because at that point
of time, the non-descript region already happened to be an
appendage of the
Sikh Kingdom of Lahore. It was placed under a powerful Jammu
chieftain, who
acquired possession of the valley through a sale deed, and
of northern areas of
Gilgit, Baltistan, Ladakh and Zanskar through force of arms.
Thus came into
existence in A.D. 1847 the modern State of Jammu and
Kashmir. The issue of
the sale of Kashmir has been frequently used to deride the
Dogra autocratic
rulers. But Kashmir is not an isolated case in world
history. The Presidents of the
US purchased many states of America, like Texas and
California, which now form
part of the US mainland. Not too far back, Russia sold
Alaska to the US. This is
not to exonerate the imperialistic mentality of parties
involved in the transaction,
but the real problem lies not in the sale of Kashmir but
somewhere elsewhere.
It has to be recalled that inviting external actors to rule
over Kashmir just out of
some vendetta or emotion or for gaining sectarian supremacy
was worse than
the sale of the land.
With the emergence of bi-polar power structure on
international plane, and
division of India into two states --- one of the two along
communal lines --- after
World War II, the two major world powers conducted their
regional strategies
mostly through their proxies. Creation of Pakistan was the
triumph of orthodoxy,
which the age of science and technology had put under
strain. Kashmir
significantly figured in the game plan of those whose hand
kept moving behind
the curtain.
Propaganda blitzkrieg emerged a powerful weapon of cold war
era. Victory of the
Allies was labelled as victory of democracy and freedom of
expression. For self-
styled custodians of democracy, it became the rock- hard
stick to beat its
enemies.
In the communist state of Soviet Union, Great Britain
envisioned a much more
formidable enemy than in Tsarist Russia. After World War II,
economically
debilitated Great Britain focused more on post war
reconstruction at home. In a
vacuum of sorts created by her inability to play the
traditional colonial role
actively in Asia, the United States of America stepped in.
The British had smelt oil
in the Gulf in 1905 and then taking into account its
importance as a powerful
weapon of political arbitration, the world was to witness in
years to come the
hegemony of American democracy.
Reverting to Kashmir situation, for the first time in her
chequered history
spanning nearly two thousand years, a mass movement
demanding
institutionalizing of Kashmiri identity surfaced in the
first decade of the 20th
century. Indian leaders were influenced by the socialist
movement in Russia and
parts of Europe. British intelligentsia, with which emerging
Indian leaders were in
liaison, became the catalyst to the Indian National Congress
great nationalist
struggle udder stalwarts like Gandhi. Congress movement was
not only a
movement against colonial domination of India. It was also a
movement against a
social - cultural order that stood in the way of nation
building process. Thus
participation not separation was the hallmark of the
movement. Congress
movement could be weakened by striking at the root of this
hallmark; that was
the game plan of the colonial power when it was convinced
that it had to quit the
sub-continent sooner or later.
The pioneers of Kashmir freedom movement were those
Kashmiris who went to
Lahore and other cities of India for educational pursuits at
the beginning of the
20th century. They came into contact with
nationalists of all hues irrespective of
caste or creed. They compared the backwardness of their
State with other parts
of India and came to the conclusion that unless people rose
in unison to
reconstruct their destiny, things would not change.
Therefore, in line with the
ideology of Indian National Congress, it was desirable to
launch a movement for
doing away with the autocratic rule in Kashmir. Freedom was
indivisible.
Contrary to this, the basis on which Pakistan came into
being was the theory of
separatism and religious homogeneity, which as it should
have been, proved the
biggest of myths.
Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah’s decision to support State’s
accession to India in
1947 was not only on the basis of ideological similarity
between National
Conference and National Congress. There was one very
important facet to this
solidarity. It was a stupendous effort of harmonizing
dogmatism and liberal
scientific temper of 20th century through
democratic process of nation building.
This was of greatest concern to the Muslims in the
sub-continent who had opted
not to shift to the Islamic State newly carved out on the
basis of religion.
Application of this analysis to Kashmir is of singular
importance. The land to tiller
programme of Naya Kashmir meant a frontal attack on the
feudal-orthodox
combine that had arisen around the 9th /10th
century in the eastern parts of Islamic
Caliphate, and determinedly dogged the Muslim ummah through
subsequent
centuries. It held the ummah a hostage to non-resilient
ecclesiastical institutions.
In that sense, Sheikh Abdullah made a historic contribution
to pull his people out
of a frozen and fossilized mindset. This was a unique
attempt of hammering
reconciliation between blind faith and reason. He strongly
thought that
Kashmirian society had the capacity to absorb the process of
fusion of faith and
reason, which some people in our days were disposed to call,
albeit inadvertently
as Kashmiriyat. And yet he did not dismiss the possibility
of this fusion ultimately
culminating in independent identity of Kashmir’s for which
they had begun their
long struggle in the first decade of the 20th century.
That was the basis on which
he opted for accession to India.
It has to be said that before turning to Indian Union in
October 1947, the Sheikh
tried to have an experiment with the founders of Pakistan if
they were agreeable
to ensuring Kashmir’s the urge for recognition of their
identity. Behind this
demand of the Sheikh, stood the sordid saga of two thousand
years of our
slavery, coercion and subjugation. Pakistani authorities
spurned his demand not
only because they never trusted Kashmir’s but also, and perhaps
more probably,
because they had no grasp of the history of the peoples and
the regions. This
also explains the spirit behind inclusion of Article 370 in
the Indian Constitution.
What are the objectives of those who sponsored and abetted
armed militancy in
Kashmir in 1990? They have goaded revivalists into
intensifying traditional strife
against liberalism. In doing so, they count on emotionalism
of the Kashmir’s. It
aims at disrupting all conditions and settings that would
help Kashmir wriggle out
of a frozen mindset: it wants Kashmir’s to acquiesce to the
domination of feudal-
orthodoxy combine as of yore. In an independent Kashmir, it
sees the image of
its failure as a theocratic state...
The quest of Kashmir’s to revisit their identity will not
fade away. We need to plan
the future course of our action if we want the movement to
succeed. It should be
possible to resort to the powerful instrument of ethics of
reason, as did Gandhi
and Nelson Mandela. But of course we need a couple of Gandhi’s
and Mandela’s
to pull us out of the quagmire of the cult of violence
thrust on us. An independent
Kashmir has to be a friend to all and foe to none. It has to
be the home of all who
are the product of this soil.
In the age of globalization, we shall need to interact with
countries and nations to
build our own. We cannot afford to let our society get
fractured at the instance of
this or that element. We must look beyond the lands and
climes; we must be part
of the comity of nations and member of international
community. We have many
friends and we must widen their circle.
I have briefly traced some facets of Islamic history. The
purpose is to highlight the
power of reasoned action and the need for it in transforming
society. Logic
controls emotion and we have always been the victims of
emotions. The time has
come to cast a glance on our past, our drawbacks, and try to
rectify them.
Islam has tremendous capacity of accommodation and adjustment.
Its ethos has
also the quality of adaptability in. Political Islam has,
over the centuries taken a
heavy toll of our progress. The instruments that assist
political Islam have to be
blunted and replaced by reforms that harmonies tradition
with modernity. The
example of India in this respect is appreciable because she
is trying to harmonize
extremist’s elements of many faiths with national
imperatives.
The crux of my essays collected in this volume is what is
stated in the preceding
paragraphs. I am hopeful my voice will be heard by my
compatriots. I know they
are fed up with directionless leadership. My fear is that in
their unabated quest
for identity, personality and freedom, they may fall victim
to villainous leaders
who have been holding us hostages to their self-interests. I
know as a free and
independent nation, we shall have to interact with our neighbours
for trade and
commerce, for economic and social development, for promotion
of democratic
and secular norms, for scientific and technology advancement
and much more.
We shall have to maintain thousands and one bonds with them,
all in good faith.
We have to live with them as decent neighbours.
Our struggle for independent Jammu and Kashmir leads us to
this line of thinking
when we talk of independent Kashmir.
Keeping in mind the principles of peaceful co-existence with
our neighbours and
strengthening mutual good political and economic relations,
we shall have to
show due regard to political and emotional concerns of all
minority identities
living in Jammu and Kashmir. Religious principles and
beliefs of all communities
shall have to be shown respect. Greater attention has to be
given to less
developed regions and their deprivations have to be removed.
This would also
dilute separatist tendencies within the State. The State is
lagging behind in
power, industry, transport, education and environmental
sectors. For last six
decades, the State has become a victim of political
disorder, which has resulted
in widespread corruption and bribery. If one wants to live
the life, one can do so
only by bribery. It is only by dint of bribery that one can
breathe and it is only the
bribe which will take him to the graveyard or to the
crematorium.
The unfortunate thing is that whenever people come on the
streets to protest
against non-availability of electric power or firewood or
against unemployment or
police excesses, they do not strictly restrict themselves to
these problems. Some
elements within the protesting crowds stick out their necks
and raise slogans
such as “What do we want“ Pakistan or what do we want “azaadi”
thereby
inviting official machinery to perpetrate excesses and
high-handedness. The real
problems for which people had come out on the streets to
make protestation, get
submerged in these slogans.
This tendency has only helped government institutions to
become indolent and
apathetic. Dereliction of duty has become rampant. We find
that government
departments are engrossed in solving their individual
problems instead of
addressing the problems of the people. If during the freedom
struggle a
community is in a position of receiving benefits of
education, employment,
industry, roads and infrastructure, the surprise is that the
community has no
realisation of these attainments but ideologically and
practically it remains
engrossed with azaadi alone. When it attains freedom, they
only will it
addresses the task of reconstruction, is the thinking.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the organizations that are raising
slogans of accession to
Pakistan or of freedom have demanded heavy sacrifices from
the people. But
unfortunately they did not bring into existence such
institutions as would take
care of the wards of those who made sacrifices. When people
beheld depressing
condition of close dependents of freedom fighters they
gradually began
distancing themselves from the movement. This is despite the
fact that even now
the masses of people sustain emotions of seeking their rights
and their identity.
In the meanwhile the government institutions began seeking
revenge from all
those people and in all spheres who were linked to this
movement in one way or
the other. Be it the issue of finding an employment or
obtaining a passport or
going on Hajj pilgrimage, government’s treatment has been
sordid.
The volume in your hand contains such of my articles as deal
with themes like
these. These were published in the Weekly Chattan of
Srinagar. These have now
ben rendered into English with the specific objective that
English knowing
segment of society particularly our ruling groups,
bureaucracy and the world
abroad understand our problems in right perspective. I have
made a very sincere
attempt to base my comments and observations on ground
realities, to identify
the problems of the people of State of Jammu and Kashmir. We
need to make a
diagnosis of the disease and its treatment is a united
initiative by all of us.
My writings never mean to denigrate any faction or political
group or India or
Pakistan. I never intend to hurt anybody’s sentiments. I
nurse deep and warm
sentiments towards the masses of people of Jammu and Kashmir
and towards
my motherland (J&K) and this prompts me to identify our
problems pragmatically.
If in doing so any group or any party feels it has been
hurt, I would like to tell
them with all politeness that I am only trying to find a
solution to our problem and
look at Kashmir issue through the pages of history when
searching for a solution.
I am sincerely thankful to the editorial staff of the Weekly
Chattan, and in
particular of its editor, Tahir Mohiud-Din that they always
had an encouraging
word for me. I am thankful to all those who appreciated my
writings which gave
me a big support. I am thankful to a dear friend who
rendered Urdu texts to
English.
I have been writing regularly for last two years.
Occasionally, you will find some
topographical articles as well. It has to be understood that
issues are not always
temporary; they remain attached to one or the other group of
society. Jammu and
Kashmir seldom finds a solution to the problems that crop up
from time to time,
these rather get exacerbate with the passing of each day. I
am confident that our
readers will read it keeping in mind that the sentiment of
seeking the truth has
been its catalyst.
My aim is to create consciousness among our nation: I like
that the people of
Jammu and Kashmir should muster courage to hear the truth
and speak the
truth. Our people young and old, men and women, boys and
girls, all wherever
they are at work, in schools, in colleges, in the
marketplaces, in buses and in
parks, in police stations and bus stops, anywhere, they
should breathe and
speak with courage, freedom and truth .I want that the
mouths of the people in
our State should open against fear and trepidation. Their
hands should be put to
stopping oppression and terror. People should launch a
strong and vibrant
movement against corruption, destructions of forest trees,
nepotism, exploitation
and general loot. They should rise to stop destruction of
water resources,
ignorance and hegemonic oppression. They should not only
live with dignity and
honour within their country and outside it but should also
make their land a true
paradise for future generations. Whatever decision the
people of this land make,
they should make it with full consciousness and with great
wisdom. A decision
made as a result of helplessness, blackmail, dominance,-
greed or hero - worship
should never be thrust on oneself or on future generations.
The eternal truth for the realization of which the soul of
the people of Jammu and
Kashmir has withered is that we cannot bear in any case our
separation from our
Pandit brothers and sisters. They have to be brought back on
the soil of the
motherland in any case. It is our moral and religious duty
to bring them back. We
must bring our generation and our future generations to full
growth of our
personality and identity.
I care for revitalization of our conscience, truth, honesty
and mutual love and
respect. Above all, I want that people should develop love
for their honest
conscience and their motherland. If this is achieved, then
we shall be able to
liberate ourselves and our land from the clutches of fear,
terror, bullets, bomb
blasts, prison houses, illegal possessors and the tyrants of
the time.
At the end of this collection I have included one article
und the title Indian
democracy, justice and we the Kashmiris. I have given some
insight into my
personal life in this article. I just want to tell my
readers what treatment was
meted out to me in the name of justice. I was tried twice
for the same alleged
crime. I had to go through fire and brimstone. This is just
to cite an example and
make the people partners in the prizes that have been handed
over to me.
I am deeply indebted to Aditi Bhaduri, a versatile
journalist of immense vision. .
She produced an insightful piece on MNWA Trust on the
occasion of its
Convention which she personally attended in Srinagar. It was
published in The
Hindu of 22 July 2007. I have great pleasure in including
this article in the
present volume believing that our readers will understand
that there is a lot to be
done on social front in Kashmir besides politics. Very few
political parties are
addressing this need. I place this book in your hands in the
hope that the words
of Faiz may resound loud:
Bol kih lab azad hain tere
Bol zaban ab tak teri hai
Bol kih sach zindeh hai ab atak
Bol jo kuchh kahna hai kah le
